Asian Sesame Salmon

For the past few weeks, salmon has been on sale for $6.99/lb at my local grocery store (normally $9.99) and has given me the perfect excuse to incorporate more fish into my diet. With my love of seafood, I was surprised to realize I’ve never posted a seafood recipe on this blog!

Growing up near the ocean, we frequently ate fresh seafood – everything from shrimp to scallops to fish. My dad, the foodie, has all types of ways of preparing fish. His baked cod and swordfish were among our favorites. We ate salmon a little less often, but I always thoroughly enjoyed it each time and it became one of my favorites.

I first made this recipe either last year or the year before, and I never forget how good it was. The recipe originally comes from one of those McCormick Recipe Inspirations packets – the kind that come with pre-measured spices for a specific recipe, and you add the fresh ingredients yourself. I’ve had great luck with a number of those recipes and definitely recommend them. They can be found in the baking or spice aisle of most grocery stores. The Asian Sesame Salmon has been floating around in my brain lately, so I decided to re-create it on my own.

When it comes to fish, salmon is just about as healthy as it can get. Salmon is full of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are heart-healthy fats and can help lower cholesterol. Not only is it packed with vitamins B and D, but it’s also a great source of protein: one 4-oz portion contains over half of your daily recommended intake! To read more about the health benefits of salmon, click here.

This Asian Sesame Salmon is glazed with a sweet and savory sauce consisting of honey, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Salmon is naturally packed with flavor, but the Asian marinade in this recipe perfectly complements its richness. I kept pretty true to the recipe, but added fresh lime juice and some crushed red pepper to kick it up a notch. I chose to serve my salmon with steamed broccoli and brown rice, but you may serve it alongside whatever you like. I found this meal to be incredibly filling and satisfying – definitely one of my favorites I’ve posted on this blog so far!

Asian Sesame Salmon
adapted from McCormick Recipe Inspirations Asian Sesame Salmon

Ingredients:
serves 2

• For the sauce:
  • 1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
  • 2.5 Tbsp honey (brown sugar would also work)
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp minced or ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or Sambal Oelek
  • 3 Tbsp chopped scallions
• 1 pound fresh salmon filet
• Optional: serve with steamed broccoli and brown rice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF and lightly grease a baking dish lined with foil. Prepare the sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and whisking together.
2. Place the salmon the the greased baking dish and pour the sauce over it. Bake for 20-25 minutes, basting the fish once or twice with the sauce, until salmon is cooked throughout and flakes easily with the touch of a fork.
3. Serve with steamed broccoli and brown rice and enjoy

To prepare the sauce, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place the salmon (skin side down) on a lightly greased foil-lined baking dish. Pour the sauce over the salmon and spread around so salmon is evenly coated.

Bake salmon for 20-25 minutes.

Salmon is done when it’s cooked throughout and can be flaked easily with a fork. Don’t worry if white stuff appears on your fish after baking like mine did, it’s just the fatty part of the salmon rising to the top.

Serve with steamed broccoli and rice for a complete meal

Mango Teriyaki Chicken

So I’m really excited because I recently came to the realization that I like fresh mangoes. Up until a few days ago, I was under the impression that I liked mango-flavored things, but disliked fresh mangoes themselves. I’ve always found them to have a weird stringy consistency and taste somewhat like a pine tree. But mangoes are one of those things I always find appealing in theory and thought that perhaps if I bought one from my local fresh produce market rather than a big grocery store chain that it might taste better. I’m glad to say I was right!

After doing a little research on mangoes, I’ve learned that there are a huge number of different varieties of mangoes out there. There are a few that are popularly available in the U.S., and while it’s hard to narrow down the types I’ve tried in the past, I think the pine taste I was experiencing might have been because the mango wasn’t ripe yet. The mango I used for this recipe is a Kent mango, which is large and has a red and green skin. It’s juicy, not at all fibrous, and tastes exactly how I imagine a good mango would taste.

The inspiration for this recipe came from my favorite type of teriyaki sauce: Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki. It’s a sweet sauce with tropical flavors from the addition of pineapple and ginger. I’ve discovered I really enjoy sweeter teriyaki sauces/Asian marinades, and thought that my mango would be a nice addition to the sauce I normally make.

This dish is sweet and tangy, and really taste like homemade take-out but is way healthier. It’s super easy to throw together and you can prepare the marinade the night before to make it even faster. This meal definitely ranks up there with some of my favorite creations. I hope you enjoy it too!

Mango Teriyaki Chicken
serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• For the mango teriyaki marinade:
  • 3 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice + 1 Tbsp water
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar or honey
  • 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp powdered
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1/4 cup diced fresh mango
• 1 large (uncooked) chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups broccoli
• optional: chopped green onions, chopped cilantro to garnish

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the marinade. Add the chunks of chicken and make sure each piece is evenly coated with the sauce. Place in refrigerator and let marinate for 2-4 hours.
2. When chicken is done marinating, begin cooking your rice according to box directions.
3. In a large frying pan, heat 2 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp sesame oil over low heat. Add your diced onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add red pepper and garlic and continue to cook.
4. Cook your broccoli using your favorite method. You could add it to the onion and pepper, or you could steam it, which is how I chose to cook it.
5. Remove your marinating chicken from the fridge and pour into frying pan along with the onion and pepper, sauce and all. Turn burner up to medium/medium-high and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the middle, about 5-7 minutes per side.
6. Serve your cooked rice and broccoli and top with mango chicken (be sure to get some of the sauce!). Garnish with optional green onions and cilantro and enjoy.

To cut your mango, first cut a chunk off the side of your mango (not down the middle). Then score the mango using your knife, and scrape out the small chunks of mango off the skin. This method is suggested because the pit of a mango is rather large and shaped irregularly.

Whisk together all the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce and add the chunks of mango.

Add your chicken to the sauce and let marinate in the fridge for 2-4 hours. When your chicken is almost done marinating, begin cooking your rice.

Saute up some onions, pepper, and garlic and add your marinated chicken (including the sauce). Start cooking the broccoli at this time, too.

Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes per side.

When your chicken is finished cooking, serve over a bed of rice with broccoli.

Expect more mango recipes from me in the near future!

Caramelized Tofu Fried Rice

This is a meal that I’ve been making some variation or another of for the past few months. I’ve always loved Chinese take-out, and one of my favorite dishes is fried rice. My family usually orders pork fried rice, which I love, but I wanted to create a slightly lighter and vegetarian-friendly version.

Over the past year or so, tofu has become almost a staple in my diet (almost… nothing can replace my chicken, though). I’ve experimented with many different ways of preparing/cooking tofu, and think I may have stumbled upon my favorite method: caramelizing it. Or in simple terms, adding a sweet, crispy crust to the outside (while maintaining a soft, moist interior). The key to caramelizing any type of food is sugar, but tofu doesn’t naturally contain sugar so it needs to be added. To do this, we simply sear the tofu in a hot pan with a sweet, sugar-based teryiaki sauce until a nice crust is created on the outside.

This recipe combines caramelized tofu, edamame, sauteed vegetables, egg, and brown rice, all dressed with a sweet and tangy sauce. The protein in the tofu and fiber in the edamame will keep you feeling satisfied while keeping your new year’s resolutions at bay. For all you tofu-haters, you could easily substitute chicken or steak and follow a similar process to caramelize it.

For this dish, I’ve also included a recipe for a sweet and tangy sauce that is similar to teriyaki sauce Most of the ingredients are pantry staples, but feel free to use a bottled teriyaki sauce if you’re not in the mood or unable to make the marinade.

P.S. Any fellow Ponzu fans out there? I LOVE this stuff. After seeing it advertised on tv, I decided to add it to my seemingly endless collection of Asian condiments and found that I like it more than regular soy sauce. It’s lighter and has a wonderful citrus flavor, and is much lower in sodium than soy sauce.

Caramelized Tofu Fried Rice
serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 4 baby bella or white mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled edamame
• 8-10 oz. firm tofu (or a little more than half a 14. oz package), drained, pressed dry, and cut into cubes
• homemade sweet and tangy sauce, divided in half (see recipe below) – or 1/2 cup of your favorite teriyaki sauce, divided
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups cooked brown rice

Sweet and tangy sauce:
makes about 1/2 – 2/3 cup

• 2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp Ponzu (if you don’t have Ponzu, you can use an extra Tbsp of soy sauce plus 2 Tbsp lime juice and 1 Tbsp water)
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• optional: 1 tsp chili paste or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and sesame oil. Add diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add diced red pepper, garlic, and shredded carrot and continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring every couple of minutes.
2. Lightly coat a smaller frying pan with cooking spray and turn onto medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add tofu and “dry fry” for 2-3 minutes (this removes excess water). Add 1/4 cup sweet and tangy sauce and cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side, or until tofu has formed a nice golden crust and sauce has been absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. To the sautéing veggies, add the edamame and mushrooms and continue to cook.
4. In a small frying pan (I used the same one used for the tofu), scramble the eggs (the way you normally would – no fancy tricks here).
5. Add the cooked rice, fried egg, remaining sweet and tangy sauce, and tofu to the pan with the veggies. Stir and cook for another minute or two, just until everything is hot. Serve with chopped scallions or cilantro and enjoy.

In a large frying pan, saute onions, peppers, carrots, and garlic

After dry-frying the tofu for a couple of minutes, add the sweet and tangy sauce and cook over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes.

Flip the tofu and sear on the other side for an additional few minutes, until each side is golden-brown.

Here’s how your caramelized tofu will look when it’s finished – a sweet and crispy golden crust with a soft interior. Yum!

Meanwhile, to your veggies add the mushrooms and edamame

Quickly scramble up your two eggs

Once the veggies are cooked to your liking, add the eggs, rice, tofu, and sweet and tangy sauce. Stir to combine and cook just until everything is hot.

Sweet & Sour Pork Stir-Fry

 

 

No story about this one, other than generally loving Asian stir-fry and teriyaki sauce!

Ingredients:
serves 4-6

• 1 lb. boneless thin-sliced center-cut pork chop
• Homemade sweet & sour teriyaki sauce:
  • 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha or other Asian chili sauce/paste)
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 5 cups assorted diced veggies (I used a cup each of onions, peppers, mushrooms, and 2 cups  chopped broccoli)
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil + 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic + 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 6 cups cooked rice (or about 1 1/2 – 2 cups uncooked rice – follow whatever measurements come with your rice)

Directions:

1. Cut pork chops into thin strips, about 2 inches long and  2 cm wide. Place in a shallow tupperware container or bowl.
2. To prepare the marinade, simply combine all ingredients for homemade sweet & spicy teriyaki sauce and whisk together until well combined. Pour teriyaki sauce over pork chop strips, making sure each piece is well-coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
3. While pork is marinating, cook rice according to box directions (if not cooked already). Set aside and cover.
4. In an extra-large frying pan, heat olive oil and sesame oil. Add diced veggies and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes).
5. While veggies are cooking, lightly spray a separate frying pan with cooking spray and heat to medium-low. Add pork chops, including all of the sauce, and cook until meat is done (about 6-8 minutes), flipping pork occasionally.
6. Add pork chops (with sauce) and rice to pan with veggies (this is why you need an extra-large pan) and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve with chopped scallions and cilantro.

whisk ingredients for teriyaki sauce together

cut pork chops into thin strips

pour teriyaki sauce over sliced pork

after marinating for 1-2 hours, remove from fridge and cook in a skillet over medium heat

 

once pork is cooked, add to cooked veggies

stir in rice, and your meal is complete!

 

Island Teryiaki Stir-Fry

Island Teriyaki Stir-Fry

The first thing I want to mention in this post is that I’m officially a college graduate! Okay, maybe not quite official because I still have one more class to take this summer, but I participated in the event anyway. Two weekends ago, I graduated along with my friends and classmates from UMass Amherst. I still find it unbelievable that four years have gone by since I started college. I know I’m getting older when I start asking myself, where did the time go? While it will be a bit of a pain to commute to a nearby university to take my summer class three times a week, it’s still somewhat of a  relief to me to have some free time before I jump right into my career. It also gives me some more time to actually figure out exactly what I want to do, because anybody who knows me well knows that I’m an incredibly indecisive person and am still in the process of pondering my future career.

The second thing I want to mention is that I recently had a photo of mine featured on Foodgawker for the first time! I logged onto WordPress a couple of weeks ago, not expecting anything exciting, when I saw that I suddenly had 1,000 more views than last time I checked a couple days earlier. I looked at Foodgawker to see if my most recent submission had been accepted, and sure enough, it had. With the craziness of graduation weekend approaching, I had almost forgotten I even submitted it. I remember telling my roommate Emily a few months ago that my goal was to have a photo featured on Foodgawker, not really believing it would happen any time soon. I realize many food bloggers have their recipes featured on Foodgawker all the time, but being new to the food blogging world, this is an exciting accomplishment for me Click here if you want to see my submission on Foodgawker.

The week before I graduated, my brother Chris visited along with Mirva and Naomi. It was really nice to have them visit me in Amherst, and also to see my niece again. We had lunch at this awesome barbeque place near me called Bub’s BBQ (if you’re ever in the area, you have to try it out) and then I took them to a nearby waterfall. These photos are straight out of my camera, so I apologize for the dark and bleh colors.

cute little Naomi

Chris, Mirva, and Naomi

The waterfall

Mirva and Naomi

all bundled up

their dog Lily racing around

Onto the food: I’m a big fan of Asian food, particularly Chinese, Japanese, and Thai. My favorite meal that my mother makes is a simple stir-fry with chicken and lots of veggies over rice. I wanted to take that and give it an Asian twist. I recently found a stir-fry sauce I really love from Trader Joe’s called Island Soyaki Sauce. Stop and Shop carries a similar teriyaki sauce called Soy Vay Island Teriyaki Sauce, which is what I used for this recipe. I love these sauces because they have that classic salty and spicy teryiaki taste, with a hint of pineapple and honey.

Traditional Chinese stir-fry is prepared in a large, round-bottomed pan called a wok and the technique is similar to sautéing. My dad bought a wok when I was younger and used to love to cook us stir-fry using it. I don’t own a wok, so I used a regular frying pan. I chose to use tofu because I actually love it (weird, I know), but I’ve cooked this recipe with chicken before and that was good, too. Steak or pork would also work nicely. To use meat, simply follow the same directions (marinating, sautéing), but note that meat takes longer to cook than tofu and it may be easier to cook it separately and add it to the veggies at the end. Marinating is optional, but it really gives the tofu or meat more flavor.

Island Teriyaki Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
serves 2-3

• 7 oz. firm or extra firm tofu (about half a package, which are typically 14 oz.)
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki Sauce (or soy/teriyaki sauce of your choice – or even make your own! I like this recipe.)
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice (I used the quick-cooking kind that only takes 10 minutes, to save time)
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/8 tsp minced ginger (or powder, if minced is not available)
• half a medium white onion, diced
• 2/3 cup chopped broccoli
• half a red bell pepper, diced
• 1/3 cup chopped mushrooms (I used portabella)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• diced green onions and cilantro to garnish

veggies and tofu simmering away

add some brown rice

Directions:

1. Slice tofu into strips and remove excess water by wrapping in a clean towel or paper towel and pressing down gently. Dice into 1-inch chunks, and place into a small plastic bag with teriyaki sauce. Toss to coat tofu evenly and place in refridgerator for 1-2 hours.
2. When tofu is done marinating, cook brown rice according to package instructions. Cover and set aside.
3. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and add garlic and ginger.
4. Add diced onions and broccoli cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in diced red pepper, cooking for another couple minutes, and then mushrooms. Mushrooms generally cook quickly, while onions take longer. This method prevents your vegetables from cooking unevenly.
5. Shortly after adding the mushrooms (2-3 minutes later), pour tofu and teriyaki sauce into pan. Make sure to get as much teriyaki sauce from the bag into the pan as possible. Add red pepper flakes.
6. Cook for another 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cooked brown rice and cook for another 2 minutes. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve.