Name: Japanese Baked Salmon
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 lb salmon fillet; 1 Tb soy sauce (or tamari); 1 Tb mirin; 1 Tb sake; 1 Tb honey (or brown sugar, or maple syrup, or other sweetener); 2 tsp ginger (minced); 1 clove garlic (minced)

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It’s hard to make salmon sexy. It’s the fish next door. Make the best marinated salmon with this easy Japanese recipe you can bake in the oven.

Make it a mostly hands off dinner by serving with Make Ahead Chilled Chinese Broccoli or Simple & Succulent Edamame that’s not Boring.

Hands Free Dinner

Sometimes, you don’t want to do anything for dinner. Hopefully, you have these redheads marinating in the fridge, so you can just bake.

This recipe is inspired by the grilling god, Steven Raichlen. I’ve seen him use a similar marinade a few times with salmon.

You could grill this too, but I like baked salmon in the fall and winter when I don’t mind turning on the oven. The orange color of the fish also reminds me of autumn colors and falling leaves.

The Best Salmon Marinade

This Japanese salmon just needs 6 simple ingredients:

Soy sauce – or tamari for a gluten free option
Sake – this makes it lighter and different from a teriyaki marinade
Mirin – this sweet rice wine is a standard ingredient in many Japanese marinades. It adds a flavor and sweetness different than just adding sugar
Honey – or other sweetener such as sugar, maple syrup, or agave. You could also substitute with more mirin.
Garlic and ginger – these are fresh aromatics that add complexity to the marinade. If you are really in a hurry though or don’t have them, you can skip adding.

How to Get Moist, Juicy Salmon

Buy King salmon. I get mixed results with coho and sockeye, since they tend to have less fat than king salmon. If it has enough fat in it, it’s hard to overbake. If it doesn’t have enough fat, you can easily overcook it.
Don’t overcook it. Fish cooks quickly, so check on it every 5 minutes or so after the outside has turned pale orange. Depending on the thickness of your fillet, it should take at least 10 minutes but definitely not more than 30 minutes. A thermometer should read 145 degrees F in the thickest part of the fish.

How to make Japanese Salmon

Step 1: Remove pin bones

You could leave them in, and fish them out while eating. However, most choose to remove any pin bones left in salmon before cooking.

You can feel them if you run your finger along the top of the flesh. Use fish tweezers and pull in the same direction that the bone is running through the fillet.

Step 2: Mix marinade together

Chop up the garlic and ginger into as small pieces as you can, or use a microplane grater. Mix with soy sauce (or tamari), sake, and mirin.

Put into a ziploc bag or other container and add salmon.

Step 3: Marinate salmon

Ideally, you would marinate the fish overnight. However, 15-20 minutes still gets you some flavor, since fish protein is a lot easier to penetrate than meat such as pork or beef.

Step 4: Bake

Remove salmon from the marinade, cleaning off any bits of ginger/garlic, so they don’t burn.

Put onto an oiled baking sheet, and bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. The salmon should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.

I usually take the salmon out and press gently. If my finger can depress the salmon without flaking, it is still raw in the middle and needs more time.

If it is oozing too much white cream out the sides, it is starting to overcook, and time to remove from the oven.

Step 5: Serve hot

This quick dinner can be served with rice or just some vegetables/green salad.

This is an easy marinade to put together that tastes so much better than just regular old salt and pepper.

Expert Tips

Skip the garlic and ginger if you don’t have them, or don’t have time to chop it into the marinade.
Try not to overcook the salmon, in order to get the juiciest piece of fish possible.
Use King salmon for premium moistness in the fish. Coho and sockeye salmon are good options too but may be a little drier.
Instead of baking, you could also grill or pan fry the salmon.

Easy Salmon Recipes

Sriracha Salmon (Embarassingly Easy 5 Ingredient Recipe)

Vietnamese “Fried” Fish with Tomato Sauce (Cá Chiên Sðt Cà)

Foolproof 2-Day Miso Marinated Black Cod a la Nobu

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Japanese salmon on round wooden cutting board

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