Salmon Poached in Beer and Maple Syrup (with green beans and pasta)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love salmon! One of my favorite fish to cook and eat! So tasty, it’s really hard to screw it up and there are so many ways to cook it – baked, broiled, pan fried, bbq (among others) and of course, my favorite – poached! I was looking for a different flavor to poach in and put together this little recipe – you can actually do the “optional” part below as well, and make it a complete meal. I promise you, you will not be disappointed with the flavor. That yin/yang thing, sweet and slightly bitter work! Add some salt and a few other ingredients – if you have them, and you will have my Salmon Poached in Beer and Maple Syrup.

Easy enough recipe, I think we all deserve one of these every once in a while. If you have attended my seafood classes at the cooking schools, you will know I quite often speak of poaching as a much ignored but super healthy way to cook fish. It’s really had to make a mistake, and really almost anything can be poached i.e. chicken. The key is to make your poaching liquid flavorful. What does that mean? It means cook the poaching liquid to bring all the flavors together.

Once cooked, taste the poaching liquid before you add anything to it. If you don’t like the taste of it plain, it will not magically get tastier by adding a good piece of salmon to it. Fix the taste and by that I mean go into your pantry or just add more of the pleasant tasting ingredient into the marinade. That goes for any cooked marinade right! Even dry rubs need to be tasted before being applied onto anything. Just a pinch tossed on your tongue – mmm or ugh that’s awful! Too bitter – add a sweetener, too bland – season with salt and pepper, too spicy – add some coconut milk or something else that will take down the spice (why though?!).

I’m not a beer drinker, but don’t mind cooking with it. I used Corona (found a bottle in the back of the downstairs fridge, probably something my son liked, I know, sadly named – wasn’t planned I’m sure!). I like the taste of it, but also know it has a slight bitterness (hoppy?) taste to it. I thought of a number of things to add to it – brown sugar, lemon, maple syrup etc. Decided that since we just did Canada Day, maple syrup wins! I – of course, added some dried chili peppers and Thai chillies to it, some sliced carrot and a sprig of thyme and boiled it for 10 minutes to blend the flavors together. Once you add the fish though, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Make sure the fish is covered in the liquid so it poaches properly.

So try poaching fish, try this poaching liquid but don’t limit yourself to it. Next time you buy a bag of unpeeled shrimp, boil the shells for 20 minutes or until they turn bright pink – you’ve just created shrimp stock – amazing to poach fish in, make risotto with, a soup etc. Once again, stay safe, wear a mask and as always – enjoy!

1 6” salmon fillet
1 bottle Corona or your favorite beer
¼ cup maple syrup
1 carrot, sliced or chopped
3-4 dried red chillies or ½ tsp chili flakes
2-3 Thai chillies, chopped
1 sprig thyme
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients – except the salmon, into a pot (I used an 8” frying pan) that is big enough to hold the piece of fish flat
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover – cook for 10 – 15 minutes
Taste the liquid, adjust seasonings, taste again – you should really like how it tastes
Add the salmon to the liquid – you should have enough liquid to just cover the surface of the fish – add some chicken stock or water if necessary
Bring back to a simmer and partially cover the pan/pot
Cook the salmon for 6-8 minutes – I like my salmon moist and this piece was 1” thick, check by inserting the tip of a knife into the thickest portion, if you can easily insert it, it’s done, if not, leave it for another minute or so
Once the salmon is done, remove it from the pan and reduce the liquid until it becomes a thick sauce – watch it closely, it’s maple syrup and will go from perfect to burnt in seconds, blink of an eye, lickety split, really fast etc.
Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with veggies, rice, potatoes etc.

Optional, but so good – As the poaching liquid was cooking, I added some green beans to the pot. This added flavor to my poaching liquid as well as the beans – flavor + flavor = more flavor. In addition, I’m cooking the sides while I wait for the main to get ready – a time saver
Remove the beans before they are completely cooked, cover and set aside, about 1 – 2 minutes
When the salmon was ready, I removed it and set it aside also covered
Take a handful of your favorite pasta and cook it in the poaching liquid as well, I used penne, and it took about 15 minutes – it infused the penne with the sweet/slightly bitter flavor of maple and beer – so so good
If the pan is drying out and the pasta is not cooked, add additional water or stock
When the pasta is done, remove it to a platter, toss the green beans into the pan just to warm through
Add to the pasta platter along with the fish, pour any remaining poaching liquid in the pan over the fish
Serve immediately!