Spiced Salmon and Avocado Poke Bowl, made with Dish Symphony No.1

Cut it, sink it in the marinade for ten minutes, spoon it over rice. That is the whole bowl. The hob stays off. A knife and a bowl are all it takes, which makes it just right for lunch on a hot day.

The material Dish Symphony No.1 holds most of is not pepper but paprika. The dry toastiness of Spanish paprika is the base, and Pepper Caviar sits on top of it: a wild pepper from the forests of Madagascar that fruits only high up in the trees. It is a grain whose standing has risen in French cooking, and small as it is, its scent stays a long time.

Fatty salmon turns heavy on the finish with nothing but soy sauce and sesame oil. Bring in the toastiness of the paprika and the woody scent of Pepper Caviar, and the aroma stays on after the fat, and the flavour becomes exceptional.

Total time: about 15 min

On top of that, the marinating takes 10 minutes in the fridge.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• Dish Symphony No.1: 1/2 tsp
• Salmon (a sashimi-grade block, or offcuts): 200g
• Avocado: 1
• Onion: 1/4
• Shiso leaves: 4
• Toasted nori: 1/2 full sheet
• Lemon: 1/4
• Soy sauce: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Sesame oil: 1 tbsp
• Mirin: 1 tsp
• Toasted white sesame seeds: 1 tsp
• Rice: enough for 2 donburi bowls

Preparation

1. Use sashimi-grade salmon. If you have a block, cut it into 1.5cm cubes. If you are using offcuts, cut only the larger pieces down to a matching size. Salmon labelled for cooking cannot be used in this recipe.
2. Slice the onion thinly, cutting across the fibres, soak it in water for 5 minutes, then take the water off it thoroughly with a paper towel. Water left on it thins the marinade and blurs the flavour.
3. Run a knife right around the avocado lengthwise and split it in half, take out the stone, peel it and cut it into 1.5cm cubes. Squeeze the lemon over the pieces once they are cut.
4. Trim the stems from the shiso leaves and shred them finely. Tear the toasted nori into small pieces by hand.
5. If the rice is hot, fan it down to body temperature. That puts it at the same temperature as the cold marinade.

Instructions

1. Put the soy sauce: 1 1/2 tbsp, the sesame oil: 1 tbsp and the mirin: 1 tsp in a bowl and mix them.
2. Add Dish Symphony No.1: 1/2 tsp and mix until the powder has taken to the oil. Left floating as dry powder, the aroma comes out unevenly in the mouth.
3. Add the salmon and the drained onion and fold them through, turning from underneath.
4. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes. Marinate longer and the flesh firms up and loses that dense, silky feel in the mouth.
5. Add the avocado and stir only two or three times, so that it does not break up.
6. Spoon the rice into donburi bowls and pile it on top. Scatter over the toasted white sesame seeds and lay on the shiso and the toasted nori.
7. Taste and adjust the salt. Dish Symphony No.1 is salt-free, additive-free and 100% plant-based, so the amount of soy sauce can stay exactly as you always use it.

As well as mixing it into the marinade, you can shake a pinch of Dish Symphony No.1 over the top once it is served. The aroma that has sat in the marinade and the aroma shaken on at the finish arrive differently.