Steamed Salmon with Herb Butter Sauce on Slowly Caramelized Lemon Chicory

Melt some of the cold butter in a small saucepan. Stew the chopped shallot, chopped garlic and finely chopped herbs in it for 5-6 minutes without browning the onion. Because add vinegar and let it boil almost completely. Then pour in the wine and reduce it in the same way. Finally add the poultry, fish or vegetable stock and reduce by half. Stir in the crème fraîche and bring to the boil. Stir in the remaining cold butter, cut into pieces. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pass through a sieve. If the sauce is too thick, dilute with a little water or lemon juice. Lather up with a hand blender.

Brush a sufficiently large piece of parchment paper in the middle with half of the soft butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on top and brush with the remaining soft butter. Season with salt and pepper. Place the paper with the salmon in a steamer insert and place over a saucepan with only very gently simmering water, cover with a lid.

The fish takes about 7-8 minutes, thicker pieces maybe 10. Then the fillet should still be slightly glassy on the inside. To determine the correct cooking point: lift the lid and make a pressure test. The fish should feel slightly taut, but not hard.

Place a salmon fillet on two caramelized chicory halves (see my KB). Napkin with the foamed herb butter sauce and, if necessary, drizzle with the fish juice that has leaked out during steaming.

As you can see in the photos, the salmon (a frozen product in a double pack, one piece approx. 125 g) was no longer glassy after approx. 8 minutes, but à point or even slightly overcooked. The frothing of the sauce had unfortunately not worked for me due to the lack of mass (only cooked for 1 person). Regarding the amount of herbs: in the original recipe it says (for twice the amount of sauce) "a branch" of the fresh herbs and, without any indication of the amount, "fresh parsley" (I forgot that when I was cooking). I took dried herbs to my taste, but more of the tarragon (about 1 teaspoon for a portion / person). The salmon was so tender and the chicory braised so soft that I only ate everything with a spoon.