Recipe

April 14, 2023

Seared Salmon with Pickled Carrots, Cracked Wild Rice and Bee Pollen

Recipe: Shane M. Chartrand

This salmon is from tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine by Shane M. Chartrand and Jennifer Cockrall-King. House of Anansi Press, 2019, $35.

“The Chinook salmon has a nice amount of fat in it, so it’s satisfying and foolproof, even with slight overcooking. The quick-pickled carrots have that nice counterbalance of acidity and crunch.” — Shane M. Chartrand

Ingredients

Cracked Wild Rice

  • 1 cup wild rice
  • 3 cups fish or chicken broth
  • Salt, to taste
  • 2 tbsp butter

Pickled Carrots

  • 1⁄2 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1⁄2 cup water
  • 1⁄3 cup good-quality organic honey
  • 2 tbspgranulatedsugar 2 largecarrots,peeled

Salmon

  • 21⁄2 lb. Chinook salmon, skin on and pin bones removed
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tbsp canola oil
  • 1⁄4 cup bee pollen
  • 18–22 watercress leaves

Directions

Yield: 6-8

Make Rice

  1. Combine rice, broth and big pinch of salt in pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cover with lid, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, or until most of rice kernels have opened fully, showing white inside. Drain well, season with salt and stir in butter. Cover and set aside.

Make Pickle Carrots

  1. In medium pot, combine vinegar, water, honey and sugar and bring to a boil.
  2. Cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
  3. Using vegetable peeler, cut carrot lengthwise into ribbons. Place ribbons in heatproof bowl and pour reduced vinegar mixture over top. Cover and refrigerate.

Make Salmon

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Using sharp knife, cut salmon into 6 oz. pieces and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat oil in heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Place salmon pieces skin-side down and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer pan to preheated oven and continue cooking for 4 to 6 minutes, until fish is fully translucent and flakes easily with fork. Remove pan from oven and immediately transfer cooked salmon to plate.
  4. To serve, scoop wild rice onto plate with generous pile of pickled carrots and top with salmon portion. Sprinkle with bee pollen and watercress leaves.

Serve immediately.