Get In My (SALMON) Belly!

This salmon belly recipe has become one of our favorite summertime dinners. Here the delicious bellies are pan seared and served on a bed of jasmine rice, with spring peas, shiitake mushrooms and fresh green onion.

One of our honorary Four Star Home Chefs, Matt White (Instagram @cobrawhitey) cooked up this creation you see here. Matt says: “These salmon bellies are absolutely delicious when pan seared to perfection, just so the skins get extra crispy” — and we couldn’t agree more!

INGREDIENTS

Yields 2 servings. 

Salmon Belly Bowl:

• 1lb of salmon bellies
• 1 cup of soy sauce (Tamari sauce for gluten free)
• 1 cup of jasmine rice
• Half pound of snap peas, cut in 1/3rds at an angle
• Half point of shiitake mushrooms
• 3 green onions chopped at an angle, separate whites from greens
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• Sesame seeds for garnish

Marinade:

• 1 cup of soy sauce (Tamari sauce for gluten free)
• Tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• Tablespoon of fresh ginger finely chopped
• Tablespoon of onion powder
• Tablespoon of garlic powder
• Teaspoon of sesame oil
• Tablespoon of olive oil
• Tablespoon of ponzu sauce
• Tablespoon of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Marinade:

• Mix marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add salmon bellies making sure marinade is just covering.
• Marinate in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour (no more than an hour).

Rice:

• Rinse rice in colander until water runs clear.
• Cook rice to specifications on rice packaging.

Salmon Belly Bowl:

• In non-stick, oven safe pan on medium heat (I used cast iron), warm olive oil.
• Add shiitake mushrooms and green onion whites, cooking until softened (2-3 minutes).
• Increase heat to medium high and add snap peas, garlic, and 1/4 cup of soy sauce to the pan and fry for 1 minute until peas become bright green but still crispy. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove mushrooms and peas from pan to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
• Wipe out pan used for mushrooms and peas. 
• Add high heat oil to pan to coat the bottom of pan - 2-3 tablespoons (We used grapeseed oil for this step).
• Add bellies flesh side down for 30 seconds.
• Flip bellies to skin side down for max 1 minute.
• Remove bellies to cooling rack or paper towel lined plate to get rid of excess oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Plating:

• Plate the rice in bowl.
• Cover rice with mushroom and snap peas.
• Lay salmon bellies atop.
• Sprinkle dish with sesame seeds.
• Garnish with greens tops of green onion.
• Add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.