Ora King salmon is known as the wagyu of salmon, and Tyee Ora Nui salmon is a type that's even more rare with less than 40 fish available for sale worldwide each month. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on some from a gourmet seafood shop that used to supply it exclusively to fine dining restaurants. Given the delicate flavours and the fatty marbling, I've paired it with a refreshing acidic sauce vierge to tie it together with the tomato salad. The dish was amazing, the salmon was deep orange and so well marbled that it almost melt away in your mouth in one bite, leaving just a lingering sweetness until you go back for another bite of it.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Salmon Mi Cuit
- 2 x Tyee Ora Nui salmon (180g each), skin separated and reserved
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- olive oil
Sauce Vierge*
- 4 baby Roma tomatoes finely diced
- 1 tsp fresh dill finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp verjus
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp baby capers finely chopped
- 2 anchovy fillets finely chopped
- 1/8 tsp lemon myrtle
- 1 tbsp kombu dashi
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Tomato Salad
- 250g tomato medley quartered
Garnish
- nasturtium leaves
* Traditional sauce vierge is made with tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil and basil. I've losely interpreted it with flavours I love.
Method
1. Mix the salt, sugar and lemon zest. Rub it over the salmon steak and leave it to sit for 20 minutes to cure. Rinse it off in water and dry throughly with kitchen paper towel.
2. Make sauce vierge by adding all the ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Adjust the acidity and seasoning to your liking and let it sit to infuse the flavours together.
3. Cook the salmon in a 40 degree sous vide bath for 20 minutes.
4. Dry and season the salmon skin well. Place it on a medium heat pan and cook it until crispy.
5. To assemble, place the salmon fillet on the plate with the tomato salad, dress generously with sauce vierge and garnish with nasturtium leaves and crispy skin. Enjoy!