“Having access to wild Alaskan salmon is amazing,” says best-selling cookbook author Kim Sunée, who moved to Anchorage several years ago. She loves to serve it as an entire glorious fillet, with rice, lettuce, cilantro, and a crunchy topping like bean sprouts or cucumbers, so people make their own ssam (Korean-style lettuce wraps). “It’s pretty, fresh, and great for those who aren’t eating gluten. And because they make their own bites, it’s more convivial.” This recipe, flavored with the mellow Korean red-chile paste called
gochujang, gives the salmon an alluring spicy-sweet depth. It’s based on one in her most recent book,
Everyday Korean: Fresh, Modern Recipes for Home Cooks, written with Seung Hee Lee.
Recipe: Grilled Crisp-Skinned Salmon with Gochujang Marinade