The other night I decided to try a new spin on salmon.
I eat a lot of salmon and usually just bake it in its own oil and it’s delicious. But recently I’ve had a lot of queries on salmon recipes. So, feeling adventurous I rummaged through my cabinets and spotted soy sauce and brown sugar which sparked an idea…
Now I know that I’ve voiced in prior posts what a struggle it is to cook in a New York City apartment…
But here I go again.
It’s not just the space issue, although the 12-inch wide counter I have does make me an expert at Tupperware storage. Everything in my kitchen seems to have been shrunk down in size in order to fit the space. Luckily I have a full-sized fridge (a few years ago I sublet a place that had one of those college frat-sized mini refrigerators—so I guess I should count my lucky stars). In my current place, my smaller than average sized oven is not equipped with a fan. So basically, anytime I bake over a certain temperature, my living room (yes I said living room, not kitchen) smoke alarm goes off. And for some reason, this isn’t your average smoke alarm. Most alarms “beep” when they go off.
Not mine.
While I was testing out this new salmon recipe, all of a sudden a deafening woman’s voice comes out of the alarm screaming “FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!”.
Flash to me: Adamantly fanning a dish towel in front of the alarm (that’s 15 feet in the air preventing me from simply switching it off) cursing at this woman to “Just shut up already!!”
(My how my neighbors must love me. )
Oh, the joys of cooking!
But let me tell you—it was soo worth it! This sesame soy glaze is de-lish! Not to mention it’s super easy and takes no time at all to whip up (as long as you have either a full-sized oven or a broken smoke alarm that is!)
Yields: 2 fillets
Prep Time: 5 minutes +30 for marinade | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes
(I factor in an additional five minutes for smoke alarm taming)
Ingredients:
For the glaze:
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
For the salmon:
2, 4 oz salmon fillets
½ tbsp. sesame seeds, for garnish
½ tbsp. chopped chives, for garnish
1. Combine soy sauce, oil, vinegar, and brown sugar together in a bowl. Whisk until sugar dissolves.
2. Combine salmon and ½ of soy sauce mixture in a ziploc bag. Place in fridge and marinate X 20-30 minutes. Reserve the remainder of soy sauce marinade for glaze.
3. Preheat oven to 550.
4. Cook salmon at 550 X 12-15 minutes (time will vary depending on the size of the fillet).
5. While salmon is baking, place remainder of the soy sauce mixture in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Cook ~5 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken.
6. When serving, top salmon with glaze, sesame seeds, and chives.
The Cook’s 2 Cents:
· Make sure you’re tasting the glaze as it thickens. The longer it cooks, the more the flavor will concentrate. If it reduces too much, it will end up tasting bitter. Mine took ~ 5 minutes to cook down to a tasty glaze that literally had me licking the pan.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 1 fillet
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Calories: 282 Fat: 9g Sodium: 1165mg Carbs: 25g Fiber: 1g Sugars: 20g Protein: 25g
