Exploring Lilikoi - a New Culinary Experience

I don't usually have a specific meal in mind while I'm looking in the garden. It just "comes to me" depending upon what's ready to be harvested. Today I picked up about 12 lilikoi fruit and set six aside for use on another day as I was only cooking for two people. I decided to create a sauce to use over fish and rice for today's brunch. The remaining six were cut in half. I scooped out their centers into a small sauce pan and added two teaspoons of sugar, 1/3rd cup of water and a dash of red pepper flakes (I actually added two dashes for more of a kick). When the water is reduced down, the sugar thickens the juice into syrup and the overall effect of the spicy red pepper flakes with the tangy-sweet lilikoi is wonderful! You COULD strain the syrup to remove the seeds, but I found they added to the color/texture of the dish.

The fish was a  16 oz. fillet of Atlantic salmon cut evenly into two pieces.  I lightly poached them in a skillet with a mixture of 1 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce and about 1/4 cup of water.  Totally cooking time for the poaching was about 7 minutes.

On each plate I scooped about 1/2 cup of jasmine rice. Placing the salmon alongside the rice, I drizzled the lilikoi syrup over both the rice and salmon. I topped each dish with freshly chopped parsley, basil, chives (all fresh from the garden) and white sesame seeds to contrast the black seeds in the syrup. If served with freshly sliced pineapple and mimosas, the meal couldn't be grander!

If there's any sauce left over, it can either be refrigerated or frozen for later use. As my mind contemplates the flavor, other possible uses come to mind such as iced tea sweetener, salad dressing or even drizzled over creme brulee or coconut and vanilla ice cream (sans pepper flakes, of course).