Curry Braised Collard Greens with King Salmon

I’m thinking about starting a cooking for one series. This dish definitely makes the cut. I keep it on rotation over here because it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, a healthy serving of omega-3s and greens, and it’s the type of dish that can be made on a Sunday to last you several dinners into the week.

This recipe is inspired by a dish called gulai sayur (Indonesian-style collard greens) and arguably one of the best ways to prepare collard greens. I used to have Indonesian collards all the time at Teaism, this gem of a tea shop in DC.

Now that I’ve moved, I am not able to eat there as often so I learned to make something similar at home. I made quite a few changes (discussed below), so these greens not quite as traditional as gulai sayur but still phenomenal. I swapped out a few flavors and devoured the first batch. Since then I have tested and tasted this recipe to perfection.

All the Things You’ll Need

Not much. Like all of my favorite dishes, this one requires minimal kitchen equipment (= minimal dishes) and it leaves you with enough leftovers to hold you for a few days.

Enameled Cast Iron Skillet (or an Oven-Safe Skillet): Think a shallow Dutch oven. It’s what makes this a one-pot dish because you can braise the greens and salmon on the stovetop and transfer the pot to the oven to finish under the broiler. I prefer to use a pan that is at least 12 or 14 inches in diameter, so there’s enough space for the salmon fillets. Of course, if you don’t have an enameled skillet/pan, you can use a dutch oven or any oven-safe skillet.

The Ingredients

Per usual, quality ingredients are everything and always the key to a good meal.

Collard Greens: We want fresh, large, and crisp collard greens that are dark green and uniform in color.

Garlic & Ginger: One thing about me — I actually find preparing, grating, and measuring fresh ginger to be pretty annoying, although it always smells amazing. I started making batches of ginger paste to store in my freezer and use as needed in recipes. You can do the same for garlic.

Spices: For the spices, I used turmeric, fenugreek seed, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, star anise, cloves, and cardamom to season the coconut-based braising liquid. I love love love this blend of spices. I find it so unique and spicy without the heat (make sense?). Of course, if you’re feeling you want a kick of heat, you can top the greens with fresh, thinly chopped chiles.

Coconut Milk & Broth for the Braising Liquid: The braising liquid consists of about 1 cup of coconut milk and 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth.

King Salmon or Any Wild-Caught, Good-Quality Salmon: King Salmon (a.k.a. Chinook Salmon) has been my latest treat myself meal. If you haven’t tried King Salmon at home, I highly recommend as I find it to be more flavorful and less oily than other varieties. It is a bit expensive (usually somewhere between $25 and $40 per pound), so it is definitely a treat but so worth it. I find it in local fish and farmer’s markets in California where it’s most likely found during the spring and summer, but I have also found it around the same time at Whole Foods at home in Virginia.

The Process

Traditional gulai sayur involves making a paste out of the garlic, ginger, shallots, and spices but I opted for mincing them and toasting the flavors over the heat. Also, instead of using lemongrass, I incorporated some of the spices that I typically find in my favorite Indian-style curries.

I started by removing the stems and cutting the greens into large strips. The curry braising liquid is broth (vegetable broth is just as excellent for my pescatarians, vegetarians, and vegans) and coconut milk-based with shallots, lots of garlic and ginger, and turmeric, fenugreek, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves (and a bay leaf). The first time I tested tis dish, I used a turmeric blend in place of plain turmeric (Golden Wonders from Nya Tea) that has similar spices with a touch of cardamom — which was so amazing that I decided to add a pinch of cardamom to my spice blend for this recipe.

The collard greens are braised for about 20-30 minutes in the Indonesian-inspired coconut curry broth.

The collard greens are inspired by a dish called gulai sayur—Indonesian-style collard greens—and arguably one of the best ways to prepare collard greens.

About Braising

Braising refers to the cooking method of browning or searing at a high temperature in a fairly dry dry pan then slow cooking in a flavorful braising liquid (often a wine, broth, coconut milk-based liquid) in a covered pot. Because it’s the greens that we are braising, there is no browning or searing part like I would do for a braised meat, like short ribs. Instead the spices are toasted in the cooking oil to release the flavors and aroma. Then the coconut milk and broth is added as the cooking liquid for the greens and salmon.

The braising liquid (broth and coconut milk) is seasoned with garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, fenugreek, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and a bay leaf. The curry broth also serves as a cooking liquid for the salmon before it finishes in the broiler. I served the salmon and greens over white basmati rice for a full meal.