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Rum Salmon and Rice Bundle

(recipe, Karen Lin)

Introduction

This is a variation on the Cuban dish called Arroz Con Pescado Al Ron. The salmon turns out moist and flaky, the rice, soothing with a sweet kick from the rum, peppers and onions.

Ingredients

  1. 1 banana leaf
  2. 2 cups cooked rice
  3. 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  4. 1 tomato, chopped
  5. ⅓ cup chopped red pepper
  6. 1 small onion, chopped
  7. 1 small bay leaf, crumbled
  8. ½ tsp. saffron, rubbed between your fingers to crumble
  9. 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  10. ½ tsp. oregano
  11. ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
  12. 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
  13. ¼ cup vegetable oil
  14. ¾ cup clam juice
  15. ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  16. ⅓ cup white rum
  17. ¾ lb. salmon filet, rinsed

Steps

  1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the salmon and the banana leaf.
  2. Mix well.
  3. Bury the salmon filet under the wet rice mixture.
  4. Let marinate at room temperature. while you .
  5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  6. Prepare the banana leaf:
  7. With scissors, cut across the banana leaf, along natural grain creating one piece 7 inches and one 2 feet long.
  8. Spray oil into a 7” x 11” baking dish and line the bottom of it with the 7-inch piece of banana leaf.
  9. Lay 2-foot strip of leaf on a flat surface.
  10. Scoop about 1 cup of the rice mixture onto the lower ⅓ of the leaf strip.
  11. Add the salmon filet, then an additional cup of the rice.
  12. Reserve juice and remaining rice.
  13. Roll the leaf, tucking in sides as you roll.
  14. With open seam facing down, place bundle into the baking dish.
  15. Put remaining rice mixture and juice on either end of the baking dish.
  16. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
  17. Reach in to open tucked-in side or cut open to spoon out your meal.