Coconut-Poached Salmon with Corn And Dill

Poaching is a cooking technique that gently cooks chicken, fish, eggs, and vegetables until they are just barely cooked through. Often, the poaching liquid is infused with flavor and then discarded. In this recipe, the salmon simmers in a spice-infused coconut milk that also doubles as the sauce. Turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and ginger make the sauce fragrant while the coconut milk thickens into a velvety sauce. Corn adds a nice pop of crunch, tomatoes add a touch of acidity and sweetness, and dill provides an interesting and unexpected salty zip. Wild salmon is not quite as buttery as farm-raised salmon, but cooking it over low heat in a rich liquid helps it stay as tender and silky as possible. 

Do you have to peel ginger?

The type of ginger and how it’s used determines if it needs to be peeled or not. Fresh, thin-skinned ginger, also known as young ginger, is often the type of ginger you get at the farmers market. Because of its thin skin, young ginger often doesn’t need to be peeled. Mature ginger, the type you’ll find at the grocery store, has a thicker skin that is best peeled. However, in this recipe, the ginger is only used to infuse the broth and is later removed, so it’s not necessary to peel it here. 

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

Wild salmon is very lean and not quite as flaky as farmed salmon, so we added a cooking time range as well as a cook temperature, as you’ll only want to cook the salmon until barely done.

Suggested pairing

Pair this luscious salmon dish with a substantial, creamy Chardonnay, like Rodney Strong Chalk Hill.