Except for the soy sauce this Salmon with Chinese Pesto is naturally gluten free. It's a healthy Asian fusion recipe that comes together quickly. If you love Asian cuisine like I do get your Gluten Free Asian pantry set up so you can make any recipe you want.
Salmon with Chinese Pesto is delicious for an everyday meal and memorable enough for a Chinese New Year celebration. I would start with this Green Salad with Asian Dressing and Crispy Bean Thread Noodles. For a vegetable I like Asparagus with Black Bean Butter Sauce when it's in season or a vegetable stir fry. Steamed Rice is essential and for a fusion dessert I love this dairy free Coconut Ice Cream topped with fresh mango.
🥢 Ingredients
If you're new to cooking Asian dishes at home you need to stock your pantry with some new gluten free ingredients. Check out this post, How To Set Up A Gluten Free Asian Pantry.
- salmon
- gluten free soy sauce
- dry sherry
- sesame oil
- ginger & garlic
- lemon juice
- rice vinegar
- green onion
- gluten free soy sauce
- cilantro
- Sichuan peppercorns (or black pepper)
- cornstarch
See recipe card for exact amounts.
🥢 Substitutions
Soy Sauce or Tamari - Gluten free cooks need to taste and compare options for soy sauce. I did that with a tasting to compare what was available in my area and wrote about it in this post, soy sauce vs tamari tasting.
Dry sherry - This is the substitute for Chinese cooking wine. I buy W&H Dry Sack sherry which is easy to find at a liquor store. Substitute with additional chicken stock if you don't have it.
Sichuan Peppercorns – Substitute with an equal amount of regular black pepper.
🥢 Variations
The Chinese pesto sauce is made separately in a pan on the stove. That makes it a year round recipe cooking the salmon with the method you prefer in the moment.
- Baked - 350℉ for 25 minutes in an oven.
- Grilled - at 350-400℉ for 20-25 minutes on the upper rack of a barbecue.
- Steamed - 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon.
🥢 Equipment
I steam salmon, dumplings and other Asian dishes is a bamboo steamer set in my flat bottom wok. I highly recommend a wok for healthy stir fry dishes, steaming, curries, deep frying and many other uses. This 12-inch flat bottom wok with clear lid is my pick if I was buying a new wok.
My love affair with Asian and Asian Fusion all started when my husband gave me this one cookbook, Pacific Flavors by Hugh Carpenter. Let me know in the comments below if you tried this salmon recipe.
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New here? I'll help to get you from overwhelmed and frustrated to confident and cooking gluten free food everyone wants to eat, as quickly as possible. Start with these 29 Tips for cooking with GF flour.
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Salmon with Chinese Pesto (gluten free)
Ingredients
- 4 4-oz salmon filets
MARINADE
- 1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
CHINESE PESTO SAUCE
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
- 2 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed Sichuan peppercorns (or substitute with more black pepper)
- ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
THICKENING
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
COOKING
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
MARINATE SALMON
- Combine soy sauce, dry sherry, sesame oil and ginger then pour over salmon in a shallow bowl. Marinate for 20 minutes.
COOK SALMON
- Fill a wok with a few inches of water and top. Line a bamboo steamer with a piece of foil and place inside the wok leaving space for the steam to come through. Cover the wok and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Place salmon on the foil, cover and steam until the it is firm to the touch and flakes with a fork, 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon.
- While the salmon is cooking make the Chinese Pesto.
CHINESE PESTO SAUCE
- Combine cornstarch and water in a small dish, set aside.
- Combine ginger and garlic and set aside.
- Combine remaining sauce ingredients in a measuring cup and set aside.
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté ginger and garlic for 30 seconds then add lemon juice mixture. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and continue stirring as it thickens. Remove from heat, pour over salmon and serve.
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