‘Red-cooked’ refers to a Chinese technique of poaching or braising in a soy-sauce based liquid. Salmon is not a typical fish in Chinese cuisine but it worked well for this.
As to the Sesame Asparagus….. We’ve been making this for years and it’s always a favorite. It’s great at room temperature or cold.
This is a spring dish – when it’s too cold to use the grill but we have asparagus.
Red-Cooked Salmon with Sesame Asparagus
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets, 12oz (360gr) total weight
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) soy sauce
- 1 tbs minced ginger
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) water
- 3 tbs peanut butter
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tbs sherry
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 12oz (360gr) green asparagus, roll cut asparagus in 1 inch (2.5 cm) lengths
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp sesame seeds, divided
Instructions:
- Add the soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and water to a skillet just large enough to hold the salmon easily.
- Add the salmon, flesh side down, cover and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer slowly, bubbles barely breaking the surface, for 15 minutes, carefully turning the salmon half way through.
- At this point salmon should be cooked through, flesh opaque. If not simmer another 3 – 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let rest, covered until ready to serve.
- Asparagus: While salmon cooks, heat a large saucepan half-full of water to boiling.
- Drop in asparagus and blanch for 2 minutes.
- Drain and immediately rinse with cold water.
- Spread them on paper towels and pat dry.
- In a bowl big enough to nicely hold the asparagus mix soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.
- Add asparagus and toss lightly to coat.
- Sprinkle with 1 tsp sesame seeds.
- Peanut Sauce: Combine peanut butter, sherry, 1 tbs soy sauce, garlic and chili powder, mixing well.
- When ready to serve, remove salmon to plates.
- Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sesame seeds and add a bit of peanut sauce..
- Add asparagus to plates and serve.
My computer is on a desk, tucked under the stairs. Tucked further under the stairs is my small file cabinet, then the printer (which I have to be on my knees to use) and then, way back against the wall, behind everything, underneath the bottom steps, totally inaccessible, is a box.
It was raining the other day and I decided to clean the computers. When one heats with wood and lives in farm country with 2 big dogs, one has to periodically take the computers out to the barn, take the side panel off and blow the dust out with the air compressor.
I do it every few months.
I have found spiders.
Anyway, since I had everything un-cabled (so I could dust the cables) I decided to pull out the printer and clean behind it.
Which brought me closer to the box….
I don’t think it’s been opened since we left the US…. Just moved from place to place. I decided have a look.
As was expected it was bits of my life, starting with my first doll.
I couldn’t believe that I could name everyone one of my 3rd grade classmates from their photos. Why I kept the photos from 3rd grade and not any other grade I have no idea.
On the other hand I couldn’t even find myself in the first communion class photo. Maybe I didn’t go….
I found book reports from 5th grade, my high school trigonometry book and papers I wrote in college.
One photo I found really made me pause.
I worked in sales in the early years. I don’t know if companies still send their recruits to ‘sales school’ – or, for that matter, if there are still corporate sales people, but when I started it was the norm.
Normally, there would be a beginning, general, sales school, then more product specific or technical schools. As I was selling computers, I attended a few schools. They were usually two or three weeks long and held at ‘headquarters. For NCR that was Sugar Camp in Dayton.
I digress….
The photo I have is a group photo of one of the classes. There were 18 of us; 17 men and me.
When I looked at it today I thought ‘how unusual, only one woman’. But I remember, at the time it seemed perfectly normal. I remember going to conferences with 150 attendees and being the only woman. I remember, once, seeing another woman in a large meeting and my first thought wasn’t ‘Great, another woman’ but ‘How weird, I wonder who she is.’
But that was then…. Why oh why are we still seeing photos of meetings and important events with no women present?
When I posed for that photo, back in the late 70’s / early 80’s, I just assumed that I was part of the first wave of a new era of equality.
Apparently, it’s a very slow moving wave.
On the other hand – I never had to share a hotel room….
I see you as a pioneer ….fabulous stuff xx
kate, very true – when I think back about all the lawsuits I could have filed…. At the time we just dealt with it all and hoped it would change.