Teriyaki Salmon (on a cedar plank)

I was looking through some older entries on our blog this weekend and I realised that I had never blogged a Teriyaki salmon recipe. It was a perfect opportunity to try something new as our dear friend Matt was in town from the UK and frankly, there’s nothing better than catching up with a home cooked meal over a few glasses of wine.

Now you have to also understand Matt. He’s a lawyer by training and trainer by profession and lets just say he doesn’t hold back on opinion. That makes cooking for someone like him a bit of a  challenge as the meal has to be good. And if truth be told, the big green asian egg didn’t disappoint last night nor did Heather’s strawberry custard flan.

For the Teriyaki marinade/finishing sauce you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced green onion bottoms

Combine the above in a handmixer or a blender and pulse on low speed for about a minute, basically until everything combines well. Reserve half of the marinade for a finishing sauce you’ll prepare later on. Place three pieces of salmon in a shallow glass dish and pour the marinade over the salmon. Now flip the salmon so that the skin is facing upwards, put a lid on the dish and pop it back into the fridge for a few hours. In the meantime, place a cedar plank in the sink full of cold water and let it soak for about four hours.

Your grill should be set for a medium high heat (say around 400 F) and set up for direct heat. Take your cedar plank out and dry it off then pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over the plank and smear an even coat across the plank. Season with coarse salt and pepper and put it on the grid. Close the lid and let the plank warm up for about two minutes.

Once ready, place your salmon directly onto the plank and take the leftover marinade that you had in the glass dish and drizzle the salmon. Close the lid and let let the salmon cook for about 15 minutes to a maximum of 20 minutes (if the salmon is particularly thick.) When the timer pings, carefully remove the plank from the grid with a wide spatula and let the salmon rest right on the plank. You’ll hear the cedar crackle and pop for while still and the smell is incredible! While the salmon rests for about 5 minutes you should take the reserve marinade and bring it to a simmer, reducing it to about half and until it thickens. Plate your salmon and drizzle the thickened finishing sauce on top.

We served our salmon with a Mediterranean couscous and a simple rocked salad followed by a strawberry custard flan. A bit of an eclectic meal but yummy beyond belief.

In true Matt Dean style, this is what he had to say:

Matt’s verdict

“As someone who hasn’t eaten meat for much of my life, I have eaten many, many salmon steaks.  Frequently they are bland, sometimes dry and flaky, sometimes blackened on the outside but a soft, uncooked pink on the inside.  Last night’s offering was absolutely perfectly cooked throughout. And deliciously moist, properly infused with the teriyaki flavour. How could Mr Matla judge the moment to take them out? How were all of the steaks perfectly cooked despite their different thicknesses. Either he is a genius or (more likely) this big green egg is as good as he says it is. My only tiny, weeny question: could we have had a little bit of that teriyaki stickiness I’ve experienced before? Perhaps I’m asking for too much – how could that form on a soaked cedar board?

Heather’s cous cous with creamy feta cheese was a perfect accompaniment and certainly something I will be trying to replicate at home.”  

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Overall Heather Rating: 9/10 & Overall Matt Rating: 10/10

Cedar Planked Salmon with Garden Herb Pesto

So last night we had two salmon steaks for grilling and the challenge was to use as much from the home garden as possible to create something we’ve never done before. Personally I love a fresh pesto and so I went out and grabbed a big handful of parsley, similar amount of mint, 3 Kaffir limes and then I raided the pantry for olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, fresh ginger, salt and pepper.  That was pretty much it and it proved to be a simple and delicious meal.

To prep the pesto, simply combine the parsley, mint, lime juice, lime zest (from one lime), 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tbs fresh ginger and 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in your blender.  Whizzzzz it around until you get a really nice pesto consistency.  At this point I toasted up about 3 tablespoons of pine nuts and set them aside to cool  Once done, add them into the pesto mix and blast it twice to keep the pine nuts relatively coarse.

    

Whilst preparing everything, I soaked a cedar plank for about 2 hours.  We love the taste of cedar smoked salmon and I will try this recipe once again simply on the grill but for last night, we went with the smokey flavour of the cedar instead.

Prepare your plank by patting the top dry and then add your olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Place the salmon steaks on the plank and then use up about 2/3 of the pesto and coat each of the steaks.  Keep the last third for your plate.  Now I let these sit and come up to room temperature under a glass dish for about 30 minutes (that’s just enough time to let the salmon marinate nicely without staring to cook it with the acid of the lime.)

    

Set your grill to direct heat and stabilize at 400 degrees F. Place the plank and the salmon on the grill, shut the dome and let it rip for 20 minutes. That timing has always worked for us given the size of the steaks we purchase at the market.  Once done, slice the salmon and distribute evenly between your guests – in my case it was Heather, Alex and Kalyna (and a bit left over for me.)  Along with this dish I served up some basmati/onion rice and some steamed corn.

Hope you find this one as tasty as we all did!

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Overall Heather Rating: 7/10

Brown Sugar Spiced Maple Glazed Salmon

Now that we’re back into the swing of things in Singapore, Heather and I decided to try yet another cedar plank salmon recipe. Brown Sugar Spiced Maple (eh!?) Glazed Salmon.  Of course we picked up our usual salmon steaks at the grocers and defrosted them overnight.  Still fresh as ever and the taste tonight?  Another perfect 10!

Here are the details for your enjoyment and by all means, do try all these recipes – great way to work off a tough day!

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh finely chopped thyme
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2-3 lb salmon fillet
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
• 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter

Directions for perfect salmon:

• Preheat your grill to medium high – I set my Big Green Egg at 400 degrees F
• Prepare your cedar plank – have it soak for at least an hour…and then spray some olive oil to prevent the salmon sticking
• Put the salmon”skin-side” down on the wet plank
• Mix your spices and your brown sugar in a small bowl
• Massage the maple syrup onto the fish then pat a thick coating of brown sugar rub evenly over the top of the salmon.
• Dot with little chunks of the butter, use more or less to your taste.
• Grill (on a rack) above medium hot coals until the fish is cooked to your liking, I prefer my salmon med- rare 15- 20 min to med 20 – 25 min) in the center – can’t really mess this up – as long as the salmon flakes away with a fork and is nice and firm (use the finger tap test) and you’re golden!

Now that I smell of cedar smoke, I’m off to take a shower!  Enjoy this recipe….I know we did!

R

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