Yaniv Segal's MISO SRIRACHA COATED FISH as featured in KANSAS! magazine

Yaniv Segal was the featured cook for the Taste section of the latest issue of KANSAS! magazine (2023/vol. 79/issue 5). Music director for  the Salina Symphony, Yaniv has conducted around the world—the Detroit Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra to the Kansai Philharmonic in Osaka, Japan, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra in Poland, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. A master of music, he also creates a symphony of flavors in the kitchen. His featured recipe for the article is a fish entrée. Following the recipe are additional details about Yaniv/s cooking style . . . info that didn't make it into the final version of the published article. 

Photo I took of Yaniv as Jason Dailey, the official KANSAS! photographer snapped photos for the magazine. The shoot took place in Yaniv's Salina apartment where he resides part of the year. 

ABOUT THE RECIPE — Yaniv uses this spicy sauce for  baked fish filets. In typical style he started with a printed recipe, in this case a compound butter created by David Chang of Momofuku, and then adjusted it to his own specifications. Yaniv’s conversion replaces butter with olive oil and injects a tangy, sweet chili pepper and garlic flavor with the addition of sriracha. Naturally sweet maple syrup is added to help balance the saltiness of the miso. The sauce can also be used over chicken or steak, on asparagus, broccoli, or carrots, or drizzled on either a baked sweet potato or a regular baked potato.

I served Yaniv's  miso sriracha glazed salmon over rice and garnished with green onions. 

MISO SRIRACHA COATED FISH    Yield: 6 to 8 serving, allowing 1/3 to 1/4 pound of fish per person

INGREDIENTS

2+ pounds of filets, skin-on — Salmon, Michigan whitefish, lake trout, or rainbow trout

1/2 cup yellow miso

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tablespoon sriracha sauce, more or less depending on amount of heat preferred 

1 tablsespoon maple syrup 

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Place the filets on parchment paper in a baking dish (parchment paper allows for easy clean up).

2.  Mix remaining ingredients well to create the sauce adjusting amounts to balance flavors and to meet your own specifications. Unused sauce may be stored in the refrigerator.  

3.  Use sauce to evenly coat the top of filets. 

4.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 12 to 15 minutes, until the fish is flaky and reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.  

      I interviewed Yaniv at Salina's Barolo Grille.
Yaniv and Barry toasted the occasion with Barolo mocktails.

 

     ABOUT THE MAESTRO'S COOKING STYLE  — Yaniv compares organizing a musical program to menu planning. “You wouldn’t follow one meat and potato course with another heavy course. What I try to do when planning a concert is choose a variety of items—some that whet your palate, some that sparkle and some that are substantial.” Attending a musical performance, he believes, is much like a fine dining experience. Both can be experienced and tasted, and introducing new flavors can create an awakening of the senses and of the palate. 

As Yaniv contemplates ways to introduce new music and composers to listeners, he relies on a technique that he and wife Joanna use when attempting to expand the taste buds of their two sons, nine-year-old Rami and six-year-old Shoshan.  “We include something they know along with either changing up a familiar food by introducing new spices or flavors, or adding something totally new. If children taste something often enough they may grow to like it.” Experts at the University of Michigan Children’s Hospital agree, saying, “Children need to taste and swallow a food at least 10 times before deciding if it is something they like.”

 When back at home in Michigan, Yaniv and Joanna both like to spend time in the kitchen. In a typical week, Yaniv might cook twice and Joanna once, each making enough for two evenings, leaving one night for takeout. Yaniv explains that Joanna cans their excess garden produce, has taken a croissant-making class at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and a pie making class at Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor. In between, Yaniv explains that Joanna, who earned a PhD from Rockefeller University and an MD from Cornell Medical College, runs a neuroscience lab at the University of Michigan and also sees patients in endocrinology.

Starting at an early age, the boys have been involved in cooking, from stirring eggs to making Polish pierogi. As for their food preferences, “Give them a plate of sliced fresh tomatoes and grilled shishito peppers and they are happy,” their dad says. Along with kale, arugula, an assortment of fresh lettuces, squash, cucumbers, and lots of herbs, the family’s raised bed gardens includes shishito peppers. Yaniv explains, “We often play a game of pepper roulette. About one in 10 of the shishito peppers are quite spicy and you never know which it might be.” He cooks the peppers in a little oil in the wok. Another favorite is zucchini that is sliced and grilled, just long enough to add a few grill marks. 

 ast summer New York Times food writer Margaux Laskey stayed at their house and stocked their freezer with Greens and Beans Alla Vodka, a recipe that featured kale from the Segal’s garden. The recipe appeared in her next food column, along with this explanation, “Their garden is positively exploding with gorgeous, emerald-green kale.” The dish, credited to recipe developer Ali Slagle, combines classic Italian vodka sauce with white beans and hearty greens. 

Most often Yaniv uses recipes just as a reference. Generally he’ll check out from four to 10 and then use them as a guide to create his own version of a particular dish. Comparing this to another musical endeavor, he says,“ I often look to other composers for inspiration when composing a new piece of music.” While he takes extensive notes when studying scores, that’s not the case in the kitchen. Consequently, when Joanna, who follows recipes religiously, asked for the recipe for a newly created mirin stir-fried green bean dish, he had only a vague guide to offer. 

For an added taste of Yaniv’s music, his website includes an overview of his musical compositions.http://www.yanivsegal.com

INFO ABOUT THE SALINA SYMPHONY —  performances are held at The Stiefel Theatre in downtown Salina. Performance dates and times can be found at the symphony’s website: https://www.salinasymphony.org/main/