Frozen salmon and a can of coconut milk come together in this beautiful Thai-themed meal, which gets its depth of flavor from fish sauce, curry paste and the zest of one lime. Substitute where necessary (lemon, for instance) and enjoy the change from your usual weeknight salmon dish. Cookbook author and recipe developer Amanda Frederickson created the recipe as part of her #FridgeForaging series on Instagram, which helps people make meals with ingredients they already have on hand.
Thai-Inspired Salmon in Parchment with Coconut Rice
Serves 4
Rice:
1 cup jasmine rice
1¼ cup coconut milk (or combination of water and coconut milk)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar, optional
Salmon:
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 minced shallot
¼ cup scallions, white parts only, save the green parts for garnish
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 cup julienned carrots
4 salmon fillets, 6 ounces each
2 tablespoons curry paste
½ cup coconut milk
Garnishes: Scallions, fresh basil, fresh lime juice and fish sauce
Directions
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut out four large — 16 inches wide — hearts from parchment paper.
Make the rice by bringing the rice, coconut milk, salt and sugar to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook until all the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and keep warm (the rice will have a layer of coconut cream on top after it cooks, just fold that in when you fluff the rice).
For the salmon: In a small bowl, stir together the ginger, shallot, scallions and lime zest. Place one of the parchment paper hearts on your work surface. Lay 1/4 cup of the carrots in an even layer. Top with 1 piece of salmon. Brush the salmon with some curry paste and top with a quarter of the ginger-shallot-scallion mixture. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons coconut milk, then fold the paper over the top and seal the edges tightly. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Place parchment pockets on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until salmon is cooked through. Serve the salmon garnished with more scallions, fresh basil, a squeeze of lime juice and a dash (or more to taste) of fish sauce.
— Reprinted with permission from www.amandafrederickson.com
