Baked Salmon with Green Tea & Horseradish

Genmaicha (Green Tea with Roasted Brown Rice)

Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice) is one of my favorites) and a staple of a Japanese kitchen.  A few years ago I picked up a nice salmon fillet from my local fish monger and wanted to do something unusual with cooking it.  Salmon is an oily and heartily flavored fish and I wanted something with a bit of brightness… green tea to the rescue.  I coated the fish with white horseradish, sprinkled it with a nice coating of genmaicha and baked it in parchment paper in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

The following recipe works well with any salmon, arctic char, meaty white fish or scallops.  Cooking times and processes are similar, but you'll want to check your fish to ensure it isn't over cooked or under cooked.  It should be flaky and moist at the end of baking.  It would also be good with a pile of root vegetables, although instead of cooking them in parchment, toss in olive oil, sea salt and pepper and bake in a glass baking dish over the horseradish and tea.

A note about cooking with fish:  I take sustainability very seriously and the health of my food even more seriously.  It isn't easy to know what fish is sustainably farmed, harvested and supplied to your fish monger (although hopefully they know) or which fishes are low in mercury and other toxins.  Seafood Watch has a simple guide that you can download here and a website packed full of great info.  Another tip:  I never cook fish with the skin on.  Skin (and bones) is part of a body's toxin elimination process and where most of the heavy metals are stored in the fish.  I like to remove the skin and bones when cooking to not leach any additional toxins into the meat.  You can always ask your fish monger to remove the skin and bones if you don't want to do it yourself.

INGREDIENTS (serves four)

1 1/2 - 2 pounds of salmon fillets
about 1T extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
4-5 T horseradish
4-5 T genmaicha

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lay out a piece of parchment large enough to encase your fish.  Sprinkle the parchment with a layer of tea and a few dollops of horseradish.  Spread them evenly and lay your fish on top. Coat the top of the fish with horseradish and then tea and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Fold the parchment to make a packet around the fish and roll the top to stay sealed.

Bake in your 350 degree oven for around 30 minutes or until when tested with a fork the fish will flake apart and is still moist.

I like to serve this with roasted brussels sprouts or baked squash and a deep green salad dressed simply with mirin and rice vinegar.