Sake Simmered Salmon

The Japanese simmer all kinds of fish in sake wine, and this recipe was originally designed for mackerel, but it works great with any kind of fatty salmon -- I used silver (coho) salmon here, but you could use farmed, sockeye or king salmon, too. Simmering the salmon in sake, plus a bit of ginger and soy sauce, gently cooked the fish and gave it a nice clean flavor. Serve this with plain steamed rice and, if you can find it, the Japanese seven-spice mixture known as togarashi. This salmon recipe serves 4 as a main course.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillets
• Kosher salt
• 3/4 cup sake wine
• 1/2 cup mirin (sweet cooking sake)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 T. grated fresh ginger
• 1 T. sugar

Preparation:

Salt the salmon well with kosher salt and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a large pan with a cover, bring the sake to a boil, then add the salmon and cover. When it returns to a boil, uncover and add the mirin and the soy sauce. Cover again.

When the mixture retuns to a boil, add the sugar and grated ginger and mix well. Cover and return to a simmer -- not a boil -- and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Turn off the heat.

Let stand for a minute or two, then serve with steamed rice and a little of the cooking liquid.