Three Things

The viral salmon, a new veg-forward cookbook from Andrea Nguyen (plus recipe), and a little Emily Dickinson appreciation

Good morning eaters and readers! So much to tell you about today, so I’ll get right to it. Hopefully you saw that the New York Times came out with its 100 Best Restaurants of NYC list (possible paywall). I love that Pete Wells includes the full spectrum, from old-school Scarr’s pizza to Michelin-starred Le Bernardin and I’m inspired by the many many I’ve never heard of in between. (BTW, the Daily episode from a few months back, featuring the always-entertaining Pete Wells, is worth listening to if you haven’t already.) Next: Anyone else plan on re-reading Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret? in honor of the movie coming out this week? (I will be first in line at the cineplex on Friday!) Lastly, a year and half after publication, The Weekday Vegetarians is back on the Indie Cooking Bestseller List — I guess because you’re all gearing up for VEGGIE SEASON! See you at the market everyone! And now your Three Things…

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1. This week in vegetable-forward cookbook news…

“In the late summer of 2019, I hit a wall. I felt cruddy after years of eating everything I wanted, all in the name of professional research.” So beings Andrea Nguyen’s wonderful new cookbook Ever-Green Vietnamese, where she reimagines her traditional Vietnamese repertoire, seeking out savory depth while wearing her more plant-forward goggles. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that the whole project energized her creatively and physically, even conjuring up her childhood in Vietnam, where her mom prepared mostly plant-based meals by necessity — meat was expensive and not as readily available. (Her family fled for California in 1975.) Anyone who has spent a minute with me these last few years knows how much a part of my life Nguyen’s recipes have become (her Shaking Beef, her Tofu Banh Mi!), and Ever-Green continues the tradition of making one of my more favorite cuisines eminently accessible. The Pickled Bean Sprout salad that I brought to my friends house on Saturday night (shown above) calls for sugar, salt, white vinegar, water, and vegetables…

There are Cauliflower Char Siu Cauliflower Sliders (Bánh Bay Kęp Chay) which involves tossing roasted crispy cauliflower with hoisin, sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar, and soy sauce; and Shaking Salmon, the iconic Vietnamese main dish (Nguyen: “I’ve shaken beef and tofu…why not salmon?”) where there’s more salad than fish…

….And there is this homey, aromatic Tofu-Mushroom Curry, the recipe for which Nguyen was nice enough to share. I made the stew last night (I’m eating leftovers for lunch as I type this) and it is every bit as delicious as it appears above. You can get the recipe over on Dinner: A Love Story, and find Andrea’s Ever-Green Vietnamese anywhere books are sold.

2. I made the viral salmon…

….Or, well, at least I think I made the viral salmon. Sometimes, when a recipe is so popular on TikTok and instagram, it’s impossible to know whether you’re making an original recipe or a derivative of the original. (I mention this only because I like to give credit to people who invent new things, but let me assure you, either way, you’ll very much enjoy the version I doctored up last week.) The recipe entails slicing a salmon filet into cubes, tossing it with some combination of soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and rice vinegar, then sautéing it over high heat and serving with avocado slices. The revolution here is not in the flavor combo — it’s more in the low-stress, fast-cooking technique. It’s so easy to get those cubes glazy and charry outside, but tender and rare inside.

People are doing all kinds of things with The Salmon (mostly serving over rice), but I knew right away that I wanted it on a bed of spring vegetables. You can feel free to just make a simple salad of greens if that’s what time allows, but because the salmon and avocado are both on the smushy side, it’s important to have some crunchy crispy element (cucumbers, pea shoots, sugar snap peas, snow peas, etc) to whatever you compose. Please note, this was written to serve 2, but recipe can be doubled.

Honey-Soy Glazed Salmon Bowl with Avocado et al
Serves 2

Salad
2 handfuls pea shoots, chopped
12-15 snow peas chopped (optional)
1 small cucumber, sliced
3 scallions (white and light green parts), minced
cilantro (for garnish)
Spicy mayo (3 tablespoons mayo + 2 teaspoons Sriracha, mixed)
olive oil & lemon juice

Salmon
8 ounces salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes as shown
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 clove garlic, pressed or grated
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon (un-toasted) sesame seeds
1 tablespoon neutral oil
1 avocado, halved and sliced thin
cilantro and scallions (for serving)

Combine all the salad ingredients in two separate shallow single-serving bowls and toss.

In a mixing bowl, combine the salmon, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Toss so the salmon cubes are well coated and let sit about 10 minutes if you have time.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Using tongs, add salmon pieces to the hot pan, making sure not to crowd the pan. (You might have to do this in batches, which didn’t cause my usual impatient annoyance, since the cooking is fast.) Fry salmon for a total of about 3 minutes, flipping a few times to get 2 or 3 of the sides browned. It should look caramelly and lacquered like my picture. Place the salmon pieces on top of your salad greens along with the avocado slices. Heap the spicy mayo on the side and serve. If I had one of those nifty squeeze bottles, I’d use that to drizzle the spicy mayo all over the top, but I don't, so I didn't.

3. Who needs an Emily Dickinson refresher?

I try to hold back on promoting my daughter’s work, but Phoebe is so prolific with her comics these days, that occasionally one of them breaks through in a big way, and I have no choice but to send it to everyone I know. Here’s the latest example of that, last week’s tribute to Emily Dickinson, one of three female poets Phoebe is studying this semester in college. I love that in a few quick panels, we come away appreciating Dickinson’s personal story, and also her dedication to art and truth. Thank you in advance for indulging me and for not unfollowing me.

Have a great week,

Jenny