Ginger-Soy Salmon

Atlantic goodness

Hello everyone!  Hope that you had a wonderful weekend.  Last night my roommate and I went out to eat for her last night in Ohio (she flew to Florida for a week this morning) and we had chicken wings, pizza, and french fries.  And I didn't regret it one bit.  It feels nice to pig out every so often :)  But since I ate out yesterday, I decided that I HAD to cook tonight.  I only cooked one of the three recipes that I proposed last week, so I will be cooking the rest them this week.


I started with the salmon recipe because I have been craving it all week.  I try to eat fish once a week but I had so much lasagna from last week, I didn't eat much else.  This recipe is a conglomeration of at least 3 recipes - Mike's dad makes a great salmon with soy sauce, olive oil, and scallions; my parents make a marinade with soy sauce, limes, and sugar; and I've had dishes that combine soy and ginger at many restaurants. 

I loooove this recipe.  I think that it tastes complex enough to come from a restaurant, but it is still very comforting.  It's not heavy, and if paired with brown rice and a veggie, it's a very balanced meal. It's a home run.

Even though there are a lot of ingredients, it only takes a few minutes to throw the marinade together, and 5 minutes or so to crisp the skin.  The rest of the time is spent on letting the fish marinate and on baking the fish.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.. I had a hard time keeping myself from eating two servings (I promise, I saved some for tomorrow).


P.S. You can skip crisping the skin in the frying pan, but I recommend that you try it at least once.  It is well worth the extra 5 minutes.  You'll thank me once you try it.  Promise.


Ginger-Soy Salmon
Serves 4
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Ingredients
4 6-oz pieces of skin-on salmon
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons water 
6 cloves of garlic
1-inch section ginger
Juice of 1 lime
2 scallions
finely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
a few drops of dark sesame oil
cilantro, to garnish
toasted black and white sesame seeds, to garnish


Directions
1. To make the marinade: In a dish large enough to place the salmon in a single layer, combine soy sauce, sugar, olive oil, lime juice, water, and black pepper. Grate in garlic and ginger. Finely slice the scallions and add the whites to the marinade (reserve the greens to garnish). At this point, taste the marinade and adjust seasonings.  Set aside 1/3 cup of marinade for later. 
2. Place salmon into marinade and turn to coat both sides. Marinate for at least 1 hour, flesh side down. 
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  While the oven is preheating, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on high heat in a stainless steel frying pan.  
4. Remove fish from marinade and dry the skin with a paper towel.  When the oil is hot, place the salmon skin side down into the pan.  Press the fish down with a spatula to ensure that the skin has good contact with the pan.  Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the skin becomes crispy.  You'll know when it is ready when the fish easily releases from the pan.  Don't try to pry it off!*
5. Transfer the salmon to a sheet pan with a cooling rack (to elevate the fish and keep the skin crispy).  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the thickest portion of the salmon begins to firm up.  Be very careful not to overcook!!
6. While the fish is cooking, discard the oil from the frying pan, and heat the marinade that was set aside earlier.  Simmer until it reduces by a third to a half.  Take it off the heat and add a few drops of sesame oil, if desired.  
7. Top the fish with a small amount of the reduced marinade and garnish with sesame seeds, cilantro, and scallions. Serve with rice. 


*If you do not care for crispy skin, you can just bake for 20-25 minutes. I would still bake it on the cooling rack, just so the skin doesn't get soggy. 


That's all folks. Night!


xoxo <3
Nhu-Y