Salmon with XO Cream Sauce
Cara created this dish for America's Culinary Cup Season 1. Tasked with reinventing Eric Ripert's iconic unilaterally-cooked salmon, she rebuilt it through her Chinese repertoire with a cream-softened XO sauce, glazed baby turnips, and scallions prepared two ways. The judges praised the silken, gently-cooked fish and the warming depth of the XO, awarding 113 of 120 points for first place.
- Time: 105 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- FOR THE SHELLFISH STOCK
- Neutral oil — 1 tbsp / 15 ml
- Shrimp or lobster shells — 8 oz / 225 g
- Tomato paste — 1 tbsp / 15 g
- Shallot, halved — 1
- Garlic, smashed — 2 cloves
- Dry white wine — 1/2 cup / 120 ml
- Water — 4 cups / 1 L
- FOR THE TWICE-BLANCHED PICKLED GINGER
- Fresh ginger, fine julienne — 2 in / 5 cm piece
- Rice vinegar — 1/4 cup / 60 ml
- Granulated sugar — 1 tbsp / 12 g
- Salt — 1 pinch
- FOR THE GLAZED TURNIPS & WILTED GREENS
- Baby turnips — 8 small, greens reserved
- Unsalted butter — 2 tbsp / 30 g
- Garlic, thinly sliced — 1 clove
- Reserved turnip greens — 2 cups / 60 g, washed well
- Reserved shellfish stock — a splash
- FOR THE SCALLIONS
- Scallions — 1 bunch
- Neutral oil — 2 tbsp / 30 ml, divided
- FOR THE XO CREAM SAUCE
- Shallot, finely minced — 1 small
- XO sauce — 1/4 cup / 60 g
- Heavy cream — 3/4 cup / 180 ml
- Shellfish stock — 1/4 cup / 60 ml
- Fresh lemon juice — 1 tsp / 5 ml
- FOR THE UNILATERAL SALMON
- Salmon fillet, skin-on, center-cut — 4 x 6 oz / 4 x 170 g, pin-boned
- Kosher salt — to taste
- Neutral oil — 2 tbsp / 30 ml
- Unsalted butter — 2 tbsp / 30 g, for basting
- TO FINISH
- Salmon roe — 4 tsp
- Flaky sea salt — to taste
- EQUIPMENT
- Heavy-bottomed non-stick or carbon-steel skillet
- Fish spatula and a basting spoon
- Medium saucepan and fine-mesh sieve