We all know that seafood is healthy and delicious for you, especially salmon, loaded with lots of protein, Vitamin D, omega-3’s and good fats. But it can get pretty pricey. A salmon filet from your grocery store may cost you $8 a pound. Skip this route and go to a big Asian supermarket. Most Asian markets are going to be consistently cheaper than your traditional chain supermarket, and have a much wider and fresher selection of ingredients. This week I went in and found that salmon fillets were $5.00 a pound. Better than the other grocery store, but I still wasn’t willing to pay that much. After a little searching, I found salmon belly for only a $1.49 a pound! Score!
Salmon belly is essentially the “bacon” of the fish. It’s the tastiest, most flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth part of the fish. It’s often located at the back end of the display counters in the fish market because they aren’t as “pretty” as the full fillets. It’s super cheap because it’s considered an off-cut, but that shouldn’t keep you from trying it.
The marinade for the fish is just three ingredients. It’s a 1:1:1 ratio so you can either scale it up or down for the amount of people you’re serving. Try to marinate the fish overnight, but just a few hours will also give good results.
Spicy Maple-Soy Salmon
Ingredients
For the marinade
1/4 cup Sriracha (or other chili sauce)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 pound of salmon belly strips
Directions
1. Combine Sriracha, maple syrup, and soy sauce in a bowl. Add salmon belly and marinate in the fridge up to 24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 . On a lined baking sheet, lay out the salmon belly strips. Discard the excess marinade.
3. Cook fish for approximately 5-8 minutes, or until the flesh flakes easily with a fork. Serve hot, with white rice and saut ed bok choy or other vegetables.
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