Pan Grilled Salmon Marinated Asian Style

The perfect Asian marinade glazed crispy Salmon ever! My daughter Sonia was lucky to have the best roommates in her college years. One of them, Resham and she were roommates for all of the 8 years. Resham was local, so her mom Chhaya would send over a steady supply food and neatly cut fruit in containers most of the time. She said they would eat it, if the fruit was prepped and was ready to eat, she made sure they were well fed. Not only that, she is a doctor, so she made sure that along with her daughter Resham, the other stayed healthy too, and got her flu shots on time as well. I just can't thank her enough, what a sweetheart she is.

One of the dishes that was always brought over a lot was this Asian style marinated salmon ready to be baked or pan grilled, that Sonia always talked about. Although I never got to taste it, and don't have the recipe from Chhaya, I have recreated the salmon just from Sonia's description of the dish. I think it comes out really good, and we really love it!

Pan Grilled Salmon ready to eat

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless Salmon (cut into two or three pieces depending on your serving size)

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup soy sauce or teriyaki sauce

• 1/3 cup of honey (you can substitute 1/2 of the honey with maple syrup for a subtle maple

flavor)

• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (more if you like it spicier)

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• Finely chopped cilantro (optional)

• Salt to taste (optional - I prefer not to add any as the soy sauce has enough sodium)

Steps:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients well and separate and save half of the marinade aside for the sauce to drizzle over the fish later.

2. Place the salmon steaks in a container and pour half of the marinade over the fish and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or more.

3. Heat a pan or griddle and also coat the pan with some oil and heat it. Place the salmon pieces and cook on each side. (about 3 to 4 minutes on each side) I cover and cook for a couple of minutes after I have flipped it.

4. After the salmon has cooked, keep it aside and make the sauce.

5. Pour the reserved sauce in the pan, heat and reduce the marinade that was put aside.

6. Next plate the salmon. I usually serve it with steaming hot rice and some veggie stir fry and spoon some sauce over everything. Sometimes, I serve it with some vegetable fried rice. Try it and enjoy with your favorite accompaniment.

Notes:

I have also cooked this marinated salmon in the oven. Cook it in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for about 15 - 17 minutes. While that is cooking, reduce the reserved marinade to make the sauce. Spoon some sauce over the salmon and the accompaniment as well if you like.

As a variation, I sometimes used finely chopped ginger and garlic in the marinade instead of the paste. I also add some chopped lemon grass stems in bigger pieces which i take out before serving for another added flavor.

Some accompaniments for the Salmon:

- Sautéed veggies (eg. broccoli, edamame, bok choy, cabbage)

- any combination of mixed veggies you like

- plain cooked rice (with a drizzle of the sauce)

- plain fried rice or veggie fried rice

- burnt garlic rice

- some Dim Sum buns, plain or filled to eat with the sauce