Home-smoked salmon with green herb lettuce salad

Method

1. Make a marinade by mixing the sugar, soy, lime and ginger in a small bowl. Lay the salmon fillets in a single layer in a shallow glass or ceramic bowl, pour over the marinade, turn to coat, then cover and chill for at least 20 minutes.

2. Line the base of the wok/pan with 2 layers of foil. Put the rice, cinnamon, star anise, peppercorns and coriander stems (reserve the leaves for the salad) in the bottom of the wok/pan on the foil. When the salmon has marinated, drain it and sprinkle the drained marinade over the rice. Set the wire rack over the rice mixture and lay the salmon on top; wrap the wok/pan in 2 layers of foil to seal tightly.

3. Put the wok/pan on the hob over a high heat. After a few minutes you’ll see the beginnings of smoke. Turn down the heat to medium and smoke the fish for 12-15 minutes (depending on the thickness of your fish), turning once. The flesh will turn opaque when it’s just cooked. Set aside to cool.

4. Put the salad ingredients with the coriander leaves in a mixing bowl. To make the dressing, bash the garlic to a paste in a pestle and mortar with the chilli, sesame seeds and sugar. Whisk in the other dressing ingredients, taste and season. (Or whizz the dressing ingredients in a mini food processor.)

5. Flake the salmon into large chunks (discard the skin). Dress the salad with half the dressing, arrange on plates with salmon chunks on top, then drizzle with the rest of the dressing to serve.

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