Miso Salmon (味噌サーモン)

This is a great quick and easy recipe that still packs plenty of flavor. You only need to marinate the salmon for 30 minutes to an hour, and depending on the size of the fillets you use, you should only need to broil the salmon for 10-12 minutes. This should still give you plenty of time to prepare some rice and vegetables to round out the meal (as shown in the photo here, I used blanched snow peas, marinated shiitakes, parboiled carrots, and daikon on top of ginger rice to make a fast donburi).

Keep in mind that when cooking a miso marinated dish, regardless if it’s fish or meat, to remove the marinade before cooking because miso burns very easily. If you want a nice glaze, brush on a little of the miso marinade right before you take out the dish from the oven.

This recipe makes two servings.

Ingredients:

  • 14 oz (400 g) skin-on salmon fillet (cut in half if one big piece)

Marinade:

  • 2 tablespoons white miso*
  • 1 tablespoon sake
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon sesame oil

Garnish:

  • ½ teaspoon black and white sesame seeds (optional)
  • 1 scallion for garnish (optional)

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl.

2. Place the salmon in the bowl, skin side up. Spoon marinade over the fillets and coat the salmon skin. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Set the oven broiler to high and preheat for 3 minutes. Remove excess marinade from the salmon fillets, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (if you are broiling on your oven’s top rack, make sure you trim any excess parchment away from the edges of the baking sheet- otherwise, it can catch on fire if it gets too close to the oven’s heating element). Broil salmon for 10-12 minutes, depending on the thickness, until salmon is cooked through.

4. Top broiled salmon with sesame seeds and thinly sliced scallion.

Notes:
* Shiro miso (white miso) or awase miso (a mix of white and red miso) are recommended for this recipe.