Salmon with almonds and orange ginger sauce

This is a quick and easy dinner that will amaze you!! It’s so delicious, easy to make for a crowd, and can be made ahead! The salmon is sprinkled with crunchy flaked almonds and baked in the oven. I served it with a simple orange-ginger sauce and rice with a twist – my favorite coconut rice.

If you’re looking for other great salmon recipes, check out this salmon with creamy dill sauce recipe.

Ingredients:

• Fish: I used salmon because its characteristic taste pairs well with the sauce but also any other fish will work. If you will use thinner fish fillets, adjust the cooking time – baking time depends on the thickness of the fish. If you have really thin fish fillets I would just skip the almonds, because they will not have enough time to become soft and golden like with a rather thick salmon fillet.
  If you have frozen fish you can just bake it straight from the freezer! It just needs to be baked a little longer (5-10 minutes). I’m often forgetting to take it out of the freezer in advance.
• Nuts: I used flaked almonds. They add a wonderful crunch to the fish and taste amazing.
• Seasoning: I seasoned the fish just with salt and pepper because the orange ginger sauce is so good and bold-tasting that the salmon doesn’t need any additional seasonings.
• The orange ginger sauce: this sauce is so delicious and perfectly balanced that I can’t imagine making it a different way or with different ingredients. Alternatively, I would recommend making another sauce to complement the fish like this plum sauce.

Baked salmon with almonds step by step:

STEP 1: Season the 4 small or 2 bigger fish fillets with salt and pepper to taste.

STEP 2: Pour over 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle each fillet with enough flaked almonds to cover the fish (I used about 2 tablespoons here). They won’t stick well to fish, that’s ok, just lightly tap them with your fingers.

STEP 3: Bake at 375°F / 190°C / Gas Mark 5, no fan for about 20-25 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the size/thickness of the fish. Small fillets like on the photo above will need about 20 minutes. A larger fillet like in the main photo at the top of the post will need 25-30 minutes.

How to know if the fish is ready?

You can measure the internal temperature of the fish with a thermometer – it should be 145°F/63°C (you can take the fish out of the oven when its internal temperature is about 136°F/58°C, the temperature will rise while the fish is resting – residual heat will cook the fish). Visually, it should be light pink in the middle. If it’s light pink on the outside and dark pink in the middle, that means it is not cooked through.

Orange ginger sauce step by step:

While the fish is baking prepare the orange ginger sauce. First, gather all the ingredients.

STEP 1: Chop very finely: 1 small onion, 1 large clove garlic, and 1.5-inch piece of ginger (4 cm). Heat 1 tablespoon frying oil in a small pot and add the chopped aromatics along with a zest grated from 1 orange. Cook over low heat for about 3 minutes.

STEP 2: Add all the other ingredients to the pot: 2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, 4 tablespoons orange jam, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sifted corn starch, and spices (a large pinch of turmeric and cayenne pepper).

STEP 3: Cook, stirring from time to time for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. It should be sweet and sour. If it’s too sweet, add a little more vinegar, and if it’s too sour – some jam. It can be served right away or blended until completely smooth (this is what I prefer). Serve the sauce with the fish.

Storage + how to make it ahead:

Make it ahead: The sauce can be easily made ahead. Store it in the fridge, then reheat. As for the salmon, it’s best to prepare it as in the recipe but bake it just before serving. The fish can also be baked and then reheated in the oven (at 325°F/160°C) but there’s a risk, that you overbake it.
How to make for a crowd: This recipe can be easily scaled up or down. The sauce yields two very generous servings (we like a lot of sauce!), so scale according to the number of your guests. As for the salmon, use about 7oz/200g fish per person. This is one bigger fillet as on the main photo or 1.5 smaller fillets as on the preparation step photos. Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper to taste, pour over some olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flaked almonds.

How to serve it

• plain cooked Jasmine rice
• our favorite coconut rice
• garlic butter rice

Salmon with almonds and orange ginger sauce

Delicious salmon fillets with crunchy flaked almonds on top, served with amazing orange-ginger sauce and coconut rice.

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Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 2 servings

Calories 855kcal

Author Aleksandra

Ingredients

salmon:

• ▢ 2 salmon fillets about 14oz/400g
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ 2 heaped tablespoons of almond flakes

orange ginger sauce:

• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil neutral tasting
• ▢ 1 small onion
• ▢ 1 large clove garlic
• ▢ 1.5- inch piece of ginger 4 cm
• ▢ zest from 1 orange
• ▢ 2/3 cup orange juice I used freshly-squeezed orange juice
• ▢ 4 tablespoons orange jam
• ▢ 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢ 2 teaspoons corn starch or potato starch
• ▢ large pinch turmeric
• ▢ large pinch cayenne pepper or to taste

to serve:

• ▢ coconut rice or plain rice
• ▢ steamed broccoli

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Instructions

The salmon:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C / Gas Mark 5, no fan (if you have a convection oven reduce the temperature by about 20° or follow the manufacturer's instructions).
• Season the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides and pour over olive oil. Place the fillets in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with almond flakes, pour the olive oil over the almonds. They won’t stick well to fish, that’s ok, just lightly tap them with your fingers.
• Bake for about 20-25 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the size / thickness of the fish. Small fillets like in the preparation steps photos will need about 20 minutes. A larger fillet like in the main photo will need 25-30 minutes. You can measure the internal temperature of the fish with a thermometer – it should be 145°F/63°C (you can take the fish out of the oven when its internal temperature is about 136°F/58°C, the temperature will rise while the fish is resting – residual heat will cook the fish).
• While the fish is in the oven, make the sauce.

The sauce:

• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a small pot, add finely chopped onion, garlic and ginger, and grated orange zest. Cook over low heat for about 3 minutes.
• Add all the other ingredients: orange juice, orange jam, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sifted starch, and spices (turmeric and cayenne).
• Cook, stirring from time to time for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. It should be sweet and sour. If it’s too sweet, add a little more vinegar, and if it’s too sour – some jam.
• It can be served right away or blended until completely smooth (this is what I prefer).

Serve:

• Serve the dish with rice, we like it especially with coconut rice. I also like steamed broccoli as a side.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• You can use a fish other than salmon. It would be best (but it’s not necessary) that the fish has a similar thickness as salmon (which is quite thick, cod would be a good alternative), because almonds need a minimum of 20 min to be nicely browned. If you have a thin fish fillet, you need to bake it for 10-15 minutes.
• You can also use frozen salmon (without thawing). Just proceed as in the recipe, except that you need to bake it longer (approx. 5-10 minutes longer).
• If you have salmon with the skin on: place the fish in the baking dish skin-side down. Don’t cut off the skin because it’s much easier to do it after baking.

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine asian-inspired, international

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