The star of this dish is the cauliflower purée. While the teriyaki salmon and pickled vegetables are truly delicious in their own right, it is the purée that harmonizes these diverse flavours into a dish worthy of a very special occasion.
Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Reduce the heat to a low and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The teriyaki sauce is done when it has reduced and thickened.
Pickled vegetables
Dissolve 1 Tbsp salt in the 500 ml water.
Top and tail the red onion, remove the other layers, cut width wise then break up the layers to get a pile of onion rings.
Cut the top 5 cm from 8 asparagus spears. Keep the rest for another use such as Asparagus Soup.
Brine the asparagus spears and onion rings in the salted water for one hour.
Peel and slice the ginger.
In a small saucepan, combine the 200 ml water, 200 ml rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp salt, 2 Tbsp sugar, the star anise, and the sliced ginger.
Bring up to a high simmer, stirring until the salt and sugar dissolve.
Allow to cool until just warm to the touch.
Pierce the cherry tomatoes length-wise with a bbq skewer (several piercings by a toothpick will do if you don’t have such skewers on hand).
Cut the fibrous base off of the shimeji mushrooms. Sear in a hot pan in a little oil for a few minutes until starting to brown. Drain and cool on paper towels.
Drain the asparagus and red onion from the brine.
Add the kombu, asparagus, red onion, tomatoes, and mushrooms to a 1 litre jar.
Pour the pickling liquid, together with the ginger, star anise, and peppercorns, into the jar. It should cover the vegetables. Top up with a little more water if necessary.
When the jar has cooled to room temperature, store in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours.
Cauliflower puree
Roast the garlic according to instructions here .
Boil the garlic pieces in a large saucepan of lightly salted water until soft (about 15 minutes).
Drain the cauliflower in a sieve and refresh under cold water. Drain.
Squeeze the cloves of garlic from the roasted head.
In a food processor, combine the cooked cauliflower, roasted garlic, Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of the dashi, and 1/2 tsp salt.
Blend until smooth. Add more of the dashi as needed to get the correct consistency. It should be creamy but able to hold its shape.
Teriyaki salmon
Cut the salmon fillet across its width into 3cm wide pieces.
Dust the fillets with potato starch.
Heat the oil in a non-stick pan or well-seasoned skillet over a medium heat.
Add the salmon fillets skin side down. Cook until you can see the colour change from orange to pink rise up 1/3 of the height of the fillet. Turn the fillets to fry the other sides until the potato starch develops a crispy layer, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Transfer the salmon fillets to a plate and brush with teriyaki sauce.
Green onion oil
Gently fry the green onions in the oil until the onions are brown. 15-20 minutes.
Strain the oil through a fine strainer and discard the browned onions.
Plating
Using a baking ring to contain the shape, add a serving of cauliflower purée to the plate.
Place some pickled vegetables and a slice of the teriyaki salmon.