Slow Cooker

Slow Cooked Salmon Fillets with Savory-Sweet Pea Shoot Soy Sauce

by:
May 12, 2010
5
1 Ratings
Slow Cooked Salmon Fillets with Savory-Sweet Pea Shoot Soy Sauce
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This recipe was inspired by a dinner I had at The James Beard House. I was amazed at the melt-in-your-mouth feel of the salmon and just had to figure out how this texture and look was created. It appears raw, but it's completely cooked! The key is to cook it at a very low temperature for approximately 20 minutes (however, each oven is different). Just make sure it feels a tad more firm to the touch than raw salmon. I thought a salty/sweet sauce would be perfect. It may appear to be a small amount of sauce, but when only lightly sprinkled on, it doesn't overpower and enhances the flavor of the salmon; it's also a great component to the pea shoots. - Mariya —Mariya

Test Kitchen Notes

The lowest temperature for my KitchenAid oven is 190 (and a oven thermometer registered the heat at about 220), quite a bit higher than the 145 called for. It has a dehydrator setting that ranges from 100 to 200. I decided to set it at 145, close the door rather than leave it cracked as you do when dehydrating, monitor the temperature and give this a go. I used a 1" thick piece of wild king salmon, about 3 ounces and began with the 20 minutes Mariya suggests. At 20 minutes, the salmon was shiny and "dry" to the touch but the inside was still very raw and no albumin had yet oozed. Oven thermometer read 170. After another 5 minutes the albumin started showing up; after another 5 minutes the albumin was oozing more; at 35 minutes total, the salmon was perfect! It had a silky, melt in your mouth texture and a lovely color, so different than poached, baked, grilled, roasted, cured or raw! The sauce was a delicious accompaniment. A unique recipe which deserves to be recognized. Monitoring the oven temperature is a must, since the normal ranges will not produce success. - Amber Olson —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 4, 6 oz salmon fillets-preferably wild
  • freshly ground black pepper-to taste
  • 2.5 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1.5 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons pea shoots-minced
  • 1 cup pea shoots-rough chop into bite size pieces
Directions
  1. Turn the oven on to 145F.
  2. Place salmon fillets onto a foil lined baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with pepper; bake fillets until they are just cooked through, yet still retain their shiny outside and are not flaking apart (approximately 20 minutes; there should be no albumin and the fish should still have a 'raw' appearance...even-though it's cooked!).
  3. Mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, honey, sesame seeds, and minced pea shoots in a bowl.
  4. Very lightly drizzle the sauce over the salmon fillets.
  5. Serve the left over sauce with the pea shoots-as a side.
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  •
  • Rita Valencia
    Rita Valencia
  • Janice N
    Janice N
  • lindachoi
    lindachoi

Popular on Food52

3 Reviews

Rita V.
Rita V. April 8, 2015
I tried the recipe in my dehydrator with the temperature set at 145º, sprinkled the 1.5 lb wild alaska fillet with cracked pepper and coarse salt and left it in for one hour. If I had let the fillet come to room temp, not just out of the refrigerator, it would not have taken so long. The color is a beautiful bright salmon red; the flavor delectable and texture melt-in-your mouth perfect--too good as is for any sauce to touch!
 
Janice N.
Janice N. April 1, 2015
This recipe needs more attention! I didn't have any pea shoots or sesame seeds, but the sauce was still wonderful with the salmon. The salmon itself took a little longer to cook. I wasn't sure how cooked it was supposed to be so I left it in for 40 minutes. It turned out incredibly tender, flavourful, and left me feeling very satisfied.
 
lindachoi
lindachoi June 28, 2010
This is similar to a popular Jacques Pepin recipe that bakes salmon at 200 for 40 minutes. Its great for guests because you can prepare it ahead of time, and if its in a little longer than 40, it doesn't seem to make much difference.