Thai-Style Wild Alaska Salmon Pouches
Ingredients
• Vegetable oil, for greasing
• 1 x 418g or 2 x 213g cans red or pink Alaska salmon
• 5cm (2 inch) piece of lemongrass, very finely chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• ½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 sheets filo pastry
• 100g (4oz) butter, melted
• A few fresh chives
• Sweet chilli sauce, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan oven 190°C, Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets with a little vegetable oil.
Drain the salmon, reserving 2 tbsp of the liquid. Remove any skin and bones, if wished. Put the salmon into a bowl with the reserved liquid and use a fork to break it into fine flakes
Add the lemongrass, coriander, chilli and spring onions to the salmon. Season with a little salt and pepper, then mix together thoroughly.
On a work surface, unfold the sheets of filo pastry. Brushing each sheet lightly with melted butter, stack the pastry into 3 piles of 4 sheets. Using a sharp knife, cut each of these 3 stacks of pastry into 8 even squares, so that you have 24 squares in total.
Share the salmon filling between the filo squares, then gather up the pastry around the filling to make little pouches, scrunching the pastry together so that it encloses the filling securely. Brush the pouches with any remaining melted butter. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a few moments, tie a chive around each one, then serve with sweet chilli sauce.
Cook’s tip: If you’re not keen on coriander, use basil, chives or parsley instead.
