If you were to look at cooking and eating wild game, fish and foragables as a Rabbit hole then you could probably safely say that I am well on my way to Wonderland. After trying everything I can in as many different ways as possible I have built up an extensive history of both failures and successes. I have tried to use local wild ingredients in as many different dishes at home as I can and have used the fish I catch and animals I hunt in every type of cuisine from around the world as I can. That said I haven't even scratched the surface of the endless possibilities that the world has to offer when I comes to wild food.
For the past few years I have been going over to Lake Michigan with my father-in-law and brother-in-law to catch salmon. I have smoked, baked, grilled, poached, cured, ground and even fried it just to see what was possible. Then I came across a recipe for a quick salmon curry stir fry in Jamie Oliver's food revolution cookbook. It looked simple and I do love curry so I put it on the list of things I wanted to try. One of the things that drew me to the recipes was that it called for wild rice. I have only recently (in the last two years) began to love wild rice. Growing up it never appealed to me and every time I ate it I was turned off and disappointed.
This little stir fry turned out to be one of the biggest surprises I have ever had. I figured the salmon and curry combination would be good but what I did expect was how well wild rice and coconut curry go together. I was quite seriously blown away by it. So much so that I had to make it again a few days later just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't. I could very easily see making a curry gravy just to pour over some wild rice. If you like curry and you like wild rice I highly recommend you give it a try.
Salmon curry with Wild Rice
Adapted from a recipe in Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver
this will serve 6-8 depending
1 1/2 lbs. salmon fillet (skin off and bones removed) - cut into 1-inch chunk
3 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 handful of raw shelled peanuts (roughly chopped)
2 tablespoons of curry red paste
8 oz. fresh snow peas
2 14 oz. cans coconut milk
1 lime
3 fresh red chili, finely sliced
Small bunch of fresh cilantro , separate the leaves and stems and then finely chop the stems
Canola oil
- Put your wok or large frying pan on a high heat and add 2-3 tablespoons of Canola oil. Sauté the garlic, ginger, most of the chopped chili, and the cilantro stalks for 30 seconds
- Add the curry paste and stir for another 30 seconds. Add in the salmon, cook for a minute or so, then add the snow peas and coconut milk. Cover and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat
- Sprinkle with cilantro leaves, the remaining of the chilies, peanuts and a wedge of lime. Serve with wild rice
