Recipe: Jansz.’s amazing signature salmon with bimi and black rice

Last summer I ate in the courtyard of restaurant Jansz. (what a great spot!) a delicious dish of salmon with black rice and bimi. The kind of dish where everything is just right: perfectly cooked salmon, rice with a lovely bite, and a citrus sauce that gives the whole thing a wonderful freshness. A dish you’ll want to make at home too, in short — and here’s the recipe!

Don’t be put off by the seemingly complicated list of ingredients. Most Japanese products, such as rice wine mirin (the sweet sister of sake) and lemongrass purée (or chopped lemongrass), are simply available at the supermarket. Other products, such as bonito flakes, which are served on pretty much everything eaten in Japan, can be found at an Asian grocery store.

How to make salmon with black rice and lemongrass sauce

• Start with the dashi: bring the water to a boil with the kombu. Turn off the heat, add the katsubushi and stir well for 10 minutes. Season to taste with soy sauce.
• Then make the lemongrass sauce: gently fry the fennel, garlic, shallots, lemongrass purée and ginger in sunflower oil in a pan. Then add 100 ml vegetable stock and cook for 30 minutes over low heat. Add the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Mix the sauce with the remaining ingredients, strain the sauce and then leave it to cool.
• Bring the rice to a boil with the water and dashi. Cook the rice for 30 minutes over low heat and then leave it to cool.
• Then the bimi: cut off the tops of the bimi and blanch the bimi for 2 minutes in salted water. Then leave the bimi to cool in ice water.
• Next, work on the salmon fillets: fry the salmon fillets in sunflower oil for 2 minutes on both sides in a pan. Then add the butter and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon fillets in the oven at 170C for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the black rice with dashi and a spoonful of butter in a pan until all the liquid has evaporated (+/- 4 minutes). Then heat the lemongrass sauce as well, and warm the bimi with a little vegetable stock, butter and salt.
• Spoon some of the black rice onto a plate and place a salmon fillet and some bimi on top. Garnish with the lemongrass sauce.
• Eat. And moan a little with pleasure. It’s okay. This is so delicious!

Wine tip: Terra d’ Alter Branco

Of course, you’ll want a nice glass of wine with this. All sorts of wines would work, but I’d say: try a Portuguese wine. I adore white wines from Portugal and am happy to champion them. Terra d’ Alter Branco is a wine made from siria, arinto & viognier; like me, you probably only know that last grape. That’s what I also love about Portuguese wines: they’re often made from grapes (more than 200 native varieties grow here!) I’ve never heard of before; exciting!

Terra d’ Alter Branco comes from Alentejo, a huge, sprawling region in southern Portugal. A few years ago, I drove there from Lisbon. It was scorching hot. You’ll find many red wines here, but also white wines that, surprisingly enough (given the hot summers), are not only full-bodied and aromatic, but also wonderfully fresh. Terra d’ Alter Branco bursts with fruity aromas (pineapple!) but also smells deliciously of lime. And that makes for a lovely bridge to the fresh lemongrass sauce in this delicious dish. A superb pairing at a friendly price. Terra d’ Alter Branco costs €7.45 and is available via Wijnkring.

Also read:

• What is that white stuff that comes out of salmon?
• Recipe: pea fritters with smoked salmon
• Recipe: salmon poke