It wasn’t too long ago, since I have posted my Creamy Chinese Five Spice Shrimp… And I just want to say. I freaking love that, literally, awesome sauce. So much that when I decided I was going to make some salmon, because I had some in our freezer to use up, a long with all the ingredients for that exact sauce, I might as well throw em’ together, right?! So that is exactly what I did. If you remember my last one you remember it was a mixture of onion and garlic, sautéed in butter, and then the pan deglazed with sake, (you can also use a white cooking wine if you don’t have sake on hand, I have found. I’ve done it before and it still tastes great.) and chicken broth, followed by your cream and seasonings. This was a complete use what I had on hand meal, and so the only differences I made were, due to running out of onions (hahaha it made me cry more than actually cutting them, I think.) I seasoned my salmon with onion powder, and I was also out of chicken broth… fail?! Nah. I was just fine, I used water and Better than Chicken Bouillon base, and it was quite alright. Flavors were all still completely there, and it was fine. With this I made a simple garlic fried rice as well. If you want to go by the original shindig that I did, I will be posting the recipes to both the Creamy Chinese Five Spice Shrimp, and my Fried Rice recipe as well, so be on the look out, down below for those.
Now on the salmon…
It started with pat drying my salmon, and seasoning it with my salt, pepper, and onion powder. (Never be afraid to try some seasonings you like on these kind of things. I always encourage you to expand your horizons on things, and tweak things to your liking as you go.) I think heated a pan with olive oil, on med-high heat, and cooked my salmon first skin down. (you can buy skinless as well. I buy the Kirkland Brand Wild Caught Salmon. It is in the freezer section, but it is so good, and the color of it is outstanding. It comes with skin on, but I always cook with it on if it does, because its wayyyy easier to remove after you cook it vs before, risking cutting too much salmon off the filet.) You will cook that salmon, skin down, about 6-7 minutes. Flip it over and cook another 5-6 minutes. Set on plate, and set aside. Next comes the fun part… THE SAUCE! Wooohooo!
For this, I took some butter on medium high heat and let melt. If you have onions add them in and stir occasionally, cooking until translucent and soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add in your garlic and stir frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Now time to deglaze. Pour in you Sake or white cooking wine of choice, and whisk, scraping any brown bits from the bottom off. Next you can either do what I did and use water and chicken bouillon base, or you can use chicken broth/stock as well. stir more and let come to a boil for about a minute. Add in your cream, and it may be a little, or you may end up adding more than called for. Thats okay, make sure though to season and taste as you go until it is at your liking. Add your Chinese five spice, a tsp should be good enough, and then salt and pepper to taste. Let come to a boil for another min then down to a simmer to let thicken. If you find it isn’t thickening very well, add a cornstarch slurry (a little cornstarch and cold water whisked in a separate bowl) and pour it into your sauce, and it should thicken almost immediately. And that is it! Add your salmon back in, to warm with sauce. Enjoy!
Creamy Chinese Five Spice Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 Salmon Filets
- Salt, for seasoning
- Pepper, for seasoning
- Onion Powder, for seasoning
- Olive Oil, for cooking salmon
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- 1/2 C Sake or White Cooking Wine of some sort
- 1 C Chicken Broth
- 1-2 C Heavy Cream
- 1 Tsp Chinese Five Spice
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Pat dry and season your salmon.
- In a Cast Iron Skillet, or large skillet, heat olive oil on med-high heat.
- Add salmon, if there is skin, skin side down first. Cook 6-7 minutes. Flip over and cook another 5-6 minutes. Take off skillet and put on plate, set aside.
- Melt butter on med-high heat, add garlic and cook until fragarant, about 30 seconds.
- Add in your sake and whisk fast, scraping any brown bits off bottom. Add in chicken broth and stir. Bring to boil for about a minute. Add your heavy cream and bring to another boil about 30-1 minute until starts to thicken. If it isn't thickening to your liking, be sure to use a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and cold water mix) and pour into your cream. It should thicken very quickly.
- Add your chinese five spice.
- Salt and pepper to taste, taste as you go, always.
- Add salmon back to sauce and coat. Let salmon warm back up a little with the sauce. Serve over rice or veggies.
- Enjoy!
