This simple marinade of salt and sake wicks away fishy-tasting oils and seasons the fish all the way through, not just the surface. The longer you leave the salmon in the marinade the richer the color becomes — and the firmer the texture — because the salt in the marinade draws excess moisture from the salmon. The firmer texture helps the salmon hold together when it comes time to sear which makes the cooking process a breeze!

Yield: Six 100g portions (plus trimmings)
Serves: 6 people
Note: You can marinade the trimmings as well to make salmon onigiri for lunch tomorrow!

RECIPE OVERVIEW

Portion salmon into 100g cross sections and marinade each portion with 3g salt & 3 g sake for at least an hour. Rinse off excess salt off under a gentle stream of water, pat dry, then sear with the skin side down.

Ingredients

1.5 lb skin-on salmon filet, scaled
2 Tbsp sake
2 Tbsp kosher salt (20 g)

Instructions

CLEAN & PORTION SALMON

You’ll want to ask to have your salmon scaled at the fish counter when you’re purchasing it, but also when you get it home you’ll want to run your fingers back and forth gently along the skin and the flesh to feel for any pin bones or scales that they missed.

To remove scales, use the flat side of a knife and scrape the scales up, then rinse it under a gentle stream of water, and pat dry with a paper towel.
To remove pin bones, use fish tweezers to gently pull them out.
To portion salmon, cut the filet into 100g cross sections, each will be about 1” wide.

MARINADE SALMON

Evenly distribute sake and salt across portioned salmon, flipping the portions over to make sure that both the skin and the flesh side get evenly seasoned. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least one hour or overnight. The longer you leave it in the marinade the richer the color becomes and the firmer the texture because the salt in the marinade draws excess moisture from the salmon.

COOK SALMON

After marinating, rinse excess salt off under a gentle stream of water and pat each portion completely dry with a paper towel. Heat a cast iron pan over high heat. Drizzle a bit of high heat oil into the pan and then place the salmon skin-side down. Cook until crispy, then flip to get color on the flesh sides of the fish too.

* Alternatively, you could also broil the salmon skin side up for 8-10 minutes. Or if you are not concerned about crispy skin, you could just bake at 425 F for 10-12 minutes.

SERVE

I recommend serving crispy skin salmon with Japanese rice (see recipe below) and some form of nori (ie. seasoned nori squares, nori tsukudani and nori furikake are all delicious options!)

Japanese Rice

Charlie always says, “it’s not a meal without rice.” Considering the word gohan means both “meal” and “rice” in Japan, it’s safe to say the Japanese agree with him. I always used to make rice using an electric rice cooker, but when I met Charlie I switched over to cooking rice in double-lidded donabe pot on the gas range. As long as you wash & soak the rice thoroughly and measure the water-to-rice ratio precisely, you’ll get impeccably tender rice using either a rice cooker or donabe, so I’ve included instructions for both below.

Yield: 4 cups
Serving Size: ⅔ cup
Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 cups Japanese short-grain rice (such as Koshihikari)
2 cups + 2 Tbsp water

Instructions

Wash the Rice

Place the rice in a large bowl and cover it with cold water. Gently agitate the rice with your fingers, then drain the water. Repeat this process at least 3 times — until the water runs clear. This helps remove excess starch on the rice surface for a more tender, evenly cooked end result.

Soak the Rice

Measure the cooking water and pour it over the rice in the vessel that you are going to cook it in. Let the rice soak for 30 minutes before cooking -- this greatly improves the fluffiness of the rice.

Cook with a Rice Cooker

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for your rice cooker. Press “Start” on the rice cooker. It will automatically switch to "Keep Warm" when the rice is done. Allow it to sit for an additional 10-15 minutes for optimal texture.

Cooking on the Stovetop

If using a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid (like a dutch oven or a Japanese donabe), bring the rice and water to a boil over medium-high heat. In about 10-15 minutes, you’ll see a steady stream of steam escaping from the covered pot, at which point you can turn off the heat, but DO NOT take off the lid for another 20-25 minutes. The built-up residual heat is what causes the remaining water to absorb evenly without overcooking, resulting in perfectly tender rice.

Serve

Gently fluff the rice with a rice paddle or spatula to separate the grains and transfer to your serving vessel(s).

Crispy Skin Salmon with Japanese Rice