Lemongrass Coconut Poached Salmon

The only fish that I usually eat on a daily basis is tilapia and the only reason for that is because my Dad likes to buy it in bulk and give it to me.  I wish I could eat different fishes more often, but it is not convenient since I am not too big on frozen fish and I do not get to the market too often to buy it fresh.

After months of eating nothing, but tilapia, I decided that I needed to stop by HEB one day after work to pick up some salmon.  I am weird with salmon.  I generally do not like it cooked and if it is, it really has to be done the way I like it.  Other than that, I would rather it is as sashimi at sushi restaurants.  

I already had my dinner planned out that day because I had picked up some lemongrass the previous night just to have on hand.  Lemongrass has an amazing flavor profile, but I never remember to buy it when I go to Asiantown.  This is something they need to carry at American markets more often.  I created a poaching liquid consisting of lemongrass, coconut milk, fish sauce, red bell pepper, onion and garlic and let that fused together for a little while.  

As the poaching liquid was doing its thing, I prepared the salmon and vegetables for the garnish.  For the salmon, I skinned it and simply seasoned it with salt because all the flavor will be coming from the lemongrass coconut liquid.  The skin was rendered to a crisp and set aside.  For the zucchini and squash, it was poached and the radishes and red onions were already pickled from a previous dish.  The tomatoes were simply toasted with salt, pepper and olive oil.  

The salmon was gently put into the poaching liquid and simmered very low so that the fillet does not break apart.  The salmon did not take long so I pulled that and reduced the poaching liquid.

This was going to be a fun presentation because I was going to wing it.  First I prepared the "salad" which took a while because I had to have everything in the right place so it would hold the other vegetables in place.  Then came the salmon.  I had plated one plate with the sauce on the bottom and the salmon on top, but did not care for that look.  Then I saw something on the Foodnetwork where they just poured the sauce over the fish and decided to go with that look and topped it with black and regular sesame seeds.  

The dish overall had a Thai flavor to it.  All I wanted was to use lemongrass and did not intend to make it Thai inspired, but it worked out because the dish was wonderful!