Fig-Chili Salmon with Thai Eggplant & Green Beans

Seared salmon glazed with our fig chili sauce, over coconut-braised Thai eggplant with blistered green beans and rice

Serves 4 · ~35 min

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1½ cups white rice, cooked
Coconut Thai eggplant
1 Tbsp oil
1 leek, white & light green, sliced (or 1 onion)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp red or green curry paste (optional)
1 lb Thai eggplant, quartered (or 1 Asian/globe eggplant, chunked)
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1 Tbsp fish sauce · juice of ½ lime · 1 tsp sugar
1 handful Thai basil (or regular basil), torn
Green beans
1 lb green beans, trimmed
1 Tbsp oil · 1 garlic clove · salt
Salmon & glaze
4 salmon fillets (~6 oz each), skin on
salt · 1 Tbsp oil
⅓ cup fig chili sauce (ours, or any fig-and-pepper preserve)
squeeze of lime, to finish

Rice on first so it's ready when everything lands.
Braise the eggplant. Soften the leek & garlic in the oil; stir in the curry paste (if using) 30 sec. Add the Thai eggplant and the coconut milk, bring to a simmer, and cook 12–15 min until the eggplant is silky and the sauce has thickened.
Season it. Off heat, stir in the fish sauce, lime, and sugar; tear in the basil.
Blister the green beans. In a hot skillet with the oil, cook the beans hard 4–5 min without stirring much, until charred and crisp-tender; add the garlic and salt in the last minute. Keep warm.
Sear the salmon. Salt the fillets. In a hot skillet with the oil, lay them skin-side down ~4 min until the skin is crisp, then flip 1–2 min just until barely done — it should flake but still look moist in the center. Pull and rest; don't overcook it.
Glaze with the fig chili sauce. Wipe the salmon pan, add the fig chili sauce with a splash of water, and warm it ~1 min until loose and glossy; brush or spoon it over the salmon and finish with a squeeze of lime.
Plate. Rice down, coconut eggplant and green beans beside it, salmon on top, the fig chili glaze spooned over the fish.

Steps — tap one to keep your place

1. Rice on first so it's ready when everything lands.

2. Braise the eggplant. Soften the leek & garlic in the oil; stir in the curry paste (if using) 30 sec. Add the Thai eggplant and the coconut milk, bring to a simmer, and cook 12–15 min until the eggplant is silky and the sauce has thickened.

3. Season it. Off heat, stir in the fish sauce, lime, and sugar; tear in the basil.

4. Blister the green beans. In a hot skillet with the oil, cook the beans hard 4–5 min without stirring much, until charred and crisp-tender; add the garlic and salt in the last minute. Keep warm.

5. Sear the salmon. Salt the fillets. In a hot skillet with the oil, lay them skin-side down ~4 min until the skin is crisp, then flip 1–2 min just until barely done — it should flake but still look moist in the center. Pull and rest; don't overcook it.

6. Glaze with the fig chili sauce. Wipe the salmon pan, add the fig chili sauce with a splash of water, and warm it ~1 min until loose and glossy; brush or spoon it over the salmon and finish with a squeeze of lime.

7. Plate. Rice down, coconut eggplant and green beans beside it, salmon on top, the fig chili glaze spooned over the fish.

✨ Untested — Claude drafted this one from scratch; it hasn't been cooked and amended in our kitchen yet, so treat the amounts as a starting point. Low salt — salt at the end and taste as you go; broth, cheese, and canned goods already bring salt.