Japanese Salted Salmon
Cook: Sharon Yam (@yamsandchips)
Prep time: 2 days and 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Japanese
Difficulty: Easy
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #hkersfood - we’d LOVE to see how yours turn out on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! You might even be featured by us ;)
I cannot get fresh whole fish where I currently live in the US. As a result, when I am craving fish, I often resort to salmon filet from the grocery store. Lately, I have been feeling bored with always pan-frying our salmon, and want to experiment with new ways of cooking.
I recall eating salted salmon filet as part of my breakfast when I was staying in a Bed-and-Breakfast in Tokyo. It turns out that this staple Japanese dish is very easy to make!
This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite Japanese cooking blogs Just One Cookbook. According to the author Nami, salted salmon (shiojake) is extremely popular and common in Japan. Not only is it a favorite breakfast dish, people also add it to fried rice, congee, and rice balls.
Ingredients
340g salmon
1 tbsp cooking sake
To eat as a filet: 10g salt
To use in fried rice or onigiri: 17g salt
Tip: You may use more or less salmon, just make sure that you use either 3% or 5% of the salmon’s weight in salt, depending how you plan on eating it.
Method
Pat the salmon dry with paper towels.
Pour the sake on the salmon, with the skin facing up. That way the flesh can absorb the sake. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pat the salmon dry again.
Salt the salmon. Put the salt on the skin first, and then make sure that the entire filet is covered in salt.
Line the bottom of a Tupperware with two layers of paper towel.
Put the salted salmon on top of the paper towel in the Tupperware, and cover the fish with yet another layer of paper towel.
Put the Tupperware in the fridge, and allow it to sit for two days.
Once you are ready to cook the salmon, preheat the oven to 400F.
Put the salmon on a tin foil covered baking sheet.
Bake the salmon for 20 minutes.
To make the skin extra crispy, broil the salmon for 3 minutes. You may skip this step if your oven does not have a broiler function, and just bake the salmon for 3-5 more minutes, until the flesh is firm.
Serve warm.
Side Note: If you are not ready to cook the salmon after the marinade, you can pat dry the fillets and freeze them.
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