Salmon/Black Cod Lettuce Wraps with Soy Ginger Sauce

We adapted this delicious idea from a NY Times recipe for salmon hand wraps using seaweed sheets.  Our leaf lettuce leaves actually make a very good substitute.  These were SO GOOD, we made them twice in one week.  They are excellent with either Sitka’s Coho Salmon or Black Cod.   And, that sauce!   It’s addictive!  If you find the assembly and eating is a little….well, messy, just layer the elements in a bowl and eat like a salad.   

Sauce:
3 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
⅓ cup soy or tamari sauce
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar or mirin
2-3 T granulated sugar
Black pepper
1 tsp peeled, grated ginger

1 (1½-pound) salmon filet or Black Cod
Leaf Lettuce leaves
Cooked brown rice
Sliced cucumbers
Diced avocado

In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and stir in garlic until fragrant, 30 seconds.  Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce and cook stirring occasionally until sauce is reduced, slightly thicker, about 15 min. Stir in ginger and remove from heat. Spoon a couple tablespoons of the sauce into a small dish to cool.

Place thawed fish filets on a plate or in a shallow dish and brush with the cooled sauce, flipping to cover both sides.  Fish can sit for 15 minutes or longer so the sauce can really flavor the filets.

Preheat a skillet, add additional oil of choice and cook salmon or Black cod. We start skin side up. Salmon will cook much more quickly than Black Cod. After searing the first side, flip and cook for a few more minutes if you’re using salmon. Black Cod needs to continue cooking until the flakes are easily separated.   That can be a total of 15 min or more depending on the thickness of the filet.

Once fish is done, remove to a plate and flake into bite-size pieces looking for any bones. Drizzle with a little sauce.

Assemble lettuce wraps by placing a spoonful of rice in the lettuce leaf, add fish, cucumber and avocado slices and a little sauce. We also add a little Curtido at the end – our favorite raw ferment from Bushel & Peck’s.

Enjoy!