Ingredients
- 2 Salmon filets
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Turmeric (roughly ¼ teaspoon per filet)
- Ginger powder (roughly ¼ teaspoon per filet)
- Fresh herbs of your choosing — mint, cilantro, thai basil, and chives work well
- Cucumber
- Pickled carrots (raw carrots can be substituted)
- Lettuce greens (mizuna, arugula, red or green leaf, romaine, or spring mix)
- Rice paper
- Steamed banh hoi (sheets of noodles)
- Hoisin peanut sauce
- Nước chấm (Vietnamese dipping sauce)
Preparation
De-stem the herbs and tear off individual leaves or roughly chop. Cut cucumbers and carrots into matchsticks. The amount appropriate will depend upon personal taste and how many your tiny humans will eat before everything arrives at the table. Prepare sauces (see below).
Heat a cast iron skillet or heavy bottom pan with roughly ¼ inch of a high heat oil of your choosing. The oil should be hot enough that water flicked from your fingertips onto the oil crackles upon contact. Dust the top (non-skin side) of the salmon filets with turmeric, ginger powder, and a pinch or two of salt & pepper. Place the salmon filets in the skillet, skin side down. Cook for roughly 5 minutes or until the sides turn opaque (see picture above). Flip over to sear, about 1 minute. Serve skin side up, so the skin remains crispy.
Arrange the rice paper, banh hoi, herbs, veggies, and salmon in dishes, family style. Encourage everyone to roll up their own spring rolls with the fillings of their choice. Give tiny humans a little assistance, but let them do as much as they can by themselves.
Served with hoisin peanut sauce and/or nước chấm dipping sauce. If you’re looking for an additional adventure, below are recipes for each.
