Transcription
This miso salmon is one of the tastiest salmon recipes that only takes about seven to eight minutes to cook, and you are gonna love it. It's incredibly simple, packed with umami flavor, and the broiling gives it such a delicious, caramelized crust. I still remember the first time I had miso-marinated cod at Nobu restaurant about 25 years ago. And so this takes that same approach, but applies it to salmon.
Now because this recipe is so darn quick and easy to make, I'm also gonna show you how to make my ginger rice and my Asian cucumber salad. And if you'd like, you can make all three and serve it up together at home for one restaurant-worthy meal. All right, let me show you how to make it.
To get started, you'll need four salmon filets. You can use any type of salmon you prefer, including sockeye, coho, or king salmon. I'm using king salmon today because my market had it on sale, and not gonna lie, it's my personal favorite for its high Omega-3 content and ultra moist texture. It's also a bit taller than those other varieties, so you get a beautiful side shot when you serve it up on a plate. But for now, you can just pat the salmon dry with a paper towel and then transfer those four filets to a baking dish before getting started on the miso marinade.
To make the marinade, add a quarter cup of white miso paste to a small bowl along with a quarter cup of mirin, three tablespoons of honey, two tablespoons of soy sauce, and I'm using tamari soy sauce as I'm gluten-free, and one tablespoon of sesame oil. Whisk that together until you've got a smooth texture and then drizzle most of it on top of your salmon filets, leaving about two tablespoons in the bowl, as you'll brush that last remaining bit of marinade on top at the end. But after the salmon is well-coated in the marinade, transfer it to your fridge and marinade it for about 30 minutes to an hour.
So now that we've got a little bit of time, I thought I'd show you how to make my new Asian cucumber salad recipe. This is often known as a smashed cucumber salad, though I prefer to gently smash six Persian cucumbers rather than really bash the heck out of them. All you're really trying to do here is break the inside flesh a bit with little cracks so that the dressing holds onto the cucumber a bit better. I've found that if you smash them too hard, when you slice them up, as I'm doing here, they'll break into lots of little pieces, and then you end up with a broken cucumber salad rather than a lightly smashed cucumber salad. But once you've got all six Persian cucumbers sliced up, just push those to the side for now.
Next, thinly slice up two green onions. I like a little extra green onion in my salad, which is why we're slicing up two rather than one. But you could also swap in finely-diced red onion if you don't have green onion on hand. This is an herb-heavy salad, so the next ingredient you'll need is a quarter cup of finely chopped cilantro. And once that's done, you can just push it to the side as well. Lastly, finely chopped two garlic cloves, which we'll add to the salad dressing here in a second. You can mince them with a hand mincer if you prefer, but I like a slightly chunkier texture in this salad, so I'll use my knife.
Add the sliced cucumbers to a colander in the sink, or if you prefer, you can add the colander over a bowl and then salt the cucumbers with about one teaspoon of kosher salt. Massage the salt into the cucumbers by tossing them around in the colander, then let them drain any excess liquid for about 10 to 15 minutes. Once that's done, rinse the cucumbers in cold water to remove the salt, and then let them thoroughly drain again before adding them to a mixing bowl. Add the green onion and cilantro to the mixing bowl along with two teaspoons of white sesame seeds. And I like to lightly toast these on the stove for extra flavor.
The dressing is a simple mix of one tablespoon of sesame oil, one tablespoon of tamari soy sauce, one tablespoon of rice vinegar, one tablespoon of honey, those two garlic cloves that I finely diced, and one to two teaspoons of chili crisp, depending on how spicy you'd like it. You can use chili oil or chili crisp in this recipe. Though, I prefer the chili crisp as it's a bit more complex flavor-wise and has a crunchy, crispy texture. Stir the dressing together, then pour it on top of the cucumber salad, and stir it all together until it's well-combined. I'll transfer this to a prettier serving bowl today, and you can see how the dressing nestles into those little cracks in the cucumber, making for extra deliciousness in every bite. I am a big fan of cucumber salads in general, but I think this one takes the cake in terms of robust flavor.
All right, moving on to the other side dish that I love to serve with this miso salmon, and that's ginger rice. Add one cup of jasmine rice that's been rinsed and drained to a pot, along with one and a half cups of water, one tablespoon of grated ginger, one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil or butter, one garlic clove, and all just mince that straight into the pot, and a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir that all together, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook the rice for 10 to 15 minutes, or as long as it says on your package of rice. And yes, you can use other varieties of rice in this recipe as well, like basmati or short-grain rice. Again, just cook the rice to the package instructions.
Once the rice is cooked, fluff it with a fork, then transfer it to a serving bowl. And I like to top it with thinly sliced green onions if I'm serving this up for guests. And that, my friends, is how easy it is to make this very delicious ginger rice.
Okay, at this point in time, my salmon is well-marinated, so I'll transfer that to a parchment lined baking tray. And I'm just using a quarter sheet pan here, which I find is the perfect size for cooking four salmon filets. And I'll link the one I'm using below. Place the salmon about four to six inches below the broiling element at the top of your oven and broil the salmon for seven to nine minutes, depending on its thickness. The salmon cooks very quickly, so do keep an eye on it, and it should get lightly charred on top with the middle just being cooked through. The charring and caramelization comes from the sugar in the marinade. And believe me when I say that that broiled top is so darn good.
Before serving, I like to brush a little bit more of that marinade that we reserved at the beginning on top of the salmon for a stronger punch of that miso flavor. And it, of course, gives a little glaze-like sheen to the salmon as well. Now, tell me that is not the prettiest salmon you ever did see. I think we need a few extra beauty shots here.
I made this recipe and actually this ensemble of recipes for a bunch of friends and family recently and it was a total winner, with several folks saying it was the best salmon they'd ever had. This miso salmon is such an incredibly simple recipe. It's almost hard to believe that something so simple can taste so phenomenal, but believe me when I say that, it sure does. You guys know that I have a lot of salmon recipes, but the ones I make most often are my garlic herb-baked salmon and this miso salmon. They're both quick and easy, perfect for weeknight meals, and make you fall in love with salmon a million times over.
Now, if you wanna get extra fancy before serving, you can sprinkle a little extra sesame seeds and sliced green onion on top of the salmon. But I am ready to dig into this. And look at how beautifully moist and flaky it is. All right, that first bite you saw me flake went straight into my mouth. So this is honestly my second bite. So good. It is juicy. It is flavorful. It is cooked perfectly. You get the umami flavor. You get a little bit of sweetness, caramelization. This is by far, in a way, one of my favorite ways to cook salmon. And if I go in for some of the Asian cucumber salad and some of the ginger rice as well, get a good bite of that. And while these flavors all marry together so beautifully, you can, of course, serve the salmon on its own or with a variety of other sides, like my garlic ginger bok choy on my recipe website, or so many other options.
I will also say when it comes to cooking the salmon, the pan is cool enough to touch now, you can see where the parchment paper gets a little burned. You have to be really careful when you have the boiler on and parchment paper because parchment paper is flammable, so you wanna keep an eye on it in the oven. You don't wanna let it cook too long. If you are a little bit afraid of cooking on parchment paper under the boiler, you could, of course, use aluminum foil. But I always default to parchment paper, and I've never had any issues. But do keep an eye on it.
I hope you guys love this miso-marinated salmon as much as I do, and that it expands your salmon repertoire. If you've been around these parts for a while, you know that I have many salmon recipes on the website. I adore salmon. I eat it usually every week. And so if you're looking to change up your flavor profile, this is a great way to do it. If you enjoyed today's video, make sure to give it a thumbs up. Make sure to tag me in social media when you make this recipe. I can't wait to see it. And with that, I will see you guys in the next video. (bright music)