SALMON WITH TAMARIND SAUCE

Growing up in Thailand, I have a love-love relationship with fish, this Salmon with Tamarind Sauce is my take on a famous Thai dish called “Pla Rad Prik” which translates into fried fish with Thai sweet chili sauce on top. And it’s usually the whole fish. Yep, that’s how we roll in Thailand. Picking meat out of a whole fish is also a skill that all Thai kids are taught. I got fish bones stuck in my throat before, did it stop me from eating fish…. Nope. It was too good and totally worth the risk. I would just swallow a big ball of rice and that usually did the trick. Ok. I’m not selling the fish dishes very well, am I? ha ha ha.

However, today I’m not cooking the whole fish. I got some fresh salmon from Costco and cut them into fillets. The salmon was already deboned, so we should be safe. Ha ha. One thing about seafood, if it’s not fresh, forget about it. We’re living in the Midwest, so it’s challenging to find fresh seafood. The salmon I got comes with skin on one side. I like to leave it on, it helps keeping the salmon from falling apart when cooking in the pan, plus crispy salmon skin is pretty good. But if you don’t like it,  you can take it out after it’s cooked, you should be able to peel it off easily.

Here are some tips on how to pick fresh salmon fillets.

1. Look at the color and texture. Not only should the salmon be moist, but the color should be vibrant too. The fish should be firm and not mushy.
2. Smell it. You shouldn’t really smell much of anything and it definitely shouldn’t smell fishy. You’re looking for the pleasant light smell of a salty ocean breeze.
3. Don’t assume that fresh is always better than frozen. On boats, plenty of fish are put on ice right after it’s caught, to preserve its freshness.
4. Farmed-raised vs wild-caught. U.S. regulations prohibit the use of hormones or antibiotics to promote growth in farmed fish. So don’t worry too much if you can’t find wild-caught fish, farmed-raised is o.k. Just read the label and double check if there’s anything you should be concerned about.

Once your get your salmon, now let’s talk about the tamarind sauce. It has Tamarind Paste, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Fish Sauce, minced garlic and some dried chilies. You should be able to find all of these ingredients from your local Asian grocery. You can also add some cayenne pepper or hot sauce to give it some kick, if you like spicy food like me.

You’ll have a lot of Fish Sauce, Tamarind Paste and Thai Sweet Chili Sauce left to make other Thai dishes. The Thai Sweet Chili Sauce is good as condiment for grilled chicken or Chicken Lettuce Wraps. It also can be used for Grilled Rosemary Sweet Chicken Wings. Tamarind is great for making Pad Thai, the most famous Thai dish. Fish Sauce is used in many of the Thai dishes like Yum Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad),  Phad Prik King (Thai Red Curry Stir-Fried Green Beans), Thai Garlic Chicken, Yum Goon Chiang (Thai Sausage Salad), or  Tom Yum Talay (Thai Seafood Soup), etc.

For the complete list of Thai recipes on my site follow this link, Thai and other Asian recipes. I hope you check them out as well, they are all my favs. 🙂

Let’s cook some food!

First of all, season the salmon fillets on both sides with salt an pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable or Canola oil in a medium pan. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the salmon fillets into the pan (skin side down if they have skin on). Cook until the skin is brown and crispy.

In the meantime, add a tablespoon of vegetable or Canola oil into a small sauce pan. When the oil is hot, add minced garlic and dried chilies. Cook until garlic is crispy but not burnt.

Next, add Tamarind Paste, Fish Sauce, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, and cayenne pepper or hot sauce (optional). Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is thick.

Carefully flip the salmon with spatula. Cook for additional 3-4 minutes until they are done.

You can tell when the entire fillet is no longer translucent.

Transfer salmon fillets on the serving plates, spoon generous amount of the tamarind sauce on top and garnish with some cilantro leaves (optional). Serve hot with some Jasmin rice.

I really hope you give this Salmon with Tamarind Sauce a try. The recipe card is below and if you want to share any comments or feedback, please use the comment box below.