I first made pineapple kimchi when celebrating Thanksgiving in Hawaii, said Linda Shiue. I wanted something to make our turkey dinners taste more “local” – and came up with the idea of combining chunks of pineapple with kimchi to use in place of cranberry sauce. Here, it makes a super accompaniment to teriyaki salmon.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 500g salmon fillet, skin on, cut into four pieces
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 3 small garlic cloves, mashed
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp tamari or light soy sauce
- 2 spring onions, cut on diagonal into 5cm lengths
For the kimchi:
- 2 tbsp grated garlic (about 6-9 cloves)
- 1 tbsp peeled and grated ginger
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) or Aleppo chilli flakes, or 2 tbsp crushed chilli pepper flakes, smashed in a mortar and pestle, or ground in a spice blender into finer flakes
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 ripe pineapple, peeled and cut into 2.5cm cubes (core included)
Method
- To make the kimchi, place the garlic, ginger, sugar, gochugaru, coriander leaves, fish sauce and water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Combine the spice mixture with the pineapple in a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate, unless you’re using it right away. It makes around 1 litre.
- While the kimchi rests, prepare the salmon. Pat the skin dry with kitchen paper. Season both sides with the salt. Heat a medium non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat, then add the oil, swirling to coat the pan. Add the garlic, then the salmon, skin-side down. Cook for about 4 minutes, then drizzle with the honey before flipping over. Pour the tamari on top and allow it to swirl under the salmon. Add the spring onions and reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until both sides are glazed and browned and flesh begins to flake apart when pierced with a fork or the tip of a knife.
- Spoon the kimchi over the top of the salmon. Serve immediately. Refrigerate the remaining kimchi in a tightly sealed container – it will last for up to 3 months.
Taken from The Apothecary Chef by Natasha MacAller
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