Thai Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon

I had this lovely sockeye salmon I was going to use for Lemon Dill Copper River Salmon Pinwheels and chose to shake it up and made this Thai Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon. It was well worth making this homemade, sweet Thai chili sauce, too. I used it as a marinade first and later baste the oven baked salmon with it. Sweet, heat and healthy salmon made for a perfect dinner. I served it alongside some steamed barley that I had cooked with turmeric, garlic and later stirred in some chopped chives. The young, steamed baby broccoli spears rounded out the meal.

I had every intention of making a good curry or vindaloo and set out to go to my local Indian market and round up some spices I needed. Once I got there I saw they had some fresh Bird’s Eye chili peppers. Immediately I thought of another dish like Red Kidney Bean Curry with Lamb, and remembered a recipe I had recently come across and changed my direction yet again. It’s how things work at my house and kitchen. I really start off with an idea for one thing and another creeps in, or an ingredient that is fresh takes me to another flavor or idea.

See how quickly we traveled from India over to Thailand? I roll with it.

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The Bird’s Eye Chili pepper originated in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand and are available worldwide, but here in San Diego I have only found them at my local Indian spice market. They are similar in heat to a habanero and pack a punch. I usually use latex gloves when handling them, because once a itch on my eyelid was not worth the scratch. An hour later my eyelid was still on fire.

I like to get all my ingredients out and make sure my mis en place is set up when doing a recipe for the first time. I followed the directions to the letter, but the sauce really never came to, or was in any danger of ever becoming a paste. So I cut out the amount of water used from the original recipe. Don’t quite know what to say about that, but it still was delicious nonetheless.

Heat olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat, add garlic and green onions. Cook until light golden brown about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon from the oil and transfer to a food processor. Leave remaining oil in the pan.

Now the original recipe recommended red pepper flakes, but I wanted to shake it up a little, too and hence used the Bird’s Eye Chili. So, using latex gloves trim the stems off peppers. Add Birds Eye pepper, or red pepper flakes, fish sauce, palm sugar, lime, water and tamarind paste to the food processor and purée until smooth.

Return the paste to the frying pan and stir it into the oil over low heat for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Whisk together your Thai sweet chili paste, soy sauce and grated ginger in a shallow dish until well combined.

Go ahead and dip your finger in there and take a taste, it is heavenly. Add the salmon fillets, skin side up and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Look at that beautiful salmon! I mean that rich, ruby red is amazing. I didn’t use salmon steaks cut in half, but portioned mine into six 4 ounce servings.

I also really wanted to do this in my cast iron skillet that I had recently seasoned to perfection, it was dying to be used for this, and then I ended up using my round baking stone instead. It just worked better.

Preheat oven to 350° and place a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with Silpat (silicone baking sheet), or aluminum foil and lightly grease it with olive oil (alternatively you can use a cast iron skillet or baking stone).

Place salmon fillets onto the prepared baking sheet, skin side down, and drizzle the marinade over them.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil, turn on the broiler and broil for 3 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Remove from oven and serve with marinade spooned on top.

Behold the finished plate. I love the nutty flavor and texture of barley and have been using a lot more grains instead of my usual white rice. I put a crushed clove of garlic and a pinch of turmeric in the water prior to steaming the barley for a little added punch and color. The steamed broccoli spears with a squeeze of lemon juice round out the meal. But have what you like and let me know how yours turns out. I’m definitely making this one again.

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Review

5 from 1 vote

Thai Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon

Adapted from Mike over at The Iron You.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time33 mins

Total Time38 mins

Servings: 2

Calories: 520kcal

Author: Kevin

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil or melted coconut oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 scallions white and green parts, finely chopped
• 4 birds eye chilis (See Note 1)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp raw coconut palm sugar or raw organic honey
• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp tamarind paste optional
• 1 1/2 lbs salmon skin on or off
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat, add garlic and green onions. Cook until light golden brown about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon from the oil and transfer to a food processor. Leave remaining oil in the pan.
• Trim stems off peppers. Add birds eye pepper or red pepper flakes, fish sauce, palm sugar, lime, water and tamarind paste to the food processor and purée until smooth.
• Return the paste to the frying pan and stir it into the oil over low heat for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Whisk together your Thai sweet chili paste, soy sauce and grated ginger in a shallow dish until well combined. Add the salmon fillets, skin side up and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350° and place a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with Silpat (silicone baking sheet), or aluminum foil and lightly grease it with olive oil (alternatively you can use a cast iron skillet or baking stone).
• Place salmon fillets onto the prepared baking sheet, skin side down, and drizzle the marinade over them.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil, turn on the broiler and broil for 3 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• Remove from oven and serve with marinade spooned on top.

Notes

1. Birds Eye Chilis are hot and if unable to find you can substitute 3 teaspoons of red pepper flakes for the amount use din this recipe. Of course you can adjust to your tastes depending on how hot you like it.

 

Nutrition Facts

Thai Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon

Amount Per Serving (1 g)

Calories 520 Calories from Fat 329

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 36.5g 56%

Saturated Fat 7.1g 36%

Cholesterol 93.6mg 31%

Sodium 1423mg 59%

Total Carbohydrates 10.7g 4%

Dietary Fiber 0.6g 2%

Sugars 7.9g

Protein 36.8g 74%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Adapted from The Iron You.