Oh You Salmon in a Bengali Mustard Sauce.....

In looking to improve the breadth of my cooking abilities, I decided that for this Thursday night's dinner I would make the switch from poultry to fish. Of course we all love the extreme versatility of meat such as chicken, but surprisingly enough, fish can tickle your fancy and your cooking imagination just the same. In our flat, we go back and forth between the stages of eating well and "not so much," in the way table tennis would look if it was in slow motion.

So in choosing a fish to align with our current health kick, I chose salmon, the go-to "I want those Omega-3s" fish. Let me just say this was an adventure in the kitchen, mostly because the salmon we bought from Tescos was gigantic and still had the skin on it... How fun!

Here is the recipe that I found on the glorious epicurious.com:

To Rub on the Fish
3/4 pound skinless salmon fillet (more on what I actually used later...)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Ingredients
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons mustard seed oil (use extra virgin olive oil as a substitue)
1/4 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
2 fresh hot green and/or red chilies (bird's eye is best), slit slightly

*N.B. As a lover of sauce and all things tasty, I doubled all the ingredients in the recipe....

Here lies the Salmon we purchased from Tescos, reduced from £20 to £9! Seemingly a bargin but if only I knew what was to ensue....

And so began the deconstruction of the fish. Let me just say that as a student, we do not have top notch materials, but we do have a few sharp knives that do some of the elbow work for us. But have you ever taken the skin off a fish? It is certainly no easy task. Nevertheless, for the sake of our hunger, I went for it. Although by the end of this venture (in which I took the sharpest knife we have and cut right under the skin), my hands were covered in salmon, I did come out victorious:

With my salmon ready, I filleted the fish into 8 pieces, removing any grissly bits or parts of the salmon that just didn't make the cut.

 Finally, the hard part was out of the way! Excitingly enough, I got to make a rub (a new cooking activity for me) out of the aforementioned salt, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Now at this stage I did not double the rub, but in retrospect I wish I did!

Anywho, with the rub made and mixed together, I rubbed the fish in a small bowl until all had an even coating. Then I covered the bowl with cling film and set it aside in the fridge for an hour. (N.B. The original recipe calls for a chilling time of anywhere from 30 minutes to 10 hours.)

 As the rubbed salmon was chilling away in the fridge, I began the mustard paste, here doubling the ingredients for more saucy goodness. In a small bowl, I combined the later mentioned mustard powder (which I grounded up from mustard seeds), cayenne pepper, turmeric, and salt. 

In the spirit of doubling, I (later) doubled the water added, beginning with 1 tablespoon mixed thoroughly, then adding another 7 before putting to the side. 

 

 Eager to begin cooking, I laid out everything necessary: the mustard seeds in one glass, the cumin and fennel seeds in another, the slightly slit chilies (medium heat to appease the mouths of my flatmates), and the mustard paste (pre-last batch of water...). 

Now in this next stage, the tranquility of the kitchen turned slightly chaotic, as I did not add the second stream of water until much later in the game. In looking back, I probably did not need to double the second batch of water thrown in the paste, as it then became it bit more watery than was desired, but I had to find a way to work with it.

Beans, Rice, and Salmon all cooking/ready to go

 Despite what I perceived to be little disasters in this venture (in contrast to the feelings of my flatmates), I began. First, I poured the oil into a frying pan and set it over medium-high heat. When it was hot (tested with the water method), I put in the mustard seeds.

Now I'm not sure why exactly this happened, but once those mustard seeds went in, the stovetop turned into an explosion of fireworks, as the popping I was so desiring certainly exceeded my expectations... so I ducked!

Once I finally felt safe around the pans again, I added the fennel and cumin seeds, quickly followed by the experimental mustard paste. 

 Following the surge of excitement, I added the chilies, stirred, and brought to a gentle simmer. 

 Next, I placed the salmon in a single layer in the pan and allowed it to simmer for around 5 to 7 minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish constantly. 

 As I was cooking, I decided that I would break down the fish to make it more of a curry, which I believe was a very smart move as it allowed for every single bit of salmon to absorb every little bit of sauce. 

After another few minutes, I turned off the burner and began plating with our sides of olive-oil buttered beans and peas and a very subtle cinnamon and ginger rice. O what aromas were in the air! I practically had to hold back my flatmates as I plated, for the delightful spices that filled the kitchen had been tantalising them for too long.

In the end, this is what we ate:

This was certainly one of my favourite dishes I have made, minus the slight bumps here and there that most likely made this a slightly abstract sense of the original. Regardless, the spice was just right - the kind that opens up your breathing yet does not turn your face red and force you to launch towards the fridge for a glass of milk. The next time I make this, I will try to fix any bumps, but may I say that after this adventure, I believe I can cook anything.