Salmon Glazed in Whiskey and Soy with Buckwheat Soba Noodles

It was inevitable that when the World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee and the first bite of information was sent on Christmas day 1990; that before long the internet would become home to millions of web sites that went far beyond the confines of necessity and functionality, into the realms of the ludicrous, surreal, and downright bizarre – ‘Get Ahead of the Games’ is one such web site. For months now we have been warned off entering the city to avoid the promised apocalyptic grid lock of confused locals swimming against a tide of wild eyed foreigners; ‘Olympic Lanes’ were to provide safe passage for terrified athletes barricaded behind bullet proof glass, as the contaminated public ran around feasting upon each other in the barren zombified wasteland of the middle and outside lanes.

I went to the Olympics on Monday, and I left plenty of time to catch my train and tube in anticipation of a rather uncomfortable game of sardines to make it to Westminster Pier and our boat to Greenwich. As it turns out, the campaign to warn off us Brits from the city unless it’s absolutely imperative to enter, at our peril, has been by far the governments most successful to date. There were barely any people on the train from Ealing (queen of the suburbs and home to my girlfriend), the tube was bordering comfortable, we didn’t have to jostle through a group of Spanish students at the exit of Embankment, and there was an alarming lack of tourists from the Orient along the South Bank. As you can imagine experiencing England without the cueing was most disconcerting.

Fortunately Karma was restored with a lengthy line as we entered the equestrian park through the Royal Maritime Museum, and there were a great deal of people inside enjoying a brief spell of sunlight in an otherwise dreary July. The cross country went well, or at least the two jumps I could see from my seat in the main stand didn’t challenge anyone particularly; the presence of Wills, Harry, Kate and a handful of lesser Royals rendered my little sister into her usual gushing mess, the beer was expensive, the food more so, but it was a fantastic day out and I feel like I did my bit to egg on Team GB to the silver medal they were awarded today on the podium in Greenwich.

I think it’s hard not feel a little patriotic when thrust into the breach of such a spectacle, however cynical you may have been about it before hand, and there was a lot of that going around. There are those who think the money should have been put to better use, re-building our flailing economy for example; there were certainly parts of the opening ceremony that I thought could have been omitted, It was a little peculiar that the NHS, already understaffed, were able to spare several hundred active nurses to dance around some children whilst their patients back at Holby were forced to call the Police for a glass of water. Although on the whole, I thought it was highly entertaining.

We need entertaining at the moment; it gets the endorphins going inside of us and heightens the serotonin in our bodies. It does exactly what exercise does for the athletes, stimulates our body and invigorates the mind. So if you think about there has never been a better time to have a party as right now – don’t mope around resigning to the national negativity and cynicism that’s been seeping into us; call up Bassline Productions and hire a massive sound system, play Chariots of Fire, run around in slow motion and award yourselves a medal. www.basslineproductions.co.uk



Ingredients: (Serves 4)

For the salmon marinade -
4 salmon filets
150ml whiskey
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red chilli, finely chopped

For the noodles -
3 bunches of soba noodles
4 florets of brocolli, roughly chopped
1 romano pepper, finely chopped
8 baby corns, halved lengthways
2cm fresh root ginger, crushed
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the cooking sauce -
5 tablespoons whiskey
4 tablespoons dark soy
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3 tablespoons runny honey
2 tablespoons hot water
6 spring onions, white ends finely chopped, save green ends for cooking
1 clove garlic, crushed
1cm fresh ginger, crushed
Small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Chives, finely chopped

Vegetable oil for frying

Plain flour for dusting



Method:

1. Mix the ingredients for the salmon marinade together and submerge the salmon in it for a minimum of 2 hours.

2. In a bowl thoroughly mix all the ingredients for the cooking sauce together and set aside.

3. Boils the Soba noodles for between 5 and 7 minutes, strain and set aside. In a wok heat some oil and fry up the brocolli, baby corn, pepper, ginger and garlic and stir fry for a few minutes till half cooked. Take off the heat and keep warm.

4. When the salmon has marinaded take it out, pat it in the flour, and chuck it - skin side down - into a frying pan. Cook the filets for a few minutes then pour in the cooking sauce, it will sizzle quickly and the honey will caramelise and bubble. Turn the filets over and cook for 2 minutes, before flipping them back skin side down. Make sure to toss them in the reduced sauce, the whiskey will be burning off and the sauce will reduce by over 3/4.

5. Whilst the salmon is cooking add the noodles to the wok and toss the vegetables through it, add a little soy and some sesame oil if needs be to add extra flavour.

6. Plate up the noodles with the salmon on top, chuck some chives and coriander around and about. Serve up.