Not Exactly "White" Stew, but Here's My Take on Japanese Salmon Stew

White stew (ホワイトシチュー), a Japanese style stew starting with roux and finished off with heavy whipping cream. However, I feel uneasy calling my version "white" stew, since the result came out somewhat brownish. Maybe not as pretty as a purely "white" stew, but trust me, this darkened version is packed with flavor and will not disappoint. 

Japanese salmon stew -

Ingredients?

• 200 grams salmon (fillet preferred, but slices will do too)
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 medium/small broccoli
• 2 medium/small carrot
• 3 small potatoes
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Small pinch nutmeg
• Some parsley
• Some flour
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• Some white wine (optional)

How?

Chunky salmon is preferred, cut into large bite size pieces. I couldn't get a hold of salmon fillet, so had to adapt with thinner slices instead. 

Sprinkle some salt and pepper to the fish, then dust with flour.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pot and turn to medium high heat. Once melted, sear the fish till both sides turned slightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside for later use.

Break the broccoli into smaller pieces. Do not discard the stem, peel away tougher layer then cut into chunks too. Peel and cut the carrot into smaller chunks, do the same with potatoes. Peel and dice the onion. Peel and finely chop garlic cloves. Finely chop some parsley.

Use the same pot, add in 2 more tablespoons of butter and turn to medium high heat. Transfer chopped onion over along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook till the onion turns translucent. Add in garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so.

Transfer broccoli, carrot, and potatoes over. Sear and wait till they get slightly softened, it can take up to 10 minutes or so.

Add in about 2 tablespoons of flour and give it a quick mix, a thicker roux will start to form. Pour in chicken stock, also few splashes of wine if using. Cook for couple minutes.

Pour in heavy whipping cream and bring the whole pot to a slight boil, then keep it at a simmer. Taste and adjust with salt if needed.

Salmon goes in now, also small pinch of nutmeg. Simmer for another 20 to 25 minutes.

Once ready, transfer to a serving dish if desired. Garnish with chopped parsley right before serving. 

One tip here, dice these root vegetables to even smaller pieces to speed up the cooking time. 

My finished dish should be more like a braise than stew, but I'll stick with its Japanese origin and kept the name "stew." Either way, as long as it tastes good, don't bother with such details. 


Other stew recipes:

• Black garlic pork stew (黑蒜頭燉豬肉)
• All spice beef stew