Serves: 4 - Time:
In the good old days when restaurants were open and we were free to roam the streets (I’m writing this during the corona lockdown for future reference) I had a wonderful lunch at Noto in Edinburgh. One of the delicious plates on the menu was a pavé of sea trout served on a halved muffin with a generous coating of gochujang hollandaise sauce. This is my version- salmon slathered in a gently hot gochujang hollandaise which I have served here with potato farls and some wilted spinach. Gochujang is a Korean red chilli paste which is usually used to make kimchi. It is widely available online and will keep in the fridge for a goodly long time. If you like a bit of a kick in your food you could stir the paste into soups and stews. It is one of my fridge staples -an invaluable ingredient to have to hand.
Ingredients
- For the gochujang hollandaise sauce
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon Chinese black vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- 150g unsalted butter
- 70g lightly salted butter
- 4 heaped teaspoons gochujang paste
- For the dish
- 2 teaspoons vegetable or olive oil
- 4 salmon fillets-preferably organic, skin on and descaled
- To serve potato farls and wilted spinach leaves
Method
- Place the egg yolks, mustard, vinegar and one tablespoon of cold water in the small bowl of a food processor and blend for 20-30 seconds. Place both the butters in a saucepan and melt over a low heat. As it starts to bubble slowly drizzle the melted butter into the food processor, with the motor running. The hollandaise sauce should be thick, about the consistency of double cream. Add the gochujang and blend until thoroughly mixed. To keep the hollandaise warm either pour into a thermos flask or fill a pudding basin or mixing bowl a third full of hot water. Pour the hollandaise sauce into a jug and place this in the basin or bowl. Stir the sauce once or twice while you cook the salmon.
- Heat the oven to fan 190˚c, mark 6. To cook the salmon, pat the salmon fillets dry with kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a frying pan and place the salmon fillets, skin-side down in the pan. Cook over a moderate heat for 5-6 minutes until you can see the flesh on the underside turning opaque. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and cook in the oven for about 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. If you haven’t got an ovenproof frying pan carefully transfer the salmon onto a baking tray. Leave for one minute then serve the salmon with the gochujang hollandaise sauce, warmed potato farls and wilted spinach.
