Pan seared salmon steaks with cucumber, ginger and garlic

If you grow your own cucumbers you'll know that you tend to get a glut of them when they are in season and are probably always seeking new cucumber recipe ideas, this one is a unique and exotic way of using up another cucumber.

Ingredients

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• 4 cm (1.5" fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 Indian green chillies, de-seeded
• 3 tablespoons jaggery or brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
• Juice from 1 lime or 2-3 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 tablespoons of water
• 1 small cucumber
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 4 Salmon steaks

Method

1. Using a pestle and mortar, food processor or mini-chopper, grind the sugar, garlic, ginger and chillies to a pulp.
2. Mix in the fish sauce, water and lime juice
3. Add the dressing to the fish and marinade for an hour or so.
4. Cut the cucumber into quarters lengthwise and run a knife down each quadrant to remove the seeds
5. Using a speed-peeler or mandoline cut the cucumber into long thin strips.
6. Remove the fish from the marinade and replace with the cucumber strips and marinade for no more than 10 minutes or they start to loose their crunch.
7. Rub the sesame oil on the grill pan and pan sear the salmon steaks for a few minutes on each side.
8. Remove from the heat and rest, covered for 5 minutes.

Serving suggestions

Garnish with the cucumber strips, pour over the dressing and serve.

Variations

chopped spring onions go nicely with this.

Peeling ginger

There is no need to peel ginger. As a result of attending a Thai cookery demo, we have learnt that peeling ginger is unnecessary unless for aesthetic purposes as the skin is high in fibre and full of flavour. However, do remove any bits that have become tough or woody.

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