Salmon Burgers with Pickled Ginger and Cilantro

(From ‘It’s All Good’ by Gwyneth Paltrow & Julia Turshen)

• 1 pound salmon fillet, skin discarded, cut into 1 inch cubes

• 2 tbsp drained pickled ginger

• 1/2 small red onion, roughly chopped

• 1/3 cup cilantro leaves

• 2 tsp soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)

• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• Sriracha Mayo

Place salmon on a sheet pan or a plate and stick it in the freezer for 15 minutes, just until it gets very cold but isn’t frozen solid. While you’re at it, place the bowl and blade from your food processor in the freezer too. Blitz the ice cold salmon in 2 batches, using your ice-cold food processor blade, until completely minced but not a paste (pulse each batch for a second or 2 about half a dozen times). The cold temperature helps you grind the salmon evenly without its turning into a paste or, worse, starting to cook from an overheated machine. Place the ground salmon in a large mixing bowl.

Put the pickled ginger, red onion, cilantro, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper in the food processor’s bowl and pulse the mixture until it’s very finely chopped. Add these aromatics to the salmon and use a rubber spatula or your hands to thoroughly combine. Form the mixture into 4 patties. At this point, it’s ideal to refrigerate the burgers for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight, to really get the flavors into the salmon, but they’ll still be A-OK if you don’t have that extra time. When you’re ready to cook, heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Rub the burgers with the coconut oil and cook until browned and firm to the touch, about 5 minutes per side. Serve with the Sriracha Mayo.