The genesis of this recipe was that I had oranges I needed to use and also some Chili Crunch (left from our daughter’s boyfriend staying at Christmas– he loves spice) that I also wanted to get used.

I had thought the Chili Crunch was too spicy for me, however, feeling experimental one day, I made a grilled cheese sandwich that I added both some honey and some Chili Crunch to, and now I’m a convert. So I knew the combination of honey and chili crunch was a winner, and I also knew salmon and citrus go well together. So here we are!

If you don’t have Chili Crunch (shown in a photo below), you can get it here or at Whole Foods, but dicing up two Birdseye chilies would be a fine substitute.

This recipe is great over brown rice, but we also love mixing blueberries into it instead for a low carb meal.

Spicy Citrus Salmon Recipe

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2  Tablespoons of avocado oil, divided
3 Tablespoons ginger, peeled and sliced
2 Tablespoons garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon Chili Crunch
4 large scallions, sliced
3 medium navel oranges, peel cut off and sliced
2 wild salmon fillets (we prefer skinless)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Steamed brown rice or blueberries for serving

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Mix the rice vinegar, honey and fish sauce together to make the sauce.

Put a tablespoon of avocado oil in in a sauté pan over medium heat, and stir the garlic, ginger and Chili Crunch until the garlic is golden. Add the scallions and the other tablespoon of oil and stir to coat. Then add in the sliced oranges and the sauce, and turn down to a simmer. Cook down the sauce until it is darker and stickier.

Once your sauce starts to simmer, salt and pepper your salmon filets and put them in the oven for three minutes each side.

Serve the salmon on a bed of sauce next to rice (or blueberries), reserving a last bit of sauce to drizzle over the top.

Wow, that’s a lot of flavor!

Enjoy!