Salmon teriyaki has always been one of my favorite things to order whenever I’m out at a Japanese restaurant. There’s just something about the simple combination of flaky salmon and sweet teriyaki sauce that just can’t be beaten. And thankfully this delicious dish can just as easily be made right at home with a few simple ingredients.
How to cut your salmon properly
If there is one thing I have learned from trying out many salmon teriyaki recipes it’s that the way you cut the salmon is very important.
You see, most recipes you find for salmon teriyaki will have you cut the salmon into relatively large portions, about 2 to 3 inches thick. Which to be fair is the normal size for a salmon portion in the western world. However, in Japan, you will often find that salmon is cut into relatively thin portions, often less than an inch. And in my opinion, this difference produces a far superior salmon teriyaki, for three reasons.
- The salmon cooks a lot faster making the entire dish quick and easy
- There is much more surface area for the salmon to be coated in that delicious teriyaki sauce
- It is simply a better-sized portion that will leave you feeling full, but not overly stuffed.
So please give it a try, I guarantee you’ll love it.
Incredibly easy teriyaki sauce
While you might be tempted to save yourself some time by purchasing pre-made teriyaki sauce, don’t! Not only is making your own teriyaki sauce at home incredibly easy but tastes a hundred times better.
So what do you need to make teriyaki sauce?
Well, it’s basically just five simple ingredients, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and ginger.
That’s it!
And best of all, there’s essentially no prep work involved. All you have to do is add those five ingredients to a bowl and mix them together until the sugar has dissolved.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- One of the key ingredients for our teriyaki sauce is sake. You should be able to find this at most liquor stores for a very reasonable price, mine was 5 bucks. However, if you can’t find sake you can easily swap it out with either Chinese rice wine, or dry sherry.
- If you are a fan of this salmon teriyaki recipe then you should also try our recipe for teriyaki chicken.
- I like to serve this salmon teriyaki with either some white rice or sweet potatoes, along with some sort of green vegetable like baked asparagus.
Salmon Teriyaki Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Servings: 3 to 4
Ingredients
¾ Lb Salmon filet cut into roughly ¾ inch strips, should be 3 to 4 pieces
Salt & pepper
2 Tablespoons of flour
2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon of sake
For the teriyaki sauce:
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of sake
1 Tablespoon of mirin sweet cooking wine
1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon of grated ginger
Garnish:
Thinly sliced green onion
Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Make the teriyaki sauce by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved.
- Prep the salmon: Wash each piece of salmon and pat each side dry with paper towels. Then sprinkle on some salt and pepper on each side of the salmon. Finally, sprinkle flour on each side of the salmon and use your hands to remove any excess.
- Cook the salmon: Get out either a large skillet or large pan, place it over medium heat, and melt the butter in it. Then transfer the salmon pieces to the hot pan and let them cook on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they have become browned up. Flip the salmon pieces and pour in the tablespoon of sake. Cover the pan with a lid and let the salmon finish cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes.
Once that’s done remove the salmon from the pan and set aside.
- Finish the dish: Add the teriyaki sauce to the pan, turn the heat up to high, and let it come to a boil. Then place the salmon back into the pan and spoon the sauce over the salmon. Let this continue to cook until the sauce has thickened, about 1 more minute.
- Plate the salmon, pour some of the extra teriyaki sauce over each piece, and garnish with some green onion and toasted sesame seeds.
Salmon Teriyaki Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ Lb Salmon filet cut into roughly ¾ inch strips should be 3 to 4 pieces
- Salt & pepper
- 2 Tablespoons of flour
- 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon of sake
For the teriyaki sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of sake
- 1 Tablespoon of mirin sweet cooking wine
- 1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon of grated ginger
Garnish:
- Thinly sliced green onion
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Make the teriyaki sauce by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved.
- Prep the salmon: Wash each piece of salmon and pat each side dry with paper towels. Then sprinkle on some salt and pepper on each side of the salmon. Finally, sprinkle flour on each side of the salmon and use your hands to remove any excess.
- Cook the salmon: Get out either a large skillet or large pan, place it over medium heat, and melt the butter in it. Then transfer the salmon pieces to the hot pan and let them cook on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they have become browned up. Flip the salmon pieces and pour in the tablespoon of sake. Cover the pan with a lid and let the salmon finish cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes. Once that’s done remove the salmon from the pan and set aside.
- Finish the dish: Add the teriyaki sauce to the pan, turn the heat up to high, and let it come to a boil. Then place the salmon back into the pan and spoon the sauce over the salmon. Let this continue to cook until the sauce has thickened, about 1 more minute.
- Plate the salmon, pour some of the extra teriyaki sauce over each piece, and garnish with some green onion and toasted sesame seeds.
