Pan Fried Salmon with Korean Mushrooms and Japanese Creamy Sesame Dressing

I am crap at food styling.
Obviously.

I didn't know what got into me when I decided to place this piece of salmon on one side of the plate, and pour the mushroom sesame sauce forming a weird upside down V-shape. I decided not to show you the big picture because I don't wanna turn you off this yumminess.

I am quite pleased by this week's food experiences.
A quick visit to City Super (armed with a bunch of coupons) scored me quite a selection of stuff I can't wait to try, including these salmon steaks, Korean mushrooms and Japanese creamy sesame dressing.

They're bound to create an easy harmony, I could already hear the melody in my head...(p-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face. Wait a minute. No sorry, that's an entirely different story)

The dish is super easy, the only thing to worry about is the pan frying of salmon. Never, ever leave a piece of salmon on a hot pan when trying to play with the other....or you'll end up with this:

This piece was a bit dry, but the creamy mushroom sauce compensated it.

Recipe
- 2 pieces of salmon fillet (HK$60)
- 1 pack of mushrooms (I used these cute yellow Korean mushrooms, HK$9)
- 1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 small clove of shallot, thinly sliced
- olive oil, salt, black pepper
- Japanese creamy sesame dressing (I bought HK$40 for a bottle, you can select cheaper/more expensive ones)

Cut off the bottom stem of mushrooms, clean them. Prepare garlic and shallot. Saute garlic and shallot in 1 tsp of olive oil, add mushrooms, let them cook until wilted and a bit browned. Pour the sesame dressing generously, add salt/black pepper if desired. Set aside. Season all sides of salmon with salt and black pepper, pour a bit of olive oil and rub them good. Let them sit for a couple of minutes while you heat up your pan (preferably non stick). Once the pan is hot, turn down heat to medium, place the pieces of salmon, skin down. Let cook for 2 minutes, flip once, and remove once it feels done (firm but not too fragile), let the salmon rest for a couple of minutes, pour creamy mushroom dressing and serve. Garnish with parsley if you have them (I didn't T_T).

We had this for a quick weekend lunch, serve this over pasta or your choice of potatoes if you want something more "substantial".

Stay tuned for more ways to use the Japanese creamy sesame dressing.

I think it is also one of those things that taste fantastic on EVERYTHING.

Sesame Grilled Chicken with Veggie Rice - the Benefits of Cooking at Home

Some friends who did not understand my new found passion for experimenting in my kitchen (Yes, experiments. More failures than successes. :p) and writing about them in a blog always wonder why the heck I carry my camera at all times and take pictures of everything I eat like a scoop hungry paparazzi (the difference is, things I am after can't be considered a scoop)...and most of all, they were wondering why the heck I bother cooking at home??!!! Isn't that such a waste of my super valuable time??!! I live in HONG KONG, for freak's sake! Heaven of convenience as well as cheap and tasty food! The home of HK$10/bowl wonton noodles, served faster than I could finish saying "one wonton noodles, please" as well as 100001 other choices of yummy treats, local and international.

I asked myself the very question, and I concluded that
Cooking at home....
- is cost saving. I generally spend HK$40-50 to prepare 4 meals (HK$12.5/meal = US$1.6/meal) compared to HK$30-40/meal dining out. I don't count my man hour as I enjoy doing it hehe
- at least allows you to say "I cook" (add barely, badly or well as desired/required) with pride
- impresses your in-laws (or in-laws to be). Who doesn't like a homely girl who cooks? They don't really need to know that this girl/boy might party like an animal outside LOL...and the result of the "cooking" might be inedible most of the time LOL
- keeps your sous chef happy. It shows you care. Plus, outside, he/she can proudly say "my girl/man does this wayyyy better!". Yep, home cooking keep them home ^_*
- is the perfect activity for you and your sous chef. You guys can brain storm, throw ideas, annoy/seduce each other in the kitchen (handle with care, please. We don't wanna see any kitchen appliances related "accidents"), gaze into each others eyes admiringly at dinner table, sing sweet praises about each other's skills (or at least efforts), fight about who's the top chef in the house, use the results of "cooking" in other places such as bedroom, etc etc etc (I had to stop here before it goes beyond R-rated :p). Doesn't it sound like FUN? ^_*

Don't get me started on the benefits of food blogging...hehehe...

Anyways, here's my...
Sesame Grilled Chicken

Recipe
(serves 4)
- 3 chicken leg fillets, cut each fillet into 2, trim excess fat, keep skin on
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of shallot, finely chopped
- honey
- sesame paste
- white sesame seeds, toasted
- salt, pepper
- butter, olive oil

Boil chicken with some salt and pepper until just cooked, keep the stock. Preheat oven to 250C. Lay chicken pieces on an oven tray, add butter, olive oil, garlic and shallot pieces, salt and pepper, sesame paste, honey, mix and rub until all the chicken pieces are well covered, sprinkle sesame seeds, grill until chicken skin is golden brown and crisp. I cut each fillet into bite sized chunks (optional). To avoid cooking a separate veggie dish, serve it with...

Veggie Rice

Recipe
(serves 4)
- 1 head of Chinese lettuce, finely chopped
- 1.5 cups of rice
- a sprig of spring onions, finely chopped
- a bit of olive oil
- salt, pepper
- chicken stock (optional)
- fried garlic/shallot to garnish

Pour rice, add chicken stock according to the rice cooker (if you don't have a rice cooker, the liquid should be up to 1 cm above the rice - I like my rice a bit mushy, you can add less liquid for harder texture), add water if you don't have enough chicken stock (alternatively, you can use just water, without chicken stock). Add chopped spring onion, veggie, some olive oil, salt and pepper, mix well. Turn on your rice cooker, sprinkle fried garlic or shallots to garnish.

This meal is sooo going to score me major brownie points from my sous chef...pssst, I want a pressure cooker!