15-Minute Teriyaki Salmon
Everyone in the family loves salmon, except for CC#2, who prefers white fleshed fish. She is crazy though about the $20 set lunch at Azuma Soba in Midtown Manhattan, which in addition to its generous portions of excellent hand-made cold soba, black sesame ice cream and other delicious morsels, includes a grilled glazed salmon that is CC#2 approved. With a case of Faroe Island salmon in my freezer, I am surprised it took me so long to make the grilled glazed salmon at home. The following recipe from Just One Cookbook is simple and tasty, with only minor adjustments on timing.
Ingredients:
Salmon fillet with skin, 1 1/2 pounds
Corn starch, plenty on hand
Canola oil 3-4 tbsp
Teriyaki sauce: mirin, sugar, soy sauce in 1:1:2 ratio (can be mixed ahead of time in larger quantity to save time)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Cut salmon fillet diagonally with a slant into 5-6 slices (see photo below)
Lightly salt and pepper cut sides of salmon slices, and coat evenly all sides with corn starch
Heat fry pan on medium heat, add generous amount of oil (mix of bacon fat and canola works well), fry salmon pieces skin side down first for 15 seconds, then on side for 1-2 minutes total (flip once)
Set aside fried pieces while preparing teriyaki sauce
Teriyaki sauce: In separate pot, boil together (sake or Japanese cooking wine), mirin, sugar, and soy sauce in 1:1:2 ratio (starting with 2 tbsp portions). You can adjust the taste. Add a little corn starch mixed with a tbsp of water to thicken sauce.
Return fried salmon pieces to fry pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp of cooking wine, cover pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add teriyaki sauce to salmon pieces, coat and cook for 1 minute.
Serve with white rice and pickles.
What makes this recipe work: I really like the simple ingredients and fast cooking. Using corn starch to coat the salmon before frying makes it easy to brown and crisp, and thicken the sauce too. I actually like this version much better than broiled glazed salmon–maybe the difference is I usually cook the fillet as a whole and the flavor does not penetrate as well.
Tips: Make larger quantity of teriyaki sauce ahead so it is easy to heat the sauce with a bit of wet corn starch. Store in refrigirator. I have not tried making the sauce ahead of time with starch added but will try. Last time I forgot to boil sauce and the taste is not as good.
