Cooking the bacon-wrapped salmon using the sous vide method allows the flavours to meld while keeping the salmon delicate and moist. The charred corn puree and the braised endive bring some wonderful diversity to the plate.
If you haven’t experienced salmon cooked using the sous vide method, then it is time to get yourself a sous vide device. Sous vide salmon is a succulent, melt in your mouth experience. This is particularly evident in this salmon confit with tomato consommé recipe. When enhanced with the complex flavours of cured and smoked pork belly, we really have something special with this salmon wrapped in bacon.
Using a different form of cured and smoked pork belly is strongly encouraged. Salmon wrapped in speck or pancetta work especially well. The version of this dish in these photographs used speck. If using normal bacon, look for it very thinly sliced.
Searing the bacon-wrapped parcels in a skillet before serving is an essential step as it adds those extra Maillard reaction components that only a high heat sear can.
Charred corn puree
The corn cobs are first smeared with a mixture of yellow miso and butter. They are then grilled until starting to char. The heat concentrates the sugars in the corn. The miso brings salt, more sweetness, and flavour enhancing umami. The char adds a hint of bitterness to balance the sweetness. The flavours are further enhanced by blending the kernels with dashi.
Dashi is also the primary component in the braised endive. Endives are naturally a little bitter. Braising in dashi with green onions and garlic adds new notes to moderate and complement that bitterness.
We have utilized nearly all the primary taste components in this salmon wrapped in bacon with charred corn puree dish. The remaining one, a little sourness, we add with a squeeze of lemon or lime.
Salmon wrapped in bacon with charred corn puree
Equipment
Ingredients
Speck wrapped salmon
- 500 g fresh skinless salmon in 4 equal sized pieces
- 50 g thinly sliced bacon or Speck, Pancetta etc
Charred corn puree
- 2 cobs corn
- 2 Tbsp white miso
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 100 ml cream
- 100 ml dashi
Braised endive
- 2 medium sized endives
- 4 green onions
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 3/4 cup dashi
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Garnish
- A squeeze of lime
Instructions
Speck wrapped salmon
- Wrap the bacon (or other cured pork) around the 4 salmon fillets. Secure with cooking twine.
- Place each in a zip-lock bag, expel the air and seal. Place in the refrigerator for an hour or two. This allows the salt from the bacon to season the salmon.
- Bring a sous vide bath up to 52 degC. Place the zip-locked bags of salmon into the water and cook for 40 minutes.
- Remove the bags from the hot water bath, remove the bacon wrapped salmon from the bags, remove the cooking twine, and dry with paper towels.
- In a hot skillet, smeared with a little oil, sear the bacon wrapped salmon until golden and starting to crisp.
- If you do not have a sous vide device, bake in a 180 degC oven for about 12 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the salmon is 52 degC. Turn once at about 6 minutes.
- Remove the cooking twine.
Charred corn puree
- Preheat the oven to 200 degC.
- Combine the miso and butter.
- Smear the miso butter mixture over the cobs of corn. Place on some aluminum foil and put in the oven, up high.
- Roast until the corn is starting to char. Depending on you oven, you may need to grill/broil these to get a char.
- Allow the cobs to cool, then cut the kernels from the cobs.
- Add the kernels, half the cream and half the dashi to a blender. Blend until smooth. You may need to add more cream and dashi to get a reasonably smooth consistency. Don’t add too much and make it too runny.
- Pass the mixture through a strainer, using a spatular to push it through. No need to use too fine a strainer. If it is too fine it will take you forever, and there is really little to be gained from such a strainer.
Braised endive
- Bring a skillet to a medium heat and add the butter.
- Cut the endive length ways.
- Wash and trim the green onions.
- Lay the endive cut side down in the skillet and cook until browned.
- Turn the endives over, and add the green onions and crushed garlic.
- When the garlic becomes fragrant, add the dashi.
- Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes or until the endive stalks are tender.
Plating
- Smear some corn puree on the plate.
- Add salmon, braised endive, and green onion.
- Top with a squeeze of lemon.
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