This week's recipe is Teriyaki Salmon Donburi. As you probably know, donburi in Japanese describes a dish where foods are presented on a bowl of white rice. So, this dish is really quite simple, salmon + teriyaki sauce + rice = Teriyaki Salmon Donburi. (I took the liberty of adding some vegetables in the form of a couple of stems of broccoli). But don't let this dish deceive you, while it looks quite simple, the tastes, done right, can be rich and complex. Or at least, they should be. I recently visited a new local Japanese restaurant in North London. (I'll post a review of what I thought about it next month.) One of my co-diners ordered a Teriyaki Salmon Donburi as his dinner.
Unfortunately, it quickly quickly got the thumbs down. The salmon looked anaemic, had been overcooked and was sat on a bed of rather mashed, dense rice. (You can see the photo on the right.) I thought it was such a shame that a dish which should be very easy to prepare, attractive to the eye and delicious to eat, should have been done so poorly. So, I thought I would provide my own DIY recipe to show you how quick and easy it can be to create this dish properly.
There are really only two tips that need to be passed on here:
The teriyaki sauce should be prepared not bought. Off the shelf teriyaki sauce is always far too sweet. Making it yourself also avoids consuming emulsifiers, stabilisers and all the other things that go into a factory produced sauce. (Don't worry, making your own teriyaki sauce is simplicity itself and done in just a few minutes. It's also much cheaper!)
Your teriyaki sauce should be added to the salmon while it is frying. That way, the salmon absorbs the colour and flavour of the sauce while it is cooking. If you simply add the sauce post cooking, you get neither the true colour or flavour of the dish. Compare the colour of the dish I made to the restaurant prepared version. (In case you are wondering, I didn't post process the photos to look that way!)
If you need further persuasion, the shop bought version of this dish cost £12 for one dish. My version cost £5 for two servings. As they say, you do the math....
So, with no further ado, take a look at my recipe below. If a visual tutorial is more your thing, then you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Teriyaki Salmon Donburi or by scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
Teriyaki Salmon Donburi
ingredients:
(2 servings)
300g /1oz of fresh salmon salmon (skin on)
2 tsp plain flour
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
for the teriyaki sauce:
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp Japanese cooking sake (or sherry, if you have no sake)
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 long stem broccoli
a pinch of salt
450g / 16 oz / 2 portions of cooked rice
cut the salmon into 4 fillets (or have your fishmonger do this for you)
sprinkle with the plain flour
heat the vegetable oil in a small / medium frying pan
cook the salmon skin side down for 4-5 mins or until lightly browned
turn the salmon over and cook for 2-3 mins more, then turn the salmon on its side
next, add the sugar, mirin, Japanese cooking sake & soy sauce to the pan. cook for 2-3 minutes. turn the fillets onto their other side and cook for another 2-3 minutes
after a few minutes, the sauce will begin to thicken. give the salmon fillets a final turn to absorb a little more flavour and then remove the pan from the heat (you want the sauce to stay quite loose)
blanch 4 small long stem broccoli and drain
you are now ready to assemble your donburi:
place the cooked rice in two bowls. place 2 fillets of salmon side by side on the rice. add some broccoli and drizzle over the teriyaki sauce
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