Ingredients

• Salmon (Any type of fish will do)

• 1/4 Onion

• 1/4 Carrot

• Mushrooms

• Couple of Sprigs of Hiroshima-Na Flowers (Asparagus, or Broccolini will also do)

• A Slice of Butter

• Olive Oil

• Salt

• Pepper

• Cooking Wine or White Wine

• 1 Tbsp Mayonnaise

• 1 Tbsp Miso

total cooking time: 20mins

So here is my recipe for my recent dish that uses Hiroshima-Na flowers.

Foil cooked salmon!

This recipe is super simple but is jam packed with flavors, and is even better with some bread like a baguette.

1. Get any vegetables that you have around the house and chop into manageable pieces.

   The trick is to cut the veggies into shapes and thicknesses that will cook fast because you are essentially steaming the vegetables. When I made this dish yesterday, I used onions, carrots (from my garden), two types of mushrooms, and my Hiroshima-Na. It’s good to think about putting lots of different textures, allowing for different combinations when you’re eating this dish. Also include onions for sure because it adds a nice sweetness to the stock that will eventually fill the bottom of the foil.

2. After you get all your ingredients ready, just build your veggie and salmon tower.

   First spread a little olive oil and lay onions, then carrots, mushrooms, Hiroshima-Na, couple of slices of butter, pinch of salt and pepper, our a little cooking wine over the veggie tower, and finally the salmon.

3. Make your sauce by mixing the mayonnaise and miso together

Add this sauce on thick because you’ll need it when you're eating the fish with the vegetables.

4.Wrap the fish and vegetables up in a little foil package

Make sure not to press down on the top of the foil and try to wrap it without touching much of the fish because the sauce may burn onto the foil.

5.Preheat your oven to 240F or just the max setting in your toaster oven and cook for 20mins

Honestly I just eye-ball this part, just keep and eye on it and make sure its not burning. When it starts to get to the point when it is done, you should smell the onions coming out of the oven or toaster oven.

6. Eat and enjoy!

By wrapping the salmon up together with the vegetables keeps all of the great flavors that are released from the ingredients circulating throughout the aluminum package. The fat from the butter and fish coat the vegetables giving them a lot of the much needed richness. The fish is moist from essentially being steamed in the water included in the vegetables and the cooking wine that was poured over. The mayonnaise and miso sauce is so simple to make yet adds not only the needed saltiness but also sweetness to the dish bringing the vegetables and fish together.

The Hiroshima-Na does a really nice job here too. Visually the green is much needed in the sea of orange, and instead of cutting it into pieces putting the whole stalk in there was a nice touch as well. Not to mention the yellow from the flowers is nice considering the rest of the vegetables are wither root vegetables or a fungus. As for the flavors, because everything is either savory, earthy, sweet, the bitter spicy greenery cuts through all of those flavors without fighting it. If you use asparagus, I feel its flavor won’t cut through the dish, but just become part of it. The Hiroshima-Na adds to the dish by having a different flavor profile from the rest.

The best part though isn’t the fish or vegetables, but all of the juices that have accumulated on the bottom of the foil. I had some rye bread so I used that too soak up all of the pool of umami, and let me tell you, heaven. The sourness and the toasty notes of the rye once again works as a contrast to the rich soup, all the while acting as a sponge . Good to the very last drop.

I would recommend pairing this dish with some white wine, may be a Chardonnay which has a nice bright citrusy flavor. If you want to go sake, go for something that has a bright and fruity flavor profile as well!

enjoy!