Sweet and Sour Salmon a la Savta Norma

My MIL, of blessed memory, was a school teacher for many years and didn’t have time or inclination to spend hours in the kitchen – she just wanted to present food quickly and easily. She would get certain basic recipes from friends who were excellent cooks and make them time and again. So, what she would make, would generally be good. This wonderful salmon, which she called “pickled” but I call sweet and sour is meant to be eaten cold and is elegant enough for holidays and Shabbat. I happily eat leftovers of this during the week since the pickling sauce gets more flavorful with time.

I had to adjust the recipe since Mom used to cook the salmon for 45 minutes (yikes!) and it would be overcooked although with great flavor. Other than that, the ingredients are simple and readily to hand. The one you must use to achieve the proper taste is the powdered dried ginger, don’t skip it!! It also doesn’t take long to prepare from start to finish, ain’t it great?

So, start with salmon fillets (carp would be good too but in Israel carp are very small compared to the States and have many tiny bones so I won’t use it) and clean. This can be made as a main or as an appetizer, just cut the salmon (or have a fish man cut it for you) into the appropriate thickness. I made them this time as an appetizer so I cut them thinner.

An aside here, if you want to prepare the fillets yourself, buy a whole side of salmon fillet, freeze till slightly frozen and then with a very sharp knife, cut into the size fillet you want. You should use individual fillets for this.

Just clean and rinse, no need to pat dry since it’s going into liquid. Set aside.

Then take a large onion and slice thin and separate into rings. Place into a wide pot and add vinegar, water, sugar, ginger, salt and pepper. Cook 10-15 minutes on medium simmer with pot lid on, tilted.

Add the fish, laying into the hot liquid carefully.

Cook on low simmer for 15-20 minutes depending upon thickness of fish slices. Remove lid and remove from fire. Let cool in liquid and put in fridge. It continues to marinate and adds tremendous flavor to the fish so try to let it marinate for at least two hours if possible.

Sweet & sour salmon a la Savta Norma

1-2 large onions sliced
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 teaspoon powdered dried ginger
1/2 tsp pepper
about 3 1/2 pounds (1 1/2 kilo) sliced salmon fillets

Simmer onions in vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and ginger with 2 cups of water for 10 -15 minutes. Add fish and if needed, additional water to cover fish, turn fire on low simmer, and cook with lid to pot tilted, approximately 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish slices. Remove lid & take off fire. Allow to cool and replace lid and store in fridge allowing to marinate at least two hours before serving for best flavor. If in a dreadful hurry, you can serve just cooled.