Cuban Mojo Salmon with a Blood Orange Pico de Gallo

This cuban-inspired salmon is based off a cuban marinade, called Mojo Marinade, which uses orange juice, lime juice, onion, garlic, cilantro and more for a huge flavour. It is such a delicious sauce and I hope I’ve done it justice. I might have to make it again just to use it as a salsa. I had to stop myself from just drinking it all before it even saw the salmon.

The marinade is simply blended, to which is then added to salmon fillets. Marinate for up to 30 minutes and no more - as the acidity in citrus will cook the fish before it hits the grill.

Blood orange pico de gallo is a spin on a classic Mexican salsa, pico de gallo. The addition of blood orange segments adds a touch of sweetness to balance the light chilli notes and herbaceous marinade. Plus, I love adding fruit to most of my cooking. You’ll have to excuse my blood oranges, they weren’t really blood orange-ing, so they do look quite similar to a regular orange. It’s still too early in the season for blood oranges in Australia, I’ve learned.

You can make this salmon in the oven if you don’t have a grill accessible to you. Follow the marinade steps, marinate the salmon then bake at 180C/360F fan-forced for about 20 minutes (depending on your oven) or until cooked through. You can also change the oven settings to the broiler setting to get the charred grilled effect on the top of the salmon. Just broil at a higher temperature for a couple of minutes before removing from the oven.

Ingredients:

500g salmon fillets, or 4 fillets

salt

Mojo sauce marinade:

juice of 2 oranges

juice of 1 lime

juice of 1 lemon

bunch of coriander/ cilantro, leaves and stems

1 yellow onion, quartered

4 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp cumin ground

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp oregano, dried

1/2 tsp chilli powder

pinch of salt

cracked black pepper

Blood orange pico de gallo:

2 tomatoes, cores removes, diced

1/2 a small red onion, diced

1/2 a jalapeño, deseeded, diced

handful of coriander/ cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

2 oranges, segmented

Method:

Salt the salmon fillets on both sides and leave in room temperature on a plate while you prepare the grill, salsa and marinade.

Start the grill and pre-heat to a medium-high heat and brush the grill with oil.

In a high-speed blender, combine the onion, garlic, olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, spices, coriander/cilantro and blend until smooth.

Place salmon fillets in the marinade and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

Combine all ingredients for the salsa in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.

Grill the salmon fillets on both sides until lightly charred and coloured. Depending on the heat of your grill, this could be anywhere from 2 minutes on each side to 6 minutes or longer on each side. Flip once they are lightly charred. Once cooked through, set aside and top with a pinch of salt.

Serve the salmon fillets with the orange pico de gallo overtop each fillet. Enjoy with extra grilled veggies such as peppers, onions and zucchini. Or enjoy as tacos.