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
Total Time: 22 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.
