A kitchen torch can turn leftover teriyaki sauce into a quick, flavourful meal. Glaze and torch some salmon fillets for a filling weekend lunch packed with savoury and smoky flavours.
Time: 2/5
Sauce can be made ahead of time.
Effort: 3/5
Love is flavour, and so is butane.
Pyrotechnics
It’s been a while since I brought out my kitchen torch for a whirl, and I was missing that distinctive scorched flavour. Fortunately, I had some salmon fillets in the freezer that could be quickly defrosted in a cold water bath for a light weekend lunch.
I like to use salmon chunks for meal prep. They’re cheaper at the store, and there’s more surface area to grab onto whatever flavours I am marinating them with – whether it be miso and honey, chili lime, or honey mustard. But whole fillets make for a much nicer presentation, so I feel like it’s a better choice for a Saturday.
In order to manufacture an excuse to bring out the kitchen torch, I made a concentrated teriyaki that is more of a glaze and a sauce. I burned several layers of this onto the skin side of the salmon, and the results were amazing – especially with a bit of sesame seeds and scallions to garnish.
The amounts listed are for two servings, but give serious thought to making a big batch and keeping the extra to make teriyaki chicken thighs, or mackerel.
Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 0
Dramatis Personae
Served 2.
- 3 110g salmon fillets
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine, or sake
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Sesame seeds and scallions for garnish
Executive summary
- In a pan, combine soy sauces, mirin and sugar. Simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency and reserve.
- Pat the salmon fillets as dry as possible. Season both sides with salt.
- Place skin side down on a pan on medium-low heat, only flipping when the flesh is done most of the way.
- Brush the skin with teriyaki sauce, then sear it with a kitchen torch. Repeat several times to build up the glaze.
- Serve with rice and vegetables.
Play by Play
Last things first. Simmer the sauce ingredients together until it forms a thick syrup. Feel free to make extra, to glaze chicken thighs and mackerel fillets and steak bites and so forth.
Time to cook the salmon. Medium-low heat, very gently crisp up the skin. Watch the salmon cook by seeing how far up the sides the colour creeps; let it go 70% of the way on the skin side.
Now that the skin is nice and crisp, I transferred the fillets to my stainless steel pan to brush with glaze and sear with the torch. I would use the stainless steel to sear the skin as well, if I were more confident in my skills, but fish is notorious for sticking and I would rather be safe than sorry.
After a quick vegetable stir fry later in the same stainless steel pan, lunch is ready! Idatakimasu~
Charred Teriyaki Salmon Fillets in a Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Ingredients
- 330g g salmon fillets 110g each
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or sake
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Sesame seeds and scallions for garnish
Instructions
- In a pan, combine soy sauces, mirin and sugar. Simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency and reserve.
- Pat the salmon fillets as dry as possible. Season both sides with salt.
- Place skin side down on a pan on medium-low heat, only flipping when the flesh is done most of the way.
- Brush the skin with teriyaki sauce, then sear it with a kitchen torch. Repeat several times to build up the glaze.
- Serve with rice and vegetables.
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