Fiddlehead Fern Salad

This recipe is another experiment with fiddlehead fern salad. The first one was a complete fiasco. This time it was dashed off intuitively, with Asian cuisine in mind. To my taste, it turned out quite well. If you are in this particular mood, follow me...

What you need:
1.5 cups fiddlehead fern
1 big clove garlic, slivered
1.5" piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Tamari soy sauce
1/2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
Pinch dry dill
Pinch black pepper
Pinch salt
Boiling water
Ice water
Small saucepan
Skillet
Feeds 2 people
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ready to eat in 2 hours

Method:

All debris will set on the bottom.

Rinse fern in cold water, cut back ends, put in saucepan, cover with boiling water, add a pinch of salt, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain fern and transfer it to ice water to stop cooking process and give it a shock to retain green color.

In a bowl mix aminos (or soy sauce), balsamic vinegar and Tamari soy sauce, add garlic, ginger, and fern. Mix well and set aside to marinate for 1-2 hours.
When ready to serve, heat the skillet, add oil, saute zucchini sprinkled with dill and pepper until slightly golden (about 2 minutes). Add zucchini to fern, mix well again. Serve in a bowl with an Asian motif.

Chewing, I closed my eyes and easily imagined myself sitting in a Japanese restaurant. Quite a pleasing experience.

Notes:
Tamari soy sauce contains some alcohol. You can use 1 tsp of vodka instead of it.
If your fern fiddleheads are very small, boil 3 minutes, so that they are still bright green and a little crunchy.