Honey Soy Salmon with Pear and Chilli Salad (Low calorie fish recipe)

Anyway, here’s the thing. We’re on a bit of a cut-back-on-all-the-treats-diet after way too much indulgence in England and Malaysia recently. Clotted cream, cider, puddings, and then lots of scrummy Asian food in Kuala Lumpur.

So I’ve been experimenting, like you do, with some new recipes to kick start this new low calorie regime and today’s offering has some interesting food combinations.

Back in the day my grandparents would have probably thrown a hissy fit at the way we mix and match different foods.

Fusion? They would have understood the process of joining two things together to make something else,  but they’d probably not ever have associated it with food. Nor did they use frequently, or have on hand the food products we so take for granted in 2015.

Did any of your grandparents utter words like this …

Garlic? Foreign muck.

Mangoes? Something old colonials ate in the tropics.

Bananas? The Americans used to bring them over in the war – a real treat.

My how we’ve changed. I can just see my paternal grandmother stoking the wood fire with indignation as I mention teaming salmon with soy sauce and honey. Surely a lamb roast and three veg is experimental enough, she’s thinking? And my maternal grandmother … well, she’d be having a beer at the pub, after taking communion at church on a Sunday morning while her 95 year old home-help and lodger, Maggie, boiled the ham and simmered the cabbage waiting for the family to return.

So for my grandparents – today in heaven, here’s something new.

A low calorie fish recipe with benefits.

It is heavenly, I promise you, and I hope Lifestylers that you enjoy it as much as we did. It’s also low in calories (under 400 per person).

Honey Soy Salmon with Pear and Chilli Salad

Serves 2

Prep and Cook +- 35 minutes

Ingredients

Half a teaspoon ground black pepper

2 Star Anise

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

2 Tablespoons runny honey

Vegetable or olive oil cooking spray

200g salmon fillet (preferably skin off)

2 pears sliced thinly

1 long red chilli, sliced thinly (if you like chillis you could add 2)

Half a mug of Coriander leaves

Half a mug of mint leaves

Generous helping of lettuce leaves – torn up

Asian Sesame Dressing

Half teaspoon sesame oil

1 generous tablespoon mirin

1 generous tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 generous tablespoons japanese soy sauce

A little ground pepper

Here’s what to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F

Put the pepper and star anise in a small pan and dry fry them, stirring frequently, until they emit their fragrance.

Add the soy sauce and honey, and bring to the boil, keep stirring for about a minute.

Line a shallow baking dish with enough foil to cover the fish as well. Spray with cooking oil.

Put the fish in the baking dish.

Make a few small slits in the fish and then brush all over (sides as well) with the honey and soy mixture.

Cover the fish and then roast for around 15 minutes or until fish is cooked to your liking.

Make the Asian Sesame Dressing – stir well, or shake well in a small jar.

Combine salad ingredients in a bowl (Save some fresh chilli strips for garnishing)

Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving (not too soon as it tends to go soggy)

Serve the salmon warm, with the salad.

Mmm, enjoy!

You might also like : Potato Terrine with Salmon

What seemingly strange food combinations do you like putting together? Mango and Chilli, Strawberries and balsamic? Please share your favourites in the comments.