I have made this quite a few times in the past -- it is exceedingly tasty, easy to make and a feast for the eyes as well. For something that is an amalgamation of quickly zapped ingredients, a dish planned around keeping the kitchen cool in the heat of summer, the taste is complex and the dish has real depth of flavor, with back notes of turmeric from the fish that work really well with both the corn and the coconut.
1 salmon fillet (mine was 5 oz., 1 inch thick, but I have cooked up to 8 oz. portions this way, for the same amount of time)
1 ear of corn, shucked and cut into kernels
1 Tbsp red onion, sliced into half moons
1 tsp (or more) Jalapeno pepper, chopped finely, depending on how much you like spice, and how spicy that particular pepper is.
2 Tbsps full-fat coconut milk
2 tsps chopped coriander (or basil if you are not a cilantro lover)
1/4 tsp turmeric
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
As soon as the oil begins to shimmer, add the sliced onions, the corn and the chopped Jalapeno and a pinch of salt. Cook for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften. Stir from time to time so that the onions do not begin to caramelize.
While the onion-corn-Jalapeno mixture is cooking, tear off a piece of parchment paper large enough to contain the piece of fish. Rub the fish on all sides with some salt and some of the turmeric and place it in the center of the parchment paper. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top and crimp the parchment paper into a tightly sealed package around the seasoned fish. Place in the microwave and zap for three minutes and thirty seconds.
While the fish is cooking, add the coconut milk and half of the chopped herbs to the pan. Lower the heat and allow the coconut milk to bubble gently around the edges and thicken slightly.
As soon as you remove the fish from the microwave, gingerly open the top of the parchment paper package. Remove the cooked fish to a dinner bowl and add the liquid remaining behind in the parchment paper package to the mixture in the pan on the stove top. Stir to combine. Check for seasoning.
Raise the heat back to medium, bring to a rolling boil, and then pour over the top of the salmon. Garnish with the remaining chopped herbs.
This is an eight minutes and forty two second to the table meal.