Kimchi Salmon and Rainbow Pickles is made with succulent sweet salmon infused with spicy kimchi and gently pan seared and topped with an assortment of vibrant colorful delicious quick pickles.
Get Kimchi Salmon and Rainbow Pickles on your dinner menu soon
Kimchi salmon patties and quick pickles is so easy to make that I am almost embarrassed to have to call it an “actual recipe”. This is a quick easy night menu and a super fun and delicious way to get dinner on your table in less than 30 minutes. Kimchi salmon and Rainbow Pickles is a delicious gluten-free, egg-free and low carb recipe.
This week was a “Korean Food Week” at the local “Park n Shop” here in Hong Kong. There were great deals on delicious kimchi, Gochujang paste (savory and pungent fermented Korean condiment made from red chili, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and salt) and lots of laver (nori seaweed snacks). Who can say no to all of that deliciousness!
Now the big question was what was I going to make with all that XL industrial sized (lifetime supply) of kimchi. I headed over to the seafood section and the salmon was so pink, bright and beautiful, I just knew I had to make something with it. I stopped over to grab some vegetables to go on the side and just saw a beautiful rainbow of colour. There was no gold at the end of the rainbow…I checked. However, I did come up with a brilliant idea for a super healthy, simple and easy low carb meal.
Kimchi
Kimchi has been around for decades and it a vital part of a Korean Diet. Kimchi is fermented cabbage but can also be fermented diakon and other vegetables. There are so many different versions but usually it is slightly sour and spicy. The traditional way to make kimchi is to make it as a family and then let it ferment in special containers under the ground. However, you can just buy kimchi in your local super market or Asian market in the refrigerated food section.
I bought an extra large lifetime supply of kimchi so I am sure there will be many other kimchi recipes coming your way soon. However in the mean time, please check out Jasline’s, The Foodie Bakers’ Creamy Kimchi Pasta , Kimchi Pantry Fried Rice or a blast from the past with my BiBimBap 비빔밥.
Natural Probiotic Food
Eating fermented foods, like kimchi, is good for your health as it has vitamins A, B, and C. However, the reason I love it is that it helps replace the healthy bacteria in your gut called lactobacilli. A daily dose of kimchi is like taking a probiotic as it helps with digestion but the main reason I love it as it tastes fantastic.
A brand of kimchi that is gluten free is King’s Kimchi if you have a gluten intolerance/celiac disease. You will need to read the back of the container as some kimchi contains wheat to thicken, so please take note.
My hubby, bless his heart, is a salmon fish hater. Can you believe this? The nerve!!! Everyone else in our family adores salmon. So you know what you do to disguise your salmon? We made it into a fancy lettuce wrapped Kimchi burger and camouflaged it with lots of delicious quick pickles and a gochujang mayo dip. I guess you could really do with any fish you like, so if you have salmon haters in your family, have no fear!!!
I wanted to keep the recipe as simple as possible and remove some of the items that cause our family dietary grief such as gluten and eggs. I made several batches experimenting with additions to the salmon patties in my food processor. The kimchi gives a delicious flavor to the salmon as it has everything in it you need; spice, savory, sour, garlic and seasonings.
The only issue remained the binding agent. As I cannot use eggs and bread crumbs due to dietary issues, I pulverized puffed rice crackers (sometimes you hear me referring to them as cardboard…LOL) If you had gluten free bread crumbs at home by all means feel free to use that or even regular breadcrumbs/panko, if no gluten issues in your household. Just a little is all you need to get the salmon patties to form tender and delicious patties.
In keeping with the idea to keep my dinner gluten free and low on carbs, I opted to nestle my kimchi salmon in a lettuce cup. However, these delicious kimchi patties and pickled veggies would just as delicious on a big kaiser roll, if you like.
Did you know that you can make quick pickles out of so many different types of vegetables? I did not have enough cucumber pickles to feed the whole family so I make a quick pickle with red cabbage, carrots, radish and a little cucumber and your could really use any vegetable you can slice thinly and have in your crisper. It is amazing what a few minutes and rice vinegar, salt, white pepper and sugar or sugar alternative can do for a vegetable.
My boys loved this quick and easy gochujang mayo dip for their kimchi salmon burgers. Even though I cannot eat eggs, I did not miss the gochujang sauce for one minute with all of those delicious pickled rainbow veggies nestled on top of my kimchi salmon burger.
This would be a super fun idea to serve at a party gathering. You could let everyone assemble their own Kimchi salmon with rainbow pickles on top of their own lettuce cup. This meal is super easy to prepare in advance so that you the host or the hostess can spend some quality time with your guests. A great welcome for a long overdue spring gathering.
More Delicious Korean Recipes
Low Carb Spicy Bulgogi Beef Stir Fry
Yang Bae Chu Ssam 양배추쌈 and Go Chu Jeon 고추전
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Kimchi Salmon and Rainbow Pickles
Ingredients
Quick Rainbow Pickles
- 1/4 cup carrot small carrot sliced thinly Julienned - I used a mandolin
- 1/4 cup cucumber -
sliced - 1/2 cup cabbage purple
- 10 radish
sliced thinly - 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
or sugar alternative - white pepper
to taste - 1 tsp sesame oil
Kimchi Salmon Patties
- 6 oz salmon
(skin and bones removed) - 1/2 cup kimchi
- 1/2 cup rice crackers pulverized in food processor or gluten free bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Gochujang Mayo
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Korean red pepper paste
(gochujang) - 2-3 lettuce leaves
(iceburg lettuce) - 1 tsp sesame seeds toasted - garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Place your thinly sliced vegetables (carrots, cucumber, cabbage and radish or whatever veggies you wish) in a bowl .(If you are using purple cabbage, keep the purple cabbage away from the rest of your vegetables or all of your vegetables will turn a purple color) Sprinkle your veggies with the salt and use your fingers to rub the salt into the vegetables. This helps bring the water out of the vegetable. Place veggies in refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Stir together rice vinegar, sugar or sugar alternative, pepper and sesame oil to make a quick pickle vinaigrette and set aside.
- Put your boneless, skinless salmon fillets and kimchi into the food processor and process until smooth. Brush down the sides of the food processor with a spoon and add rice cracker crumbs (gluten-free breadcrumbs) just until well incorporated and your salmon mixture holds together well enough to make a patty. Make 2-3 patties out of your kimchi salmon mixture. First roll salmon mixture into a ball and then flatten the ball into a disk about 1/2 or so thick. (at this point, you could freeze them if you wish to make for later)
- Remove your salted veggies from the refrigerator and gently squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Toss your vegetables with your rice vinegar, sugar, white pepper and sesame oil mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
- Place a little olive oil in a pan and fry for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown on both sides and flakes easily with a fork. Set aside and keep warm.
- In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and gochujang sauce together. set aside.
- Assemble: On a plate, place your lettuce leaves, place one deliciously cooked kimchi salmon patty into each lettuce cup, top with pickled veggies, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with gochujang mayo and enjoy!
It looks delicious! I love the idea of making your own pickles! Awesome!
I’m in love of how good the color of this recipe has. Love love the idea of making your own Pickles. Super healthy and super yummy! 🙂 Good job Bobbi!
Thank you Maggie! I am a huge pickle fan, are you? The market is just full of fresh vibrant veggie this week at the wet market.
What a unique combination! I would never have thought of this! My hubby is not a fish fan but he would definitely be down for this!! Especially with the pickles and spicy mayo. 🙂
This will be one of the first things I make!
Bobbi, this dish is seriously scrumptious! I knew when I saw them on Instagram I’d be needing a closer look. Out of the ballpark – way out!
I used to be your hubby – BUT UM… NOW? I cannot go even like 4 hours without downing salmon! LOL!
We were totally thinking along the same lines with the lettuce wraps, Bobbi! I LOVE some good kimchi, and pairing it with salmon sounds amazing!
Great minds think alike, right! It was loads of fun to make and to eat! Have a super week.
I adore salmon – but these look so good, I wanna disguise my salmon in burgers like these and eat them with Gochujang Mayo!
I adore salmon – but I still wanna disguise it in these gorgeous burgers and top them with those colorful rainbow pickles and Gochujang Mayo! GORGEOUS!
Thank you Shashi! This is such a fun dish to share with family and friends. My husband always tells me that we need to have more Korean dishes on Healthy World Cuisine and as my boys are the quality assurance crew their vote always wins.
What a great colorful recipe. I love the pickled veggies . Thank you
Wow this looks delicious! And gorgeous photography too!!
What is not to love about this recipe!?!?! Those quick pickles are my favorite, but I can see that I need to expand to use more types of vegetables. The salmon patties…YUM and the Gochujang Mayo – Tantalizing! You are right – YUM!!!!!
Oh my goodness, what a colorful and delicious sounding meal.
Your pictures have me drooling for salmon at my desk at 7:30 am, Bobbi! How is it possible that your photos are more stunning each week? The colours and combination of flavours in this dish are amazing. I’m just dying for a bite! This recipe is gold, Bobbi!
These patties/burgers sound delicious, Bam. Such an interesting mix of ingredients. I also love Asian mayonnaises, they’re always so interesting.
We are all big salmon lovers in my home! This is just the right meal for us. Fish and salad, I can’t think of a more healthy and delicious choice! Pinned!
Thats a great idea, using rice crackers instead of bread crumbs. Better try this one out, looks really delish
Oh, this is s beauty! You won’t miss the carbs while eating this! We all love salmon in my family. Such a pretty dish! Pinning, etc.!
You named it so aptly, Bam – rainbow indeed! Julie is the pickle girl and she will love this for sure 🙂
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
What a great low-carb dish, BAM. I buy and cook salmon often but I’m never this creative. Who would think to make kimchi salmon patties! I can totally see how those tart flavors of the kimchi would go well with the rich salmon. Great job! You are not messing around! ; )
this looks wonderful, full of flavor and color xo
How great are all these quick pickles?! Wonderful crunch and texture to this dish – yum!
Whuuut?! How can he hate salmon? It’s so good! These are really beautiful Bam, and I cannot wait to try them. We actually live near quite a few Asian Markets, so Kimchi shouldn’t be hard to find. Pinning for next week’s menu!
Omg! Sounds amazing! I love your recipe! Btw. I cannot believe that he hates salmon 😉 It’s such a delicious fish…
I wish you a wonderful week, dear!
Yes, fermented foods are all the rage at the moment. I was given a jar of kimchi just last week and have been wondering how to use it. I do love the look of your salmon dish; it’s so vibrantly colourful with great flavours and so good for you too xx
Oh no how can he hate salmon?? It’s my favourite fish! I’m terribly sad that I was not able to find any kimchi nor the ingredients to make kimchi here. Lucky I managed to ship a tub of gochujang over but I think I’ll need to replenish my stock when I flew back to Singapore. This looks like an amazing and delicious dish. Will have to put making this on hold until I have access to kimchi!
Those pickles sounds amazing. And I agree, rice crackers can resemble cardboard 🙂 ps I’m going overseas on Thursday and won’t be able to visit while we are away
Wow! Let’s get into the kitchen, prep and eat!! Never thought salmon and kim chi would harmoniously marry – but just look at this!! Honestly methinks you should send the post to Judy Joo . . . she would smile and put it into ‘the works’!!! . . . thinking of you . . .
Thank you for you kind comment, it just made my day. I hope this recipe inspires you to have fun in the kitchen as that is what it is really all about. Have a super week.
This is such a pretty dish! I love how it is all served in the lettuce cups!
What a beautiful picture, looks like a rainbow!!
All your food looks so delicious- your photos are amazing.. not to mention the recipes sound fantastic! I definitely like the idea of making a “Quick pickle” perfect to accompany a wide variety of foods! 🙂
Looks amazing! Love the burst of colour from the purple cabbage!
Agree with Maureen — this is outstanding! And it’s like three different recipes — all of them really good. Gorgeous food, too — you must have had a huge grin as you were taking the photos — so pretty! Fun read — thanks.
This might be simple and not need a recipe for you but I think it’s an outstanding recipe. The colors make it jump right off the screen and into my house. 🙂