Salmon and Pak Choi Quiche

For when you think to yourself “you know what, I think this quiche needs to be more Asian”.

Which is never.

But just like eating pasta with chopsticks, coating mac and cheese with panko, and dipping everything in Kewpie mayo, sometimes combining the East and West in my kitchen is just better.

Cutting the pak choi this way looks aesthetic but it makes the quiche really difficult to cut. I lost like half my filling trying to saw my way through the leaves for this cross-section shot. If you’re not going to show anyone your quiche just cut the pak choi up into small pieces man. Also the quiche might cook more evenly since I found that the quiche filling around the pak choi tended to be more runny.

I got this recipe from the Great British Bake Off! I really liked the flavour of the quiche. The filling itself was really soft and delicate, and the sesame seeds in the pastry added some aroma and complemented the Asian flavours of the filing.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 250g plain flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling

• 400g salmon fillets, skinned
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 eggs
• 300ml double cream
• 2 pak choi, sliced in half lengthways

Method

Pastry

1. Mix the flour, salt and sesame seeds in a medium bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. Beat together the butter and half the beaten eggs in a small bowl and gradually mix into the flour mixture to make a soft dough. Lightly knead the dough on a floured board until smooth then wrap in cling film and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Filling

1. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and bake at 180°C for about 20 mins or until just cooked through. Let the fish cool a little before flaking into small pieces.
2. Turn the oven up to 190°C.
3. Roll the pastry out on a floured board and line a greased 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin (although I used a 20cm cake tin it’s cool). Chill for 15 minutes then prick the base with a fork, line with aluminium foil and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the foil and baking beans, brush the base of the tart case with the remaining beaten egg from the pastry ingredients and bake for five more minutes.
5. Remove the tin from the oven and turn the temperature down to 180°C.
6. Arrange the salmon over the base of the tart case and drizzle over the soy sauce.
7. Mix the eggs with the cream in a jug, season with salt and black pepper then pour three quarters of the mixture over the salmon. Arrange the pak choi on top, cut side up, and pour over the remaining egg mixture. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the filling is golden brown and just set.

Notes

• I’ve tried this recipe two times and both times I’ve undercooked the filling. I think either cutting up the pak choi to ugly-but-practical small bits or just letting it bake much longer than you expect should solve this.