Holiday-ish Recipe: Sinigang Salmon Minus Most of the Sinigang

When you think of Thanksgiving in the typical Filipino American household, you might think of a fat juicy turkey with a overstuffed sides of steamed rice, calamansi, and the always lovely bittermelons.

Let's destroy that bland image and laugh heartily at cultural norms.  For the health-conscious and the non-meat eater alike, a thick long taste-slathered semi-sweet and salty plank of salmon probably would fit into your regimine this Thanksgiving.  

Combining two of the best "health" foods from both ends of the Pacific: sinigang and salmon, we get something that can stand up to the poultry king of the holiday. (But really, turkey is always the best...especially lechonized turkey).

So whether you're health conscious, out of time, or just plain lazy, here's an almost-too-easy-it's-illegal recipe to combine the salty-sour goodness of sinigang with a freakin huge cut of salmon:

Sinigang Salmon (without most of the sinigang)

Ingredients

1. Vegetable Oil
2. 2-3 lbs of filleted Alaskan Salmon
3. Sinigang Mix
4. Optional: 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce
5. Really that's it.  I mean you can add peppercorns if you want to annoy your guests or something.  Take a shot of lambanog. Whatever you want.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Step 2: Grease a long glass baking dish with vegetable oil

Step 3: Rinse (Cold!) and place the salmon in the center of the baking dish

Step 4: Sprinkle the sinigang mix ever so gingerly (minus ginger) over the salmon, coating it evenly. If you really want soy sauce, mix it in a small bowl with the sinigang mix and then brush onto the salmon

Step 5: Wait 10 minutes until the top is crispy brown

Step 6: Let sit for 2 mins in the oven and then set it next to the turkey to make it jealous.

That's it! I usually cook this every thanksgiving/major holiday when I can't get my Porto's potato ball recipe to work right.  An alternative non-Filipino option is to combine soy sauce with miso soup mix to create a semi-sweet glaze that you brush on before, during, and immediately after cooking.

You Ask: Why did I do this? Because it tastes AWESOME.  Just try it.  Somehow sinigang mix + salmon works surprisingly well.