One of my wonderful readers recently asked for more fish recipes. I fully intended on doing cod or some other type of fish that I had never cooked before, but when I got to the store and saw this pretty, fatty salmon, my mouth started to water. …but I’ll be doing more fish in the future, so stay tuned.
This recipe is, of course, pretty pricey, but its worth every penny. This is the best salmon I’ve ever made and it was incredibly easy. The best part about this dish is that you can cook it any way you want. I opted for a skillet but you could also use a George Foreman grill, an outdoor grill, or bake it in the oven (like I did last time). Whatever you do, make sure to oil your surface well so that your fish comes off in one piece. It’s deliciously delicate and the teriyaki sauce is sticky!
I decided to whip up a quick sriracha mayo because I thought the spicy, creamy mixture would pair perfectly with the sticky sweetness of the teriyaki. Right I was. Plus, sriracha mayo is good on just about everything under the sun so it’s no biggy if there is extra.
Pair this salmon with some savory coconut rice, garlic noodles, or (not)fried rice and you’ll have a gourmet meal for at least half the price that you’d pay in a restaurant.
Teriyaki salmon with Sriracha Mayo
Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Mayo
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 lb. salmon filet ($11.49)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp. water ($0.00)
- 1/2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil ($0.28)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.13)
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar ($0.06)
- 2 Tbsp. rice wine ($0.27)
- 1 tsp cornstarch ($0.02)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise ($0.42)
- 2 Tbsp. sriracha hot sauce ($0.24)
Instructions
- Make the teriyaki marinade by whisking together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, brown sugar, rice wine, and corn starch (use a vegetable peeler to remove the ginger skin and then grate with a fine toothed cheese grater).
- Cut the salmon filet into four equal sized portions and place in a large zip top bag. Pour the marinade over top, remove as much air as possible and close up the bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, mixing the bag occasionally to redistribute the marinade.
- Heat a large, well oiled skillet over medium/high heat. It’s a good idea to use a non-stick surface here too just to be safe (teflon or well seasoned cast iron). The teriyaki sauce gets thick and sticky when cooked. Once the skillet is hot, add the fish, face down. Cook on all four sides for 2-3 minutes each side or until the fish has reached your desired doneness.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sriracha hot sauce and mayonnaise. Serve the fish with a dollop of sriracha mayo on top!
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Nutrition
Step By Step Photos
Whisk together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, grated ginger, minced garlic, brown sugar, rice wine, and corn starch. This is your teriyaki marinade.
This is the big, one pound piece of salmon I bought.
Cut the salmon into four pieces of about the same weight. The two on the left are thinner so I cut them a little larger than the two on the right.
Place the salmon pieces in a zip top bag and add the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I placed the bag face down so that the flesh side would be in contact with the marinade the whole time.
To cook the salmon in a skillet, heat the skillet over medium/high heat and make sure to add plenty of oil or non-stick spray. When it’s nice and hot, add the salmon flesh side down. Cook the salmon for 2-3 minutes on each side or until it is cooked to the point that you like it (I like mine medium/rare).
Turn the salmon and cook on each side. The marinade will get nice and thick and sticky as it cooks, which is why you need to make sure its all oiled well. I cooked the salmon with skin side down last.
And then it’s done… it’s that easy. You can also just pop it into a countertop grill or a hot oven. Lots of choices here.
Mix up some sriracha sauce and mayonnaise. You can use any ratio you’d like depending on how spicy you want it. I used 2 parts mayo to one part sriracha. I had plenty for all four pieces with just 1/4 cup of mayo and 2 Tbsp of sriracha.
This stuff is so good. Eat it on sandwiches, as a chip dip, or whatever. It’s so YUM.
If you don’t like sriracha or mayo, this fish is pretty phenomenal by its self too! I had a hard time not just gobbling it up before the photos were taken.
I liked cooking it in a skillet because the salmon stayed super moist… although a countertop grill may have been a little easier (no flipping required!).
OMG, so delicious.
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Adding a touch of soy sauce (just a small splash) to the mayo/sriracha mix makes for a more melded spicy mayo. It eliminates the mayo overtones and instead gives you a spicy, creamy, goodness.
I came across this trick after repeated attempts to make spicy mayo always came out as mayo flavored with some spice as opposed to the spicy mayo you find at sushi restaurants.
Anon – You just can’t get the same texture in the oven as you can in a skillet with oil because it’s a different method of heat transfer :P It’s just like baking french fries in the oven compared to deep frying them – no matter what they’ll *never* be the same texture.
Maybe buy one of those splatter screens? They look like a wire mesh tennis racket that you lay over top of the skillet to catch the splatter… I’ve never used one, but it might help! :)
how would you make this in the oven but still get the crispy? every time i attempt to pan fry, the oil gets EVERYWHERE! :)
This was very good, the sauce added the right amount of spice. I served with a spinach and strawberry salad. Yum! Great for a quick meal after work.
We had this for dinner tonight and my husband wolfed it down. We made sriracha mayo – my first time dabbling with this sauce – and even though we don’t eat a ton of spicy things, we both licked our plates clean. I served it with pineapple chunks and scallion mashed potatoes, because I wanted “cooling” things if the spice proved too much for our weak tongues. Delicious dinner, and we mixed the leftover spicy mayo into the leftover mashed potatoes, and that was incredible, too! We’re both now converts to sriracha, and are looking for more ways to use it. Thank you for this one!
Laparisienne – I’ve made versions of this sauce with rice vinegar before, but you’ll probably want to use less than the amount of rice wine called for. Rice vinegar is much stronger than rice wine. I would suggest mixing all of the other ingredients together first, then adding a little rice vinegar at a time until it tastes balanced to you.
I am really excited to make this, but do you think I could use rice wine vinegar instead of rice wine? Or maybe another substitute?Otherwise I have all the ingredients!
Amazing! I grilled over medium-high heat until firm. This, with your turmeric jasmine rice, is now officially my favorite meal. I’ve been a lurker for a while, but this recipe made me comment. Thanks so much!
Anon – Yes, I just discarded the marinade :)
possibly a silly question but do you just discard the marinade after using? i ask especially because i used my george foreman grill and didn’t want to pour all the marinade on there but wasn’t sure if when using a skillet you would cook the marinade?
thanks! the dish is delicious regardless i was just curious :)
Hey, if you have the store ALDI in your area, their wild caught salmon is about half as expensive!
Made this tonight, super yummy! I am surprised that I loved the sriracha mayo because I’m pretty wimpy with hot stuff.I just made it a little bit weaker and it was so tasty.
This looks amazing. I just grilled some salmon with a tangy avacado sauce, http://hometownslop.blogspot.com/2012/07/salmon-with-tangy-avacado-sauce.html. Since I just got a smoker, I am looking for new recipes.
Thanks for sharing.
I made this last week, without the siracha mayo, and served it over your garlic noodle recipe. It was wonderful! My husband said it was the best salmon he’d ever had. And now I have a new condiment to use: oyster sauce. I’d never had it before. Thanks!
Mmmmm, i made this tonight along with the savoury coconut rice and some steamed broccoli and it was super delicious and satisfying.