SALMON TERIYAKI AND PISTONHEAD FULL AMBER

Repost: The Beer Foodie

Pistonhead Full Amber Lager has fast become one of my favourite beers. It’s got a strong backbone of caramel malt flavour, delivering a hearty 6% abv, and it’s dry hopped with Citra and Cascade hops, so it’s got a strongly citrus finish to cut through the body of the beer. It’s great on its own of course, but I was especially keen to find a dish to match to this beer.

So I tried out Salmon Teriyaki. My theory was that the intensity of the beer would stand up well to the strong flavours of the salmon and the sweet teriyaki sauce, that the abundance of caramel in the lager would hook up with the caramelisation of the sauce from the pan, and the zesty hops would help to add seasoning and balance to the richness of the dish.

I can’t say I always hit the nail straight on the head with these pairings, and perhaps the Saturday afternoon sunshine gave this one a helping hand, but it seemed to work really well. The real gem was the pairing of the malty caramel notes of the beer with the rich caramelisation of the sauce from the edges of my pan. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillets
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 inch fresh ginger , finely chopped or grated
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 Lime
• 2 tbsp Olive oil for frying
• Small bunch fresh coriander
• Stir fry veg / noodles / rice etc to serve (I stir fried peppers and asparagus for 5 minutes and added noodles)

Recipe:    

• Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, mirin, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl
• Marinade the salmon in the mixture for at least 20 minutes, but ideally a few hours
• Remove the salmon from the marinade and fry for 3 minutes on the skin side on a medium heat
• Turn the salmon, add the rest of the marinade, and fry for another 3 minutes on the other side
• Prepare your accompaniments
• Serve with chopped coriander leaves and a squeeze of the lime