To my taste, poaching is one of the best ways to cook salmon. When served together with poaching liquid, this salmon is referred to salmon a la nage. Despite its French name and seeming haute cuisine-ness, my dish is so simple and fast to make that you can easily cook it for a weekday dinner.
Traditionally, poaching is quite a long process. First, a poaching liquid, called court bouillon, is cooked. Then an item to be poached is fully submerged in it and left there on a low heat until done. Before or during poaching, some portion of the poaching liquid is taken out and turned into a sauce by mixing it with other ingredients and reducing to a proper consistency. Looks like a whole project, isn't it? That's why so many people either never bother themselves with poaching or do it only for special occasions.
Meanwhile, poaching process can be simplified without any loss in flavor or texture. Instead of making court bouillon, you can make a simple sauce and poach your salmon right in it. Then all you have to do is transfer both to a plate without any sauce reduction or other steps. With this simplified poaching method, salmon is only partially submerged in the sauce and, therefore, technically speaking, is half poached and half steamed. We can give this method a new name, something along the lines of spork. Stoaching? Just kidding. Anyways, in the result you will get a salmon that is no less moist and rich in flavor than the one cooked by the traditional technique. All you have to do is to make a bold, aromatic sauce and get a good salmon fillet.
In Seattle, we are lucky to have fantastic fresh wild Pacific salmon of all kinds - king, sockeye, silver. All of them will work great in this dish. Surprisingly enough, this time I chose to poach an Atlantic one.
I never was of high opinion about Atlantic salmon, which is all farm raised and with artificially enhanced color. However, this time I was intrigued by how good it looked: fresh, moist, thick, pink-orange with beautiful fatty streaks. It tasted fabulous too. Not as fabulous as the one from the Copper River, but very decent in both texture and taste. So, if you want to give it a try while there is a supply, go for it.
For each serving you will need:
- ½ lb piece of salmon
- 1 Tbsp oil for sautéing
- 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- ¼ medium sized fennel, thinly sliced
- ⅔ cup chicken stock
- 1 Tbsp whipping cream
- ⅛-¼ cup Pernod (if it is too anise-y for you, replace with white vermouth or off-dry white wine)
- About ¼ cup fresh garbanzo beans or edamame (thaw if frozen)
- Several carrot strips (julienned with a knife or julienne peeler)
- Fennel leaves, for garnish
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
In a deep skillet wide enough to accommodate all the salmon fillets, but not too wide*, heat oil on a medium high heat. Add shallots and sauté until translucent. Add fennel slices and garlic and sauté another minute. Pour in Pernod and after it simmers down very slightly, pour in stock. Season with salt and black pepper to your taste and let the sauce simmer about a minute or so.
Place salmon fillet into the sauce skin side down, sprinkle the top lightly with salt and cover the pan with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium low so there is only very light movement in the sauce (a few lazy bubbles) and cook about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon. Mine was ¾ inch thick in the thickest part and I cooked it for 12 minutes.
When the salmon is done, remove it from the pan and keep warm. To the pan, add garbanzo beans (edamame), carrots, some fresh fennel leaves, and cream and cook for another minute. If the sauce is too thick, add some more broth. If too thin, simmer it down to a desired consistency.
To serve, place the vegetables on the bottom of a deep plate. Put the salmon on top and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with fennel leaves and serve.
If you're pondering adding some sort of starch to this dish, I would recommend small pasta like Israeli couscous (also known as pearl couscous or ptitim) or orzo.
*The narrower the pan, the higher the sauce. And the higher the sauce, the deeper the fish gets submerged in it.
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