Thai Peanut Salmon

My family growing up wasn’t really into culinary adventuring, so unfortunately, I didn’t have Thai until last year when my pastor suggested a local thai cafe in Tyler. I loved it, and had to try cooking some of my own. Last fall, I tried a couple of Mark Bittman’s Thai recipes, with good success, and thus had ingredients on hand to try making a version of one my all-time favorite dining experiences: The incredible Thai Marlin at the Anchorage in Milwaukee.

I did this without actually measuring anything so this recipe is a rough guess, but it should get it close. Warning, this is, like much Thai, pretty spicy. And delicious.

Thai Peanut Salmon

Preheat oven to 375ºF 2 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter 2 Tbsp. vinegar 2 Tbsp. Nam Pla (fish sauce) (soy sauce could be substituted, but I didn’t have any. Nam Pla is VERY pungent.). 1 Tbsp. Molasses 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (always better to use the fresh stuff than the refrigerated or dried). 1/4 tsp ground cumin ginger 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 cup finely chopped dry roasted unsalted peanuts 3–5 salmon filets (I used the frozen ones you get at Sam’s Club; make sure you thaw them first).

Mix everything except the last two ingredients together thoroughly until smooth. Place salmon filets in ungreased pan; spread peanut sauce over them evenly. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top (it should pretty well coat it). Bake the whole ensemble until done, about 10–15 minutes, probably (I actually didn’t thaw my salmon so it took me way longer. Oops.). I imagine this would go great with stir-fried veggies, but my stove wasn’t hot enough to stir-fry them and I ended up with mushy uneatable veggies. I should’ve taken a picture, but didn’t have my camera with me here at work today. Oops. Enjoy!