Grilled Salmon with Spicy Plum Salsa

Last weekend, my parents were visited by the plum fairy. A neighbor was leaving town in a hurry and needed to unburden his fruit trees, so he slipped huge bags of plums on every stoop on the street. My mom came to the door to find hundreds of plums, and a grinning neighbor beating a hasty retreat.

So when some friends and I paid my parents a visit, it felt like starring an episode of Iron Chef, Special Ingredient: Plum.

My friend Elizabeth, who has all the baking instincts I lack, opted for a German plum streusel, which was devoured before it could be documented.

I tried a savory plum salsa for grilled fish, a twist on a cherry salsa recipe I’d seen recently. The tiny plums, picked before their peak, were firm and slightly crunchy. The key is to find plums that are sweet but not dripping-juice-down-your-chin ripe, so the flesh of the fruit holds up in the salsa.

The salsa’s sweet, spicy crunch worked well with the fish, and would be amazing with a rich meat like duck. I’ve adapted the original recipe from The New York Times, which fittingly accompanied an article about neighbors sharing overabundance of fruit.

Grilled Salmon with Spicy Plum Salsa
1 small spring onion, diced
2-3 finely chopped scallions
3 tablespoons lemon juice, or more to taste
1 1/2 cups firm plums, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of sugar, to taste

Finely dice spring onion bulb and scallions. Place scallions and 3 tablespoons diced onion in a small bowl and pour lemon juice over them. Set aside for 10 minutes (the lemon will take the edge off the onion).

Place scallions, onions and all remaining ingredients in a medium-size bowl and stir to combine. Adjust salt, sugar and lemon juice to taste (depending on the sweetness of the fruit).

Let the salsa sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to meld flavors. Spoon over flaky fish or roast duck.