I didn’t know that there’s so much debate about whether we should eat wild salmon or farmed salmon. Salmon was something I ate only when I went to the buffet dinner at Cafe Vienna @ Royal Plaza on Scotts (Orchard Road) on special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries and occasions which had a  nostalgic feel to them. Now I believe it is no longer called Cafe Vienna but The Carousel. That was when I was in Singapore. Now, I cook salmon when I feel we need a break from the chicken, meat, prawn and tilapia diet. Unknkowingly, this choice of making salmon dishes a once a fortnight meal could be a healthy decision.  The other thing I enjoy doing is looking for new salmon recipes, modifying them and trying them out. This makes preparing the salmon a treat! Anyway, being an expensive fish, it can’t hurt to go a little out of my way to make it worth the palate as well. Here’s a recipe that I found on the net and tweaked to make it my own. Enjoy!

Ingredients: Serves 4

4 serving size portions of salmon (with skin)

Marinate for fish:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Curry Sauce:

1 tbsp oil
1/2 tbsp ground ginger
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 tsp fish spice
1 tbsp fish curry powder (I used House Brand Fish Curry Powder)
1 cup evaporated milk or coconut milk
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
(no salt is added because of the soy sauce)

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the fish marinate. Stir well to combine.
2. In a bowl or container big enough to place all the fish fillets separately without overlapping them, pour the marinate on the fish.
3. Coat the whole fillet with the sauce. Then place the flesh side down to soak in the marinate.
4. Marinate for 10 minutes.
5. Heat a non-stick pan. The pan must be very hot when you place the salmon skin side on the pan to sear it. (Remember to turn the cooker hood on so that the alarm will not sound!)
6. Pour half the marinate on the salmon as it cooks.
7. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook for 4 - 5 minutes.
8. Turn the fish over, pour the rest of the marinate and cook for another 4 - 5 minutes.
9. Remove from pan, pour the leftover sauce (if any) from the pan over the fish.
10. Cover with aluminium foil and keep aside.

Sauce:

1. While the fish is marinating. Prepare the ingredients for the sauce.
2. In a bowl, combine milk, soy sauce, tomato puree.
3. In a pot, heat oil and fry the fish spice, ginger and garlic for 1 minute. 
4. Add the curry powder and fry till fragrant and the curry powder will clump to the spices.
5. Pour half the milk mixture. Stir so that all the clumps disappear.
6. Then add the rest of the milk mixture.
7. Bring to a boil.
8. Pour over the prepared fish.
9. Serve hot with rice. 

Tips:

• If you’re able to watch over two dishes on the firs at the same time, you can cook the sauce while the fish is searing. By the time your sauce is ready, the fish should be ready too.
• Eat paratha/prata with leftover curry sauce. MMMMMmmm…YUM!!