2016 marks my 4th consecutive year being an esteemed guest of the Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner and this event is one of the annual highlights of my social life!
As of 2016 I’ve ceased attending events and reviews in Malaysia. All my energies and focus are strategized around selected content that are by exclusive invite or for hidden culinary gems.
Reviews are accepted at most once a month.
But come October, I eagerly awaits the invite from Innovation Norway Malaysia, the Norwegian Government’s instrument for innovation and development of Norwegian enterprises and industry.
It supports Norwegian companies in developing their competitive advantage and to enhance innovation.
In short, unless I’m out of the country, the annual Norwegian Seafood Gala Dinner is an event I will not miss.
VIDEO
And yes, I have to take my annual picture with Chef Frank Naesheim aka the “Salmon King“. 🙂
BELOW: 2013, 2014, 2015.
And as you can see, even Chef Frank is catching on.
When he saw me this year, he even suggested the pose! LOL. 😀
The buffet spread is familiar and is about 80% similarly each year.
I look forward to this oceanic feast each year and it never disappoints. However, for 2016, I thought I would do things a bit differently so instead of repeating the content and images, I decided to make good use of the recipe book inside my goodie bag.
There were quite a number of recipes in it and I’ve tried 3 so far.
It is not often to see salmon used in Asian recipes so I was pretty excited to try recipes like “salmon with cincalok dressing“, “salmon kicap manis“, “salmon assam pedas” and yes, even ‘salmon mee goreng‘!
WHERE TO BUY NORWEGIAN SALMON?
But of course, as a start, where can one buy Norwegian grade salmon?
Well, I got my supply from AEON, 1 Utama.
The stock at AEON is good. I’ve been buying these for years.
Fresh salmon fillets are displayed by 11 am each morning and sold out by the evening.
I eat my salmon pan fried with plain salt and pepper or sometimes with a dollop of my homemade sambal.
I like my food spicy so I always have sambal in my fridge.
But I’ve not done much Asian cooking with salmon and hence I was thrilled to give the Asian recipes a try!
Salmon Potato Patties
I particularly liked this recipe as it is a convenient snack.
I would make a batch to keep in the fridge and heat up some whenever I need something to munch on in between meals.
It takes a bit of work as the salmon flesh has to be chopped up a bit and the potatoes boiled in advance.
But it is worth the trouble as these “salmon bergedil” were fun to eat!
They keep well too as I took 3- 4 days to finish them.
SAMBAL FRIED RICE with SALMON
The following fried rice recipe is one of the easiest to prepare.
You can omit the belacan if you do not have any on hand.
As a healthier alternative, I decided to pair it with my high-fibre, non-fried nasi ulam.
I have an obsession with nasi ulam lately and since I managed to hire a maid this month, I got her tasked to the making of my favourite rice dish – the nasi ulam!
The salmon was cooked separately and mixed into the rice while it was hot.
The herbs and spices from the nasi ulam provided aroma and fibres while the omega-rich salmon supplied my protein.
You can’t deny that this is a healthy meal!
Salmon with shrimp paste chilli / sambal terasi
As Malaysians we love our food spicy and flavourful.
Do you know that salmon is great in curries too?
And pairs well with creamy ingredients like coconut milk?
The next time you cook asam pedas, try substituting stingray with omega-rich salmon. It is certainly a more nutritious choice!
Since salmon cooks quickly (it takes less than 4 -5 minutes per side on a non-stick pan) it is an ideal fish choice for busy adults.
One of my simplest “salmon dish” is ‘pan-fried salmon with sambal’.
It can be any chilli paste – sambal belacan, sambal nasi lemak, sambal terasi and so on.
Mine is “Melaka Cili Garam” paste and I use it regularly as a spicy condiment for my proteins which are mainly seafood or poultry.
BELOW: My salmon fillet with a dollop of Melaka Cili Garam.
So, there you go – some of the salmon recipes from the recipe book. 🙂
I’ll update this post whenever I try a new salmon recipe ok?
Last but not least, thank you again Innovation Norway Malaysia and dear Marian for the invite!
Now, if you have not watched my video above, here are the images of the oceanic feast of the Norwegian Gala Dinner 2016.
This year’s feast was hosted by Hans Ola Urstad, Norway’s ambassador to Malaysia.
Chef Frank Naesheim and his team of culinary professionals from Norway, Malaysia and Singapore were in town to orchestrate this splendid seafood gastronomic event.
The buffet consisted of nearly a tonne of seafood flown in from Norway, truly the best from the pristine waters of Norway!
Prepared in a wide range of cooking styles including Norwegian and Asians methods, guests were spoiled with seafood served fresh, smoked, in curries, steamed, baked, pickled, tossed in salads and poached.
Norwegian Gala Dinner 2016
Every year we marveled at this majestic dome of Norwegian Cold Water Shrimps.
Thousands of shrimps and 4 -5 hours of labour gone in minutes as all guests zeroed in on it the moment the dinner commences.
Baked whole salmon with chilli paste.
Fresh sushi and sashimi.
Array of smoked salmon:
Smoked salmon loin with black sesame seed paste, Hot smoked salmon with black pepper, Tandoori hot smoked salmon, Hot smoked apricot salmon loin, Double smoked salmon belly, Salmon signature Thai style, Smoked salmon Singapore fillet.
Freshly baked breads.
Salad of salmon, avocado, green chillis and pink grapefruits.
Cold shrimp salad with asparagus, quail eggs and tomatoes.
The shrimps were so sweet!
Succulent King crab legs.
There was really a lot of food.
Whole cold poached salmon & medallions.
My favourite – Seared Pepper Salmon Nicoise with quail eggs, potato and green beans.
Please Chef, I want the recipe can?
At the live stations, esteemed chefs like Chef Markus Dybwad, Chef Stig Drageide, Chef Anderson Ho, Chef Loke Mun Kit and Chef William Ng worked tirelessly cooking plates after plates of scallops, mussels, halibut, cod and monkfish for the hungry guests.
The annual centrepiece for the Norwegian Gala Dinner.
For desserts, the ice cream is a must!
Performance that evening was by Rio Yamase, a Japanese Malaysian who is both an accomplished Hardanger fiddle player and violinist. The Hardanger fiddle is a traditional West Norwegian musical instrument.
The images above probably showed about 50% of the buffet spread. If you are keen to see more, you can view them HERE.
