If you’ve ever had Hainanese chicken rice, then you understand the power of simple flavors cooked in a particular way. If you aren’t familiar, its a chicken and rice dish from the Chinese province of Hainan, but its extremely popular in Singapore. It generally consists of boiling a whole chicken in water with ginger, garlic, and scallions, then using that chicken broth to cook rice. The boiled & flavorful chicken is served on the rice with this delicious ginger and scallion oil sauce.
I love this meal. But I couldn’t help but think that the flavors of it would go extremely well with salmon. And, salmon cooks so quickly, that you can do this all in a rice cooker. You don’t dirty many dishes, the rice is flavored with the salmon, and it is a delicate and flaky dish that is surprisingly packed with flavor.
“Hainanese” Style Salmon
Ingredients
- 1-2 filets Atlantic salmon
- 2 cups Sushi rice uncooked
- 2 cups Water
- 3-4 cloves Garlic smashed
- 2 inch Ginger piece peeled and finely minced (~3 tbsps)
- 1 bunch Scallions half cut into thirds, half thinly sliced
- 1 Red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup Rice vinegar
- Dill sprigs
- ¼ cup Neutral oil
- Kosher salt
- 5 Whole peppercorns
- MSG optional
Instructions
- Heat 1 cup rice vinegar over medium heat with any spices and aromatics, a few sprigs of dill, a pinch of salt, and a few whole black peppercorns. Place 1 sliced red onion in a heat-safe container and pour the hot vinegar mixture over the onions. Set aside or in the fridge and allow to cool.
- Rinse your sushi rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. At least 3 times of rinsing and draining. Add 2 cups of rinsed sushi rice and 2 cups of water to the rice cooker. To the top of the rice, add the roughly sliced ginger, 3-4 garlic cloves, and the scallions cut into thirds. Close the lid and press the ‘Cook’ button.
- Approximately 10-15 minutes before the rice cooker is done, open it up and place the salmon filet(s) on top of the rice. Close the lid and resume cooking.
- In a separate heat-safe bowl, add 3 tbsp minced ginger and 3 tbsp sliced scallions. Heat up 1/4 cup neutral oil in a pot on the stove to at least 300-350ºF. Carefully pour the hot oil over the scallion and ginger. Allow to sizzle until it stops. Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and MSG. Stir to combine.
- Optional Sriracha sauce: Combine 3 tbsp sriracha with the juice of 1 lime. Mix in minced or grated garlic and ginger to your preference. Add a splash of soy sauce.
- Once the salmon and rice are done cooking, remove any large pieces or ginger, garlic, or scallion. Serve the salmon on top of hot rice. Add the ginger scallion oil sauce on top of the fish, along with the sriracha sauce. Garnish with pickled red onion and any extra sliced scallions.
