Salmon and flavours go perfectly

Intensely flavoured, vibrantly coloured and very adaptable, salmon makes a delicious, and rather special weeknight dinner as well as indulgent treat.

Once regarded as somewhat exclusive and only served on special occasions, nowadays salmon is more widely available and nowhere near as expensive. It goes so well with so many flavours, leaving you free to experiment.

Here I’ve blended sweet chilli sauce with soy sauce, brushed this over the salmon and left it to marinate briefly. Into the oven for 15 minutes before sprinkling with nuts and seeds, then a final burst of heat. Serve this gorgeous concoction with a crisp salad.

I always use New Zealand king salmon as the taste is so superior and cost to the environment much less. Two species of salmon are available in New Zealand. The other is Atlantic salmon, farmed in Norway, frozen shipped to New Zealand and sold in supermarkets more cheaply than our own king salmon.

For depth of flavour and colour, choose New Zealand salmon.

Seed and nut crusted salmon

Serves 2

Ingredients

300g boneless salmon fillet, skin on

2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1½ Tbsp soy sauce

50g mixed nuts and seeds. I used slivered almonds, chopped pecans, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds.

Method

Line a shallow oven dish (22cm x 15cm) with a sheet of non-stick baking paper.

Place the salmon portions skin side down on the prepared oven dish.

In a small bowl stir together the sweet chilli sauce and the soy sauce. Using a pastry brush, brush the salmon liberally with the sauces.

Marinate the salmon for 15 minutes to 1 hour. 

When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 200degC.

Place the salmon into a pre-heated oven and cook for 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven and sprinkle each fillet with the nuts and seeds.

Return to the oven for 5 minutes to crisp up the nuts and seeds.