Ca nuong hanh mo (grilled salmon with scallion-infused oil)

A rather nifty way to do salmon baked in foil

Ca nuong hanh mo (grilled salmon with scallion-infused oil)

Recipe type:
Cuisine:
Preparation time: 1 h
Cooking time: 20 mins
Total time: 1h 20 mins
Serves: 2-3

(aka cá nướng hành mỡ. The salmon part is optional, but it’s a handy fish to have around).

Aka my first recipe made entirely from this website’s instructions–they require rather a hefty leap of faith since everything is given by ingredients rather than by quantities. Must say it turned out quite nice–it looks impressive and tastes very very good (also, it’s got H’s seal of approval).

Print
Ca nuong hanh mo (grilled salmon with scallion-infused oil)
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2-3
 
A rather nifty way to do salmon baked in foil
Ingredients
  • 300g salmon (fillet or steak)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 yellow onion
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 1.5 teaspoon honey
  • 5 scallions
  • ¼ cup cooking oil
  • Extra cooking oil
  • A handful roasted unsalted peanuts
Instructions
  1. Cut the salmon into portions for one person (keep them thickish since we're ultimately going to grill the beast!). Mix the salt, pepper, sugar and turmeric with a dash of olive oil or cooking oil, and brush all over the salmon's surface. Marinate for 1 hour.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze: mix together the juice of ½ lime and 1 teaspoon of honey. Taste: it should be acidic with a slight sweet aftertaste. Adjust honey if you want to spit out the lime 🙂 Add 1 dash of oil and mix well.
  3. Prepare the scallion oil: cut up the green parts of the scallions into rings (save the white parts for later). Heat up the ¼ oil on medium heat until hot (if you put a wooden spatula in the oil, moderate bubbling should form on its edges). Pour the scallions into the oil, tumble for about 15-30 seconds, until fragrant. Then withdraw from the heat, transfer to a bowl, and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes (this helps keep the scallions green). After 10 minutes, withdraw the scallion oil and keep it at room temperature.
  4. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
  5. Crush the peanuts in a mortar.
  6. Cut the onion and the white part of the scallions into thin parts.
  7. Prepare the salmon: put a layer of onions/white part of scallions on the shiny side of an foil piece, then put a portion of salmon, then a layer of onions/white part of scallions. Close the foil. Repeat with the other portions.
  8. Put the salmon in the oven and let it cook for 15 minutes.
  9. After 15 minutes, withdraw the foil wraps, open them up, and brush the lime-honey-oil mixture on top of the salmon. Switch the oven to grill and and put the portions back in, close to the heating element. Leave them to brown for about 5-10 minutes (keep an eye on them so they don't burn!). Then flip over the pieces in the foil (this is the hardest bit to manage without a. breaking up the salmon b. spilling marinade all over the oven or countertop!), brush the obverse side, and grill again for 5-10 minutes until well-browned.
  10. For serving, put the salmon on top of its little onions pieces, and drizzle the scallion oil on top of the fish, then the roasted peanuts. Serve with rice (and salad and nuoc mam!)

 

Tags: