Salmon En Papillote (Asian Twist)

I thought I’d give an Asian twist to this ‘salmon en papillote’ dish as I am sure there are plenty of variations out there. Feel free to experiment and play with this recipe by substituting spinach with fennel, rice wine with white wine, soy sauce with salt or anchovies, mushrooms with capsicum, etc. It all depends on your taste and the flavors you like.

• Ready In: 22 mins
• Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 1 (200 g)  salmon fillets, skin on (can remove the skin if you do not like it)
• 1⁄2 bunch  Baby Spinach (or normal English spinach)
• 2 -3  button mushrooms, sliced into 1/2cm pieces (normal mushroom)
• 1 -2  red chile, cut lengthwise (leave stem attached for easy discard at the end)
• 3  asparagus spears, thick ends removed (you can use more if you like asparagus like I do)
• 1 1⁄2 cm  piece fresh ginger, peeled, grated
• 1  tablespoon  shaoxing rice wine (but can substitute with sherry, sake, cooking wine)
• 1  tablespoon mirin
• 1  tablespoon soy sauce
• 1  pinch black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Place the spinach on the baking paper. Add the chilies, 3/4 of the mushrooms and the asparagus and season with some pepper.
3. Place the salmon on top of asparagus and add the grated ginger and season with more pepper. Top the salmon with the rest of the mushrooms.
4. Fold the paper over to enclose the filling. Fold in the edge to seal, leaving a gap of approx 3cm.
5. Mix the wet ingredients into a ‘dressing’. Adjust to taste.
6. Pour the ‘dressing’ inside the paper through the gap. Now you can fold in the rest of the paper. The dressing will help keep the salmon moist and will add flavor to the dish.
7. Place the fish on a large baking tray and bake for 12 minutes or until the salmon is just cooked. I prefer it medium done in the middle.
8. Serve with a side salad.