Salmon Avocado Salad with Lychee and Sesame Dressing

Salmon Avocado Salad with Lychee and Sesame Dressing: Easy, healthy, delicious and fancy salad. Asian classic with a sweet seasonal spin.

For those who are on a New Year healthy train, love Asian-inspired food and don’t know what to do with lychee: Salmon Avocado Salad with Lychee and Sesame Dressing. Raw salmon and avocado are just perfect together. Add rice to this and you will get sushi. Everybody who knows me know my crazy obsession with sushi. My husband didn’t like sushi before we met but now he likes them, too!

I’ve never eaten as much sushi as during my recent trip to Moscow. I’m pretty sure that Moscow sushi are not completely authentic, just like Russian Korean food isn’t completely Korean. It has to do with different climate and ingredients available. Korean carrot is the most well-known “Korean” food in Russia, although I’m quite sure that it will be hard to find in Seoul. As for the sushi, they are insanely popular in Moscow. Literally everywhere you will find a sushi restaurant. Anywhere you are in Moscow, think about sushi restaurant, and you’ll find it within 5 minutes 24/7. Everywhere! Can you imagine? It’s harder to find a pizzeria or a burger place than a sushi restaurant, although there are quite many as well. Sushi came to Russia in the beginning of 2000-s, and immediately conquered the Russian appetite for something different than borsch and solyanka, served in Soviet cantines. They were exotic, affordable, healthy and they evolved to satisfy the Russian taste.

Russian sushi has evolved into something you won’t find anywhere else. It’s a sort of fusion cuisine which combines sushi with every other culinary tradition. Restaurants get creative and offer the widest selection of sushi I’ve ever seen. Cold, warm, tempura, Russian style with buckwheat instead of rice, Italian style with pesto, rolls with Kamchatka crabs, steak, smoked eel, avocado rolls topped with salmon backed in cream cheese… A lot of different things, and sometimes at once. My problem is that I can’t decide what to order because I want to try too many of them. I end up taking my favorite Philadelphia rolls with cream cheese, avocado and salmon. Russified sushi might not be the most authentic sushi but they are definitely the best I’ve tried so far.

Coming back to the salad, it was inspired by the creativity of Russian sushi restaurants. Thinking about what can be added to the classic avocado – raw salmon combo, I came up with something healthy and seasonal, which gives a sweet touch to the salad. Salmon and avocado are known not only for their delightful taste but also for their healthy omega-3 fatty acids, protein and numerous vitamins. Lychee would add some more healthy goodness to this combo, namely fiber, vitamins B and C, as well as anti-inflammatory effect. They can relieve the symptoms of cold which is especially important in winter. Not to mention that salmon, avocado and lychee taste great together! I made sesame dressing with soy sauce and chives. Super easy and quick to make! To arrange it on a plate in a fancy way you can use food shaping molds of any shape you like. Here is a recipe for my Salmon Avocado Salad with Lychee and Sesame Dressing:

Would you be interested in learning more about Russian sushi? I was thinking about making some.

Cheers,

Elena

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