Three tiers, one machine, 40 minutes: the mustard sauce simmers in the mixing bowl below, the broccoli steams in the Varoma dish above it, and the salmon cooks gently in the Varoma tray right at the top. You set the Varoma in place, start the timer and leave everything to take care of itself. That is how this all-in-one recipe from our cookbook Mix Dich Schlank works.
Varoma Salmon with Broccoli, Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 16 ✓
- 250 g salmon fillets
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- salt
- black pepper
- 1 shallot
- 20 g butter
- 20 g dry white wine
- 50 g double cream
- 80 g milk
- salt
- black pepper
- 10 g Dijon mustard
- 1 egg yolk
- 500 g broccoli florets
- salt
- 500 g water for steaming
Instructions 0 / 7
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1
Rinse and marinate the salmon.
Rinse salmon fillets under cold running water, pat dry, season with lemon juice, salt and pepper, then leave to marinate in the fridge.
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2
Sweat the shallot.
Meanwhile, peel the shallot, halve it, place in the mixing bowl and chop for 3 sec / speed 6, then scrape down with the spatula. Add the butter to the mixing bowl and sweat for 3 min / Varoma / reverse direction / speed 1.
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3
Cook with white wine.
Add the white wine to deglaze the mixing bowl and cook for 2 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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4
Cook the sauce.
Add the double cream, milk, salt, pepper and mustard to the mixing bowl and heat for 2 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1. Set the sauce aside and keep warm. Rinse the mixing bowl.
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5
Prepare the broccoli.
Wash the broccoli, separate the florets, place in the Varoma dish and season with salt. Place the salmon fillet in the Varoma tray. Add water to the mixing bowl, place the Varoma on top and steam for 20 min / Varoma / speed 1.
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6
Plate up.
Arrange the salmon and broccoli on plates and keep warm. Rinse the mixing bowl.
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7
Blend and serve the sauce.
Place the sauce and egg yolk in the mixing bowl and blend for 5 sec / speed 6. Arrange the salmon and broccoli, pour the sauce over and serve.
Nutrition per serving
Why the salmon goes on top, not at the bottom
Many people place everything in the Varoma without much thought and then wonder why the result is not right. We place the salmon specifically in the Varoma tray, meaning at the top. The reason: in the lower Varoma dish the steam is hotter and more intense. Broccoli handles that well and stays firm to the bite as long as the florets are kept walnut-sized. Salmon, on the other hand, turns dry and stringy under too much steam intensity before the centre has cooked through.
In the Varoma tray the steam is more even. The result after 20 minutes: a fillet that separates into layers when cut and still has a slight gloss inside, yet is fully cooked. If you press gently on the thickest part with a fork and the fish gives without resistance, it is done. We prefer to take it out 30 seconds early rather than too late. Salmon continues to cook on the plate.
Avoid opening the Varoma lid during cooking if you can help it. Every interruption lets steam escape and noticeably extends the effective cooking time.
Mustard sauce: cook first, set aside, then finish
We cook the sauce completely in the mixing bowl first, set it aside, give the bowl a quick rinse, and then fill it with the water for steaming. This sounds like an extra step, but it means you need no second piece of equipment at all.
The egg yolk comes right at the end: sauce back into the rinsed mixing bowl, add the egg yolk, 5 seconds at speed 6. That is enough to bind the sauce. Important: the sauce should not still be at a rolling boil when the egg yolk goes in. Too hot and it will curdle. If you are unsure, leave the sauce to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the egg yolk.
If you prefer not to use alcohol, replace the white wine with vegetable stock and a splash of lemon juice. For a similar egg-yolk-bound sauce alongside a different dish, our Sauce Hollandaise, Thermomix® is worth a look.
What matters with the salmon and broccoli
Frozen salmon works well as long as it is completely thawed and patted dry with kitchen paper before marinating. Watery salmon releases liquid and cooks unevenly. Skinless salmon is the better choice in the Varoma. The skin turns rubbery in the steam rather than crispy.
With broccoli, the rule is: do not cut it too small. Small florets turn soft before the salmon is ready. You do not need to throw away the stalk. We peel it, cut it into batons and steam it in the same Varoma dish.
For more Varoma ideas with vegetables, try our Green Beans from the Varoma. If you fancy salmon prepared a different way, have a look at the Salmon Pasta as a one-pot option.
The recipe runs identically on TM31, TM5, TM6 and TM7 without any adjustments. The TM7 has a significantly larger Varoma at 6.8 litres. It will fit more florets or a second fillet if you are cooking for more people.
What other recipes do differently
Goes well with: Green asparagus.
Also worth trying: Cod, Thermomix®.
Other Thermomix® blogs cook the salmon in the lower Varoma dish for 20 minutes, often dry by the time the sauce is ready. Some place rice in the steaming basket and steam broccoli plus fish on top for 14 minutes. We separate the steps: mustard sauce first, then add the water, then 20 minutes in the Varoma. The salmon sits in the upper Varoma tray, not below. Instead of a flour-based dill sauce, we bind with egg yolk right at the end, which gives a silky hollandaise-style finish without lumps. Cookidoo® uses 1,200 g of water and a stock cube; we use 500 g of water with the white wine going directly into the sauce.
