BajaNomad

Fish slathered with Mayo? - Yep

Santiago - 11-6-2022 at 07:49 AM

I've noticed that mayo is really popular in Baja, maybe all of Mexico? We have salmon a few times a month and tried this last week, really tasty. SWMBO HATES mayo, so I kept it a secret until the meal was done. She admitted it was good but forced me to do the washing up. A woman's power over a man is an odd thing.....

Anyway, I think this might work with any oily strong-flavored fish, if I could get Sierra macs in NorCal I would give it a shot. If you are one of those folks that has negative reaction to cilantro, don't try this, the stems give off a 'herbaceous aroma' during baking and the dish will flag without it.

Maple-Baked Salmon

Ingredients
• 1-1/2 lb skin-on salmon fillet
• 12 fresh cilantro sprigs
• 2 TBSP maple syrup (please, the real stuff)
• 2 TBSP Dijon mustard, whole grain if you can find it
• 1 TBSP mayonnaise
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 325
2. Bundle the sprigs by their stems and slice the stems crosswise until you get to the leaves. Transfer stems to small bowl and stir in the syrup, mustard and mayo.
3. Season the salmon with salt and pepper, place in glass baking dish, skin side down. Slather the sauce all over the top.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, top with reserved cilantro leaves and squeeze lemon wedges just before serving.

AKgringo - 11-6-2022 at 08:12 AM

For those who don't like cilantro, try substituting dill. I like it on Salmon!

Mayo on Meats

Lobsterman - 11-6-2022 at 10:29 AM

Mayo burns at a higher temperature than butter and much cheaper. Mayo allows your seasonings to stick to the meats while grilling and allows for a beautiful, caramelized crust to develop on the meat.

While working on the road I use BBQ grills to cook most of my dinner meals. I've been asked more than once at the hotel's grill why I'm slathering mayo on my seasoned steaks/burgers. The answer is how perfect the outcome is without a hint of observable mayo. Plus, it keeps the meat from sticking to the grill. Only problems are flareups if you leave the meat unattended.

pacificobob - 11-6-2022 at 10:49 AM

One name for that style of cooking fish is Olympia. Works well on fish that dries out easily, like halibut.

Skipjack Joe - 11-6-2022 at 11:02 AM

My neighbors ALWAYS eat their ceviche with mayo. The mayo is added over the ceviche and tostada.

Santiago - 11-6-2022 at 11:40 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Lobsterman  
Mayo burns at a higher temperature than butter and much cheaper. Mayo allows your seasonings to stick to the meats while grilling and allows for a beautiful, caramelized crust to develop on the meat.

While working on the road I use BBQ grills to cook most of my dinner meals. I've been asked more than once at the hotel's grill why I'm slathering mayo on my seasoned steaks/burgers. The answer is how perfect the outcome is without a hint of observable mayo. Plus, it keeps the meat from sticking to the grill. Only problems are flareups if you leave the meat unattended.


HH - thanks for that, I did not know this and will try next grill session

surfhat - 11-6-2022 at 11:48 AM

I would never use mayo with salmon. Why hide that natural goodness with mayo.

Other fish like sardines on a sandwich, mayo every time.

On an east coast trip a year ago from Va. to Maine and back with some lifelong college friends, I learned the same thing with lobster rolls. The first time I ordered a lobster roll it came with mayo that hid the taste of the fresh lobster enough that it should have been criminal. Never again.

The several lobster rolls to follow with no mayo were exquisitely unadulterated with the flavor of the fresh lobster. Maybe a squeeze of lime or lemon just a touch, but that was it.

To each his own, as always, but fresh caught Paciifc salmon is the bomb.

When in New England, there was nothing but farmed salmon which I avoid every time for its frankenfish production. I did ask about any locally caught Atlantic salmon in New England and it was never available due to its rarity these days. Hopefully, New Englands fresh caught Atlantic salmon can recover enough someday to be fished and offered again in restaurants and some local fish markets.

Some of our New England based Nomad members might have something to add from my one time impressions. BTW, I hope that was not a one time visit to the Northeast. I am sure it not be.

surfhat - 11-6-2022 at 11:57 AM

One last comment on mayo. A grilled cheese sandwich with some mayo on the outside browns up very well and is very tasty, even better than butter, if that is possible to imagine anything better than butter on a grilled cheese.

Thanks to Nomad Doug for keeping this site going in spite of the many distractions which belong in the mostly useless off-topic section.

There remains a great value to all of us Baja lovers so please help to keep this site as clean as possible for topics that we get more than enough of in our daily lives. Peace and love and fish tacos to all.

mtgoat666 - 11-6-2022 at 12:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surfhat  
I would never use mayo with salmon. Why hide that natural goodness with mayo.

Other fish like sardines on a sandwich, mayo every time.


The mayo is for diff purpose. When grilling, mayo is being used as substitute for oil or butter.

Cold mayo condiment serves diff purpose as a condiment.

Agree with you that mayo on grilled salmon sounds like ruining good fish. Good salmon stands on it’s own, the farm stuff is pretty poor quality and may need some doctoring…

A kipper or sardine sandwich with mayo is great. But often oil-packed kippers and sardines are already quite oily, and adding mayo makes the sandwich too oilly.

Mayo with ceviche is ok,… but if it a good ceviche, then the ceviche alone is better. Sometimes bad ceviche recipe requires mayo to make it palatable….

Now when it comes to grilling steak, a good high temp charcoal grill does not need oil (or mayo) to sear meat. And if searing in cast iron pan, butter is superior to mayo or oil. Hard to sear meat on many poor quality grills, because they never seem to get up to 500+ degrees required for a good sear.

UnoMas - 11-6-2022 at 08:26 PM

Fishing Salmon for many years in Alaska, have had it every way, I have a recipe from a guide there and have used many times for fish on the grill.
Instead of just mayo I use Dijonnaise which keeps the Salmon moist with a little kick, then just a very light (I mean light) sprinkle of dill.

Wrap in foil and put on the grill. Salt & pepper if desired.
Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. :biggrin:

BajaBlanca - 11-6-2022 at 10:12 PM

This is so onteresting! I had no idea mayo could be so versatile.

advrider - 11-7-2022 at 09:26 PM

Yep, used it on halibut with a little dill under the broiler. Very light on the mayo, not slathered thick.

surfhat - 11-8-2022 at 08:54 AM

Most of the mayo I have seen used in Baja is not refrigerated and left out for hours unrefrigerated if it ends up in a frig at all. ?????

I must be uninformed about the need to refrigerate mayo upon opening the jar with what I have seen forever in Baja and the Mainland.

Whoops another diversion. My fault entirely.

Don Pisto - 11-8-2022 at 03:02 PM

I'll take mine raw thank you :P

mtgoat666 - 11-8-2022 at 04:43 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surfhat  
Most of the mayo I have seen used in Baja is not refrigerated and left out for hours unrefrigerated if it ends up in a frig at all. ?????


The store-bought mayo can be left unrefrigerated for weeks, just like ketchup and mustard. The acidity slows growth of bacteria. Home made mayo, probably best to refrigerate. And if you dip utensils in the mayo, leaving food particles in the May, then best to refrigerate.

I refrigerate my mayo, because a jar can sometimes last many months. But I got no problem with leaving it out on counter for a while,…

Mayo on fish,… the combo reminds me of usa sushi restaurants where they mostly serve rolls with cream cheese, avocado and fried seafoods. It ain’t sushi, it is tasty greasy gut bombs.
Eat quality seafood, and you may find that you can skip the condiments slathered on top of fish.

John Harper - 11-9-2022 at 12:58 PM

Used mayo and surimi to make broiled green (and blue) mussels, delicious. Like at the sushi bar.

John

Santiago - 11-10-2022 at 09:12 AM

More mayo stuff from America's Kitchen:

Finally, let’s talk about skin. The common technique of massaging a softened compound butter all over the turkey before roasting works all right, but it has a flaw: Butter melts at a relatively low temperature. This means that no matter how much butter you rub onto the turkey, the vast majority of it ends up dripping into the tray before the turkey has begun roasting.

A few years ago, I wrote an article in The Times about using mayonnaise as the base for marinades when grilling meat. Mayo offers a lot of advantages as a marinade, all of which translate well to roasted poultry. Most flavorful compounds found in aromatics — like garlic, sage, parsley, lemon zest and other turkey-friendly flavors — are fat-soluble; mayonnaise, with its oil base, helps spread that flavor around.

Mayonnaise is soft but viscous straight out of the fridge or at room temperature, which makes it very easy to spread evenly on the turkey. Because mayonnaise is an emulsion bound with egg protein, it also tends to stay in place as it’s heated, which means that instead of flavor dripping into the roasting pan, it stays where it belongs: on the turkey. Finally, those egg proteins also aid in browning and crisping, producing a turkey with burnished, deeply browned skin.