Teriyaki Salmon

Name: Teriyaki Salmon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 3 tbsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp mirin; 2 tbsp sake, or dry sherry or water; 1 tbsp sugar; 4 (5–6 oz each) salmon fillets, skin on or off, 150–170 g each; 2 g (⅓ tsp) fine sea salt, light, as the sauce is salty; 1 tbsp all-purpose flour or cornstarch, for dusting; 1 tbsp neutral oil; 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds; 2 scallions, thinly sliced; steamed rice, Perfect Rice, to serve

Pan-seared salmon lacquered in a sticky homemade glaze

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 15 min
Total: 20 min
Level: Easy

In Japan teriyaki is a technique, not a bottled sauce: fish or meat seared and then glazed with soy, mirin and sake until it shines (teri means luster). A four-ingredient sauce reduced in the pan coats the salmon in a sweet-salty lacquer in minutes. Serve with rice and something green.

Ingredients

Sauce

3 tbspsoy sauce
3 tbspmirin
2 tbspsakeor dry sherry or water
1 tbspsugar

Salmon

4salmon fillets, skin on or off (5–6 oz each)150–170 g each
2 gfine sea salt (⅓ tsp)light, as the sauce is salty
1 tbspall-purpose flour or cornstarchfor dusting
1 tbspneutral oil
1 tsptoasted sesame seeds
2scallionsthinly sliced
steamed ricePerfect Rice, to serve

Diet: Dairy-free, Pescatarian
Allergens: fish, soy, gluten, sesame, sulphites
Origin: Japan

Method

Stir the soy, mirin, sake and sugar together until the sugar dissolves.
Pat the salmon dry, season lightly with salt and dust the flesh sides with flour, tapping off the excess.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Lay the salmon in, skin or presentation side down, and cook until golden, 3–4 minutes. Turn and cook 2 minutes more. 6 min
Tip out most of the fat with a folded paper towel. Lower the heat to medium and pour in the sauce.
Simmer, spooning the sauce over the fish constantly, until it reduces to a glossy glaze that coats the back of a spoon in big, slow bubbles, 1–2 minutes. The salmon should reach 50–52°C (122–126°F) in the center and be barely flaking. 2 min
Serve immediately over rice, spooning over the last of the glaze, scattered with sesame seeds and scallions.

Why it works

Mirin and sugar caramelize quickly as the water boils off, so the sauce goes in only after the fish is nearly cooked; this way the glaze thickens without burning. A light dusting of flour gives the reducing sauce something to cling to, and its starch helps the glaze set into a shiny coat. Searing first adds browned flavor the sauce alone can't.

Common mistakes

Adding the sauce too early: the sugar burns before the fish is cooked.
Reducing too far — once the sauce is tacky and dark, stop, or it turns bitter and stiff.
Bottled teriyaki is thick with starch and too sweet; the homemade version takes one minute.

Variations

Chicken teriyaki: Use 4 boneless skin-on chicken thighs, cooked skin side down 8 minutes and 5 minutes on the other side to 74°C (165°F), then glaze.
Oven-broiled: Brush the salmon with sauce reduced separately by half and broil 6–8 minutes, basting twice.

Make ahead and storage

The sauce mixture keeps 2 weeks in the fridge. The cooked salmon keeps 2 days and is good cold over rice.

Notes

Use tamari for gluten free (and dust with cornstarch). Without mirin, use 2 tbsp water plus an extra 1 tbsp sugar.