Japanese Marinated Salmon Salad

My cooking recipe from my Japanese happy new year meal. Just like the most of my recipes, majority of ingredients can be found at any local stores in UK.

Because the salmon will be cut into cubes and deep fried, you can use any cheep part of salmon fillets.

Ingredients:

  400g salmon fillet (skinned)

  1 small onion (sliced)

  1/2 carrot (julienned or grated)

  1.5cm lemon peel (sliced)

  about 50g flour

  Vegetable oil (enough for your deep frying pot)

  1/2 sachet of whole dried red chili pepper (Optional)

for Sushi vinegar

  100ml rice vinegar

         or Aspell Sauvignon Blanc White Wine Vinegar is most similar to Japanese rice vinegar in UK

  120g sugar

  30g salt

  A small piece of dried Kombu (Optional)

Prep: 

Clean all salmon fillets under running cold water, take any visible scales or fat on the surface. Dry the fillets well on kitchen papers. Some of fillets might have some bones left between meats; pull them out if you find any. If the fillets have skins then take them out too. Cut them into about 2-3cm cubes.

Cut the onion in half then slice them thin - if you cannot by knife then use slicer.

Cut 1/2 carrot into Julienne. Cut the lemon peel into thin slices.

If you have dried red chili, take all seeds out from the 1/2 chili sachet then slice that into thin rings.

Method
1. Place all flour in a large bowl, put all salmon cubes then mix them well to coat all side of salmon cubes by the flour.

It is easier and saves flour if you have a large bowl with a lid; you'll need only about 30g of flour, place it and  salmon in the bowl then shake the bowl with lid on.

2. Deep fry the salmon cubes in vegetable oil on medium high heat. Put few cubes in once every time, until each cube start to change the coating slightly brownish. Prepare a kitchen paper on a large strainer or plate then place the salmon cubes once it's fried.

3. Make sushi vinegar. Put rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pot. If you have kombu, you just need as small as your pinkie nail size, place it in the pot too. Kombu adds the vinegar more deeper and softer tastiness.

4. Place the pot on a hob and heat it to medium low. Stare them and make sure all sugar melts, take the kombu out before the vinegar start to boil. stop the heat as soon as the vinegar start to boil with small bubbles.

5. Place the sliced onion, grated carrot and lemon peel in a plastic container, place the boiled kombu if you used, then deep fried salmon and dried red chili rings (if you have) over them, then pour the sushi vinegar over them.

6. Marinate them in the room temperature for first 1 hour (this will cool down the salmon and sushi vinegar too.) Mix the sliced vegetables and salmon once so it will marinate evenly, then place the container in fridge and marinate them for at least another 1 hour, or even better for overnight.

7. To serve, place salmons first on plate, vegetables (but not kombu), then garnish the top with the dried red chili pepper rings.

* This salad is a kind of preserving Japanese cousin. You can keep 3-5 days (depends on season and freshness of salmon) in fridge without problem.

* Any fish the same but the fish meat will smell stronger after cook if you don’t clean them under cold water and dry them well before cook.