Heat a broiler (toaster oven or regular oven) to high. My new Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer was the perfect tool. Cover a small broiler pan with aluminum foil.
Basmati rice from a rice cooker. I recommend to add pieces of lemongrass incl. 1 tsp salt to the rice at the beginning, then start the rice cooker.
In addition carrots cooked in my homemade Teriyaki sauce.
I recommend Chardonnay or Champagne.
P.S.
I am a big fan of a rice cooker, as it cooks the rice perfectly and you have the option after the cooking, around 15min, to use the keep-warm function for several minutes or hours.
Yum! I make a similar Salmon Miso recipe that Akiko Freeman of Freeman Winery shared with me.
I’m curious, do you use the optional mirin in your recipe? Why? Or why not?
We often use a wok to stir up some baby bok choy or broccolini, with a little garlic & sesame oil as a side dish. There’s just something about a crunchy veggie side - to contrast with rich salmon.
We love our rice cooker too - the kids like when I do a coconut rice, but when it’s just us, Steve & I do lighter riffs similar to your lemongrass, like adding some minced green herbs (chives, green onions, cilantro, parsley, or leeks make it creamier) after a quick sauté in butter or oil - to jasmine rice. Steve sometimes adds a little grated ginger. Or we toast basmati rice in a pan, prior to putting it in the rice cooker - which gives it a nutty flavor. Sometimes we’ll use a veggie or chicken stock instead of water & add small chopped veggies to it too (onions or shallots, carrots, etc). We are big Mark Bittman fans, he inspired us to get more creative with rice.
I used Miriin, as the original recipe contains Mirin if my memory is correct, this updated version from Kenji has not. Why he did not use it this time, I don`t know. I find the little sweetness from Mirin fits well with salmon or black cod.
Baby bok choy and broccolini is a good idea. I should cook more often with it, as I like baby bok choy quite a lot.
I am a purist, I love the pure Basmati rice with just a hint of lemongrass. Fair to say I made a Persian rice with pistacchio, saffron and barberries a couple of weeks ago, as my wilfe loves this version. Quite tasty I have to admit.
I’ve tried it a number of times with, and without mirin (both with salmon and black cod) and I REALLY prefer it with mirin. I think the slight sweetness/sugar makes it crisp up better too.
My other half can’t tell the difference - and it’s SO clearly & definitively different to me…
P.S. your Persian rice dish sounds very intriguing, I’ll need to explore ….
One of my favorite dishes with sticky rice and Japanese style pickled cucumber. I use sake kasu in the marinade, and a lot more kasu than miso, and skip the sugar altogether since the kasu and mirin are sweet. Sometimes sake and no mirin, and marinate at least 2 days. I make the marinade in a Nutribullet.
