My favorite fish, smoked, and my favorite salad green, combined. Made better with the addition of croutons flavored with dill and sesame seeds, and cheese.
Is smoked salmon raw or cooked? That depends on whether the fish was cold smoked or hot smoked. It is raw if cold smoked and it is eaten with no cooking required. In fact, cooking cold smoked salmon will ruin the fish.
Cold smoked salmon was used in this recipe. Can hot smoked fully cooked salmon be substituted? Yes, but the texture of the salad will be different. Not worse or better. Just different.
About my choice of salad green… I love arugula. From the first bite, I was smitten.
Is arugula the same as rocket?
Eruca vesicaria is rocket in some regions but is widely known as arugula in North America. It is my favorite salad green.
So, yes, arugula is peppery and slightly bitter, and you might be wondering why on earth anyone would be smitten with something like that. Well, those bold flavors go perfectly with the brininess of smoked salmon and the salty creaminess of kesong puti.
I grew up eating kesong puti. My grandmother often came home with a bundles of them when she went to the market. She would call us over (we lived next door), have pandesal ready, she would unwrap the leaves that enfolded the cheese, and my brother and I would have our snack.
Kesong puti is soft, creamy, salty and lightly acidic. It has the texture of curd that had been pressed lightly to hold shape. And that shape becomes a flattened tube when the cheese is wrapped in wilted banana leaves.
Yes, back then, kesong puti was sold wrapped in banana leaves. There are still a few purveyors who sell it in its traditional form but the grocery stuff is easier to source. If you can get the kind wrapped in banana leaves, choose that over the stuff you get from the grocery.
Smoked salmon, arugula, herb croutons and kesong puti salad
Ingredients
For the salad dressing
- 2 tablespoons plain mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- zest of one lime
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ⅓ cup olive oil not extra virgin
- 2 generous pinches salt
- 1 pinch pepper
For the croutons
- ½ day-old baguette
- ¼ cup olive oil not extra virgin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used a combination of black and white)
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
For the salad
- ¼ cup chopped toasted cashew nuts
- 3 to 4 cups baby arugula
- 1 cup smoked salmon
- 100 grams kesong puti
Instructions
Make the salad dressing
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the mustard, honey, lime juice, lime zest and dill.
- Pour in the olive oil slowly in a thin stream, whisking as you pour.
- Add salt and pepper. Whisk. Set the salad dressing aside to allow the flavors to develop.
Make the herbed croutons
- Cut the bread into one-inch cubes.
- Place the bread cubes in a bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over them. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Toss thoroughly.
- Place a large frying pan on the stove. Set the heat to medium-low.
- Spread the oiled bread cubes in the pan. Cook without disturbing for a minute or so to allow the undersides to brown.
- Stir the bread cubes. Cook for another two to three minutes, stirring often, until all sides are lightly browned.
- Add the sesame seeds to the bread bread cubes. Continue cooking for another minute. Toss the contents of the pan often to keep the sesame seeds moving to prevent them from burning.
- Sprinkle the dill over the croutons and cool while you prepare the salad.
Complete the salad
- Toast the chopped cashew nuts in an oil-free pan until lightly browned and glistening with the nuts’ own oil. Set aside to cool.
- Tear off the root ends of the arugula. Rinse well. Dry in a salad spinner.
- Tear the smoked salmon and kesong puti into bite-size pieces.
- Pour a quarter of the salad dressing into a large mixing bowl. Add the salmon, arugula, croutons, cheese and nuts. Drizzle in another quarter of the salad dressing. Toss to coat every ingredient with dressing.
- Divide the salad among four bowls. Drizzle with more dressing before serving.
