Salmon with Corn and Bean Salsa Recipe and Video Tutorial
This is one of my favorite healthy meals, and is one of my most underrated recipes! The Thai corn and bean salsa uses the same dressing as Thai green papaya salad.

- 1 lb salmon filet or other fish of your choice
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 2-3 Thai chilies
- 1 Tbsp chopped palm sugar (or substitute honey)
- 3 Tbsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 3/4 cup cooked corn kernels (about 1 medium ear of corn)
- ¼ cup long beans, cut into ¼ inch pieces
- ⅓ cup black beans, canned, drained and rinsed
- 1 grapefruit, segmented (see video @2:42 for how to segment a grapefruit)
- ¼ cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
- ½ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- Make the dressing: In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies into a fine paste. Add palm sugar and pound until mostly dissolved. Add lime juice and fish sauce; stir until the sugar is completely dissolved; set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the corn, black beans and long beans, toss to mix and set aside.
- Cook the fish: You can cook the fish however you like—grill, bake, pan-fry, deep-fry, steam—this salsa works with all methods! For my salmon, I salted the filet and pan-seared it for about 3-4 minutes per side for medium doneness.
- When the fish is almost ready, finish the salsa: To the corn and bean mixture add the grapefruit segments (do not add the extra juice), mint, cilantro, and the dressing; toss to mix. To serve, spoon the salsa over the fish and enjoy on its own or with some jasmine rice.
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And in fact, the idea came to be because my favourite pounded salad is a version made with corn, such as this corn and cucumber salad. It's easy and tasty, perfect for a weeknight! The tart citrusy dressing goes very well with fish, so I decided to use it to top salmon, but any other kind of fish will work.
You can also change it up by replacing the beans with more corn or cucumber, it's quite flexible. You can even use the salsa to top a taco! Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success!
- Salmon filet or other fish of your choice
- Garlic
- Thai chilies
- Palm sugar (or substitute light brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup)
- Lime juice
- Fish sauce, see my post here about how to choose good fish sauce
- Corn kernels, I prefer boiling corn on the cobs for best flavour, but frozen or canned will work in a pinch.
- Long beans, cut into ¼ inch pieces. You can sub blanched French green beans. Long beans can be eaten raw, but green beans should be lightly cooked.
- Black beans, canned, drained and rinsed
- Grapefruit, segmented (see video @2:42 for how to segment a grapefruit)
- Mint leaves, roughly chopped
- Cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- Make the dressing: In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies into a fine paste. Add palm sugar and pound until mostly dissolved.
- Add lime juice and fish sauce and use the pestle to swirl until the sugar is completely dissolved; set aside.
- When the fish is almost ready, finish the salsa by pouring the dressing over the corn and bean mixture. Add the grapefruit segments (do not add the extra juice), mint, cilantro, and toss to mix.
- To serve, spoon the salsa over the fish and enjoy on its own or with some jasmine rice!
Description
A healthy recipe that's also quick, easy, and very fresh tasting.
Pan seared salmon is topped with a corn salsa inspired by Thai green papaya salad. Accented with grapefruit, it is the perfect spring and summer fish recipe.
Instructions
Make the dressing: In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies into a fine paste. Add palm sugar and pound until mostly dissolved.
Add lime juice and fish sauce; stir until the sugar is completely dissolved; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the corn, black beans and long beans, toss to mix and set aside.
Cook the fish: You can cook the fish however you like—grill, bake, pan-fry, deep-fry, steam—this salsa works with all methods! For my salmon, I salted the filet and pan-seared it for about 3-4 minutes per side for medium doneness. When the fish is almost ready, finish the salsa: To the corn and bean mixture add the grapefruit segments (do not add the extra juice), mint, cilantro, and the dressing; toss to mix.
To serve, spoon the salsa over the fish and enjoy on its own or with some jasmine rice.



