When it comes to seafood, common knowledge tells us to cook it hot and fast, so when I saw slow roasted Steelhead on the menu at the in Newberg Oregon, I was skeptical. I guess curiosity won over my skepticism because I ordered it.
The dish as a whole was a disaster. There was so much going on I can’t even remember half the things in/on/around the steelhead, but the limp overdressed arugula and prosciutto were memorable as was the fact that the dish was sooo salty I couldn’t taste much of anything else. Though in all fairness to the restaurant, the service was very friendly and the appetizer and dessert were both good.
So if it sounds bad and tasted bad, why would I make my own rendition?
As I said, the dish as a whole was a disaster. The slow roasted Steelhead on the other hand was transformational! As I was eating it, I went back and forth between oral bliss as the Steelhead melted into a pool of flavor on my tongue and utter indignation over the travesty that was on my fork.
Determined to fix this injustice I spent the next few days contemplating what I’d pair with the moist and melty morsels. This peanut and spicy red curry sauce melds perfectly with the creaminess and earthiness of the roasted salmon while the crispy, sweet and minty slaw strikes a pleasing juxtaposition, that will cool your palette and bring a smile to your face.
A couple things to note, use the best sockeye salmon or steelhead trout you can find (wild and line caught ideally). When making the sauce, don’t let it boil as the oil will separate (I turned my back for a few minutes as I was reheating it and it boiled which is why the photo doesn’t look so great).
Ingredients
For roast
- Salmon Trout Sockeye or Steelhead filets that are relatively uniform in thickness
- brown sugar
- salt
for sauce
- 1 clove garlic pressed or minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon coriander seed ground
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (or curry powder)
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter unsweetened
- 1/2 Cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar (omit if you're using sweetened peanut butter)
for slaw
- 1 Cup sugar snap peas lightly
- 1/4 Cup peanuts toasted roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon mint minced
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
Steps
- About 30 minutes before putting it in the oven sprinkle a large pinch of brown sugar and small pinch of salt on each salmon fillet and rub onto the flesh side, cover and let them come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
- Place the salmon fillets on a roasting pan and put them in the oven. Depending on the thickness of your fillets, how cold they are and how accurate your oven temp is, the fish could take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour. You don't want to check it so often that you let all the heat out of the oven, but the best way to tell if it's done is to stick a fork in it and see if it flakes easily.
- To make the sauce heat a saucepan. Add the oil, garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant. Add the coriander seed, garam masala, cumin, and curry paste and mash together with the garlic and ginger until the spices give off a nice fragrance. Add the peanut butter and mash it all together into a smooth paste. Turn down the heat and add the coconut milk, whisking to combine into a smooth sauce. Heat until it just comes to a simmer but do not boil.
- For the slaw, wash and de-string the snap peas. Boil a large pot of well salted water. Drop the peas in the boiling water and lightly blanch (less than a minute). Drain and immediately rinse with cold water. Using a sharp knife slice the snap peas lengthwise into thin strips. Mince the mint and add it to the slaw along with the peanuts. When you're ready to serve it dress the slaw with the fish sauce and vinegar (if you do it too early the vinegar will discolor the peas and mint).
- When the salmon is done just plate each fillet and cover with the sauce. It goes nicely with some jasmine rice.
Sounds fabulous, looks fabulous. Sorry to hear about the sucky restaurant experience, but at least the dessert was good!
Yikes, I can just imagine the too-salty dish. How nice that you were able to discern the great fish under it!
Would you believe I actually have all your sauce ingredients in my pantry? The recipe looks great!
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the greens.
Snappy!
Sounds fabulous, looks fabulous. Sorry to hear about the sucky restaurant experience, but at least the dessert was good!
Yikes, I can just imagine the too-salty dish. How nice that you were able to discern the great fish under it!
Would you believe I actually have all your sauce ingredients in my pantry? The recipe looks great!
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the greens.
Snappy!
Great job, “WOW” is about all I can say…but sorry you had that bad experience in the restaurant, although it sounds like it inspired you, so it wasn’t a total waste!
The Painted Lady is somewhat in the area of the property I bought in Oregon. I’ve always wanted to go when we are there. Sorry it wasn’t up to par!
Steelhead trout is something I need to look up here. I haven’t had this yet, but am looking forward to it soon.
Sorry to hear that the dish was so bad, but at least the fish was good. At least all your money wasn’t to waste!
BUT…your rendition looks fab! And I love the sauce!
Great job, “WOW” is about all I can say…but sorry you had that bad experience in the restaurant, although it sounds like it inspired you, so it wasn’t a total waste!
The Painted Lady is somewhat in the area of the property I bought in Oregon. I’ve always wanted to go when we are there. Sorry it wasn’t up to par!
mmm i do love peanut sauces. looks awesome. sorry to hear the dish wasn’t too fantastic but wow, it’s inspired this!
gorgeous.
to think i had baked smoked salmon with some veg for lunch today — plain as hell. oh well. it makes me superbly studenty. 🙂
Aww, too bad you didn’t get a chance to wander in to some fine(r) dining in P-town. The only other restaurant I’ve been to out there in Yamhill County similarly oversalted everything. Must be something in the wine that ruins the chefs’ ability to properly season food (I swear those crabcakes gave me kidney stones).
Good on you for fixing it.
Steelhead trout is something I need to look up here. I haven’t had this yet, but am looking forward to it soon.
Sorry to hear that the dish was so bad, but at least the fish was good. At least all your money wasn’t to waste!
BUT…your rendition looks fab! And I love the sauce!
mmm i do love peanut sauces. looks awesome. sorry to hear the dish wasn’t too fantastic but wow, it’s inspired this!
gorgeous.
to think i had baked smoked salmon with some veg for lunch today — plain as hell. oh well. it makes me superbly studenty. 🙂
That peanut cutter curry sauce sounds really good and even better on salmon!
Aww, too bad you didn’t get a chance to wander in to some fine(r) dining in P-town. The only other restaurant I’ve been to out there in Yamhill County similarly oversalted everything. Must be something in the wine that ruins the chefs’ ability to properly season food (I swear those crabcakes gave me kidney stones).
Good on you for fixing it.
That peanut cutter curry sauce sounds really good and even better on salmon!
Looks great to me! Love the idea! 🙂
Looks great to me! Love the idea! 🙂
i have some halibut that needs cooking as well as a bag of snap peas from my CSA box, and i think a slightly lighter version of this will grace my table tonight.
of course, i don’t know how, exactly, i’m going to do that yet.
i have some halibut that needs cooking as well as a bag of snap peas from my CSA box, and i think a slightly lighter version of this will grace my table tonight.
of course, i don’t know how, exactly, i’m going to do that yet.
Thanks! Happy New Year! So glad to hear you and your friend enjoyed this!