If you don’t like salmon because it’s fishy or dry, you will change your mind after you try this Asian salmon recipe! The salmon here is very moist, flaky, juicy, and flavorful. The Asian sauce is smooth and silky, with just the right amount of garlic. The whole dish is very easy to make – I make this for dinner right after a long day at work!
The key to the moist and juicy salmon is to bake it at 350 degrees for only 15 minutes, and then broil it for 5 minutes (or longer if you like it more charred). This way you get the very best out of salmon: it will be moist and juicy (not dry), and it will also have a nice charred look, which is much more appetizing and pretty than if you just baked it.
I like to serve this salmon over a small bed of very thin rice noodles, which will absorb some of the sauce from the fish, and also the sauce that you will pour on top of salmon after condensing it a bit. You can serve any type of your favorite greens: cooked spinach, green beans, or Asian greens (baby bok choy, Chinese spinach, etc.). I only had asparagus, so that’s what I served it with. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce (if you want to make this dish gluten-free, make sure to use gluten-free soy sauce, not a regular one)
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- a pinch of ginger (powdered)
- 1 and 1/4 pounds salmon
- 8 ounces very thin rice noodles
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus
- salt & pepper
- a drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- To prepare the marinade, in a medium bowl, combine the sesame oil, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, a pinch of ginger and whisk to blend.
- Place salmon in a baking dish, skin-side down. Pour the marinade over the salmon, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the salmon uncovered for 15 minutes at 350 degrees in the same baking dish in which you marinated it. Remove the salmon from the oven, pour the marinade from the baking dish into a small saucepan. Preheat the broiler.
- Slide the spatula under the salmon the remove the skin. Broil salmon (without the marinade or the skin) for about 5 minutes (or more, depending on your broiler), until it caramelizes nicely. Remove from pan.
- While the salmon is broiling, reduce the sauce (the marinade) in the sauce pan on the stove top by boiling it down a little bit. Be careful – don’t over do it – reduce it just a bit to have enough to pour over each of 4 serving of fish.
- Cook very thin rice noodles according to package instructions, drain.
- Place asparagus in a glass baking dish, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees (at the same time with salmon, but in a separate dish), until soft but still crispy.
- Place a scoop of rice noodles in the center of each serving plate. Put several sprigs of asparagus on the side. Place a serving of salmon on top of noodles. Pour the condensed sauce on top.
I’ve made this recipe three times now, and I think it just turned out so perfect tonight. My husband’s trainer brought us some fresh silver salmon from Alaska yesterday and I knew I was going to make this again, and I’m so glad I did. I followed your recipe exactly. It was delishtastic.
I just fell in love with salmon! This looks so good, but one question: what do you do with the yummy skin after you remove it? do you put it back when plating?
Thanks, can’t wait to try this weekend.
Mary
I made this for dinner tonight. It turned out real good. I had to make a few changes because I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I had to substitute guava nectar for the honey and a medley of red pepper, broccoli and mushrooms for the asparagus. Trust me it was still delicious. The marinade makes the dish. I love the Carmelization of the fish. I give it 5 stars.