I haven’t really touched raw meat right in my kitchen for the longest time. Most of the times, I prepare vegetarian dishes at home and I only consume some meat while I’m dining out on most weekends. It felt refreshing to be using meat again as my ingredients in preparing meals for myself.
When it comes to meat choices, Salmon is one of the best healthy meat options out there for me. It’s super easy to cook and it is so tasty on its own.
Salmon is known widely for its high levels of healthy long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. But at the same time, it is one of the fishes which are to be contaminated with pesticides, mercury and other pollutants which are released into the sea. Such toxins which are accumulated in these fishes can potentially bring about detrimental effects to our bodies. Thus, choosing the right salmon which are obtained from pollution-free sources is crucial here.
One of the high-quality and safe salmon which you can get from the supermarkets here in Singapore is New Zealand King Salmon by Regal. These marine-farmed salmon are bred in the crystal clear waters of New Zealand’s Marlborough Sounds. The salmon obtained from there has an incredible flavour, colour and texture. The meat is practically oozing out the omega-3 fatty acids which you could actually make use of the fish’s natural oil to cook or pan-fry. Under low or medium heat, the fish oil just sizzles and within minutes, the salmon is cooked to perfection.
I actually prefer eating cooked salmon to the raw one. You can most certainly taste its freshness when it is eaten raw but I personally find that the flavour of the salmon comes through between when it is slightly cooked.
But for this recipe, I am using raw smoked salmon slices to make an easy canapé which you can serve your guests at home gatherings or parties. Since it is served raw, the cooking preparation time is reduced and you can definitely pull this off in 5 minutes.
And all you need is just 4 ingredients. I pair the salmon with cream cheese because salmon goes really well with any cream-based ingredients. And the dill just brings out the flavour of the salmon.
Smoke Salmon Roses Recipe
(Serving 2 to 4 people)
Ingredients
Smoked Salmon (raw and thinly sliced)
Crackers
Cream cheese
Dill
1. To make the salmon rose, slice the salmon into long thin slices that run longitudinally. Then, start rolling from the tapered end of the salmon slices and continue rolling all the way up.
2. Layer a teaspoon worth of cream cheese onto the cracker. Here, I’m using cream cheese which already had herbs and spices added for more flavour. As for the cracker, I’m using a sesameal by Huntley & Palmers as it contains more fibre than the usual crackers found at supermarkets.
3. Place the salmon rose right on top of the cream cheese layer and garnish it with some chopped dill.
4. You can squeeze some lemon juice over for a bit of zing. You can add a dash of black pepper and sprinkle some sea salt over for a more exquisite taste.
Eat well and stay healthy!
For more information on other food products from New Zealand, check out this website: http://newzealandfood.co
Regal Marlborough King Salmon Cold Smoked and Sesameal Classic 5 Grain & Seeds are available at Cold Storage and FairPrice.
