When we first moved into our house, I had carved out a small patch of land for the herb garden. Since the irrigation was a little messed up, the gardenette was close to a hose and small enough to be manageable daily.
Once the main garden was built last October, I had transferred all my energy, plants and herbs into raised beds and sort of neglected the temporary gardenette. Most everything had died (that patch is still without automatic irrigation) except for the weeds and the fennel plants, which had miraculously thrived with no attention and no water. I have no idea what super-strain of fennel this is, but heck, I’m grateful.
I’ve got more fennel than I can ever eat myself, so I’ve been inserting both the bulb and the fragrant fronds into salads and grilling recipes when we entertain. People say fennel is licorice-y, but it’s so much more than that. Fennel is refreshing, slightly minty with the fragrance and “mist” of anise. I think the word, “licorice flavor” is too strong of a description — I don’t taste the licorice flavor straight on my tongue, it’s more of an overall delicate aroma. Kind of like how fresh basil, mint or dill tastes in your mouth.
Fennel is perfect to pair with miso, honey and orange. It’s an herb that can stand on its own – the fresh crunch of the bulb and don’t forget the lovely fronds, which are equally fragrant with a more floral slant.
If you’re not a big fan of fennel – I’ve got substitutes for you in the recipe.
Miso Salmon with Orange and Fennel Recipe
This is another miso inspired recipe I’ve developed for my client, Miso & Easy, a ready-to-use miso paste. Use any miso paste that you wish!
Here’s what ya need:
The first step is to marinate your salmon (or any fish of your choice) with miso, honey, ginger, sake (or white wine – or omit the alcohol altogether). Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour or even overnight is fine.
On a baking sheet, layer sliced fennel bulb and a few orange slices. Substitute onion for the fennel, omit the orange if you’d like.
Lay the marinated salmon on top.
Top with fennel fronds – or fresh herb of your choice (basil, parsley, etc) You can even top it with more orange slices if you want.
Bake until done and serve with rice.
Miso Salmon with Orange and Fennel Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 salmon fillets
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup Miso & Easy (or 2 tablespoons miso paste)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons sake (or dry white wine)
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 orange
- 1 bulb fennel (with fronds)
Instructions
- Marinate the salmon with the salt, pepper, Miso & Easy, honey, sake and ginger at least 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator. It is easiest do this in a resealable bag.
- When ready to cook, Preheat oven to 375F. Thinly slice the orange (you can keep the peel on) and thinly slices the fennel bulb. Layer the orange slices and fennel slices on a baking sheet. Place the marinated salmon on top (discard the leftover marinade.) Cover the salmon with several sprigs of the fennel fronds. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until desired level of doneness.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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Just made this tonight. Was simple and easy and it came out great. Love the orange and fennel combination.
Thanx for this- I’m eating fish 4 to 5 times week now, so always looking for new ways to cook it (that must be easy & quick). Only had fennel 2 or 3 times before so I’m not super familiar with it. Think I’ll try this with Shanghai choy stems instead… mmmmmm!
It’s great that you are getting ideas from this post as well as from our argument made at this place.
I made this recipe last night and placing the salmon atop the thinly sliced oranges and fennel during baking added a wonderful flavor to the fish. Thanks for the new technique. Additionally, I added thin slices of orange on top of the fish for added flavor.
Ah ! the colors in the dish are so complementary. Lovely & zesty !
Do you take off the skin on the salmon? Would leaving the skin on get in the way of the fennel and orange getting through to the meat?
This is lovely. I adore fennel. It just brightens up a dish with some fun flavor. I’ve never tried growing it though. I must put that on my list. Hoping to put some raised beds in this year. Our planting season is way behind yours.
Off to the store in the morning for orange and fennel and I’ll be set to make this for tomorrow night’s dinner. Love, love, love salmon and fennel. Fennel is a little-known treasure, isn’t it!
This looks fantastic and I will be trying it. Also, as a visual learner, I love the ingredients “list”.
Maybe this has been shared already somewhere, but where do you get Miso & Easy? I want to make some of these recipes!
Yum! I’m always looking for good salmon recipes. I love the orange addition, I usually just use lemon.
Not a big fan of Salmon but Salmon with crunchy fennel and dill is just wow! Carb-free wholesome meal! Thanks for sharing. Adding Miso must be a nice twist! 🙂
Jaden, happy mother’s day! this is yummy!
This would be a great preparation on the BGE too!
An easy recipe that won’t take a chef to make it and yet it looks delicious 😀
Yum! Now that I have some Miso & Easy, I can’t wait to try all of the recipes you have developed for it! 🙂
Made it tonight was amazing! The wife and kids absolutely loved it!
I’ve never had fennel. That’s not something I should be able to say!
This looks beautiful – I guess I need to find some this weekend at the market.