Garlic Ginger Salmon with Tangerine Sauce

Since I started my cooking blog I feel we’ve tested a lot of salmon recipes.  We’ve tried quite a few and it’s hard finding new recipes that are unique.   This happens to be one of those recipes.  The ‘tangerine sauce’ intrigued me, and I LOVE cilantro which happens to be one of the ingredients in this dish.

Before the salmon fillets are placed in the oven an olive oil mixture is created to cover the fillets.  If you have a food processor this will help blend the ingredients into a very fine paste.  I took the easy way out as I have a food processor but didn’t feel like getting it dirty (just one more thing to clean up!) and I always have a stock supply of minced ginger and garlic in the fridge.  Having pre-minced garlic and ginger is great because it saves a lot of time and you can buy it in small jars at any grocery store.  If you manually mix the ingredients by hand, like I did, it’s really simple.   Just make sure the cilantro is chopped very fine, as well as the garlic and ginger.  The mixture will be more liquid-like and can be easily spooned on top of the fish.  The only benefit I see in using a food processor is that the mixture would be more paste-like and would stay on top of the fillets better.

Olive oil mixture

Ready to put in the oven

Once the fillets had 5 minutes left to cook I began making the tangerine sauce.  The original recipe calls for tangerine juice, however I didn’t want to buy a large bottle and have the remaining amount go to waste.  I decided to use regular orange juice instead.  The sauce is very easy to make and during the last few minutes it will become thicker as it’s simmering.  When the salmon has finished cooking, simply spoon the sauce over the fillets.

The salmon cooked well and I paired it with a side of roasted mushrooms, zucchini, and onions.  I first tried the salmon without the sauce and I thought it had a really unique flavoring.  I could have eaten it without the sauce but I wanted to try it and thought it complimented the salmon very nicely.  We both agreed that this meal has a much stronger fish taste than other salmon recipes we’ve tried. Ryan liked this dish but he still has his all-time favorite salmon recipe (Dry-Rubbed Salmon with Cucumber Relish). Overall I feel the ingredients make this a wonderful dish to serve in the summer.

Garlic-Ginger Salmon with Tangerine Sauce

Adapted from Robin Rescues Dinner: 52 Weeks of Quick-Fix Meals, 350 Recipes, and a Realistic Plan to Get Weeknight Dinners on the Table, by Robin Miller (Amazon affiliate link)

Serves 2

Prep time: 10 mins.

Total time: 25 mins.

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillets
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (minced) or 1/2  teaspoon chopped ginger (packaged/sold in jar)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup tangerine or orange juice
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon dried coriander
• 1/2 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.  Lightly grease a roasting pan with butter.
2. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper.  Place in prepared pan.
3. Combine the oil, cilantro, ginger, and garlic.  Mix and mash by hand, or use a food processor.  Spread the mixture on top of the fillets.
4.  Roast the salmon for 12 to 15 minutes or until the fish flakes apart easily with a fork.
5. When the fish has 5 minutes left to cook, prepare the tangerine sauce. 
6. In a small saucepan whisk together tangerine/orange juice, cornstarch, and coriander over medium heat.  Reduce to a simmer and add butter. 
7. Simmer sauce for 3 to 5 minutes, allowing sauce to thicken.
8. Drizzle sauce over fillets before serving.