My Japanese Broiled Salmon recipe is quick and easy to make. Enjoy it with yuzu soy sauce for a healthy yet sophisticated flavor, or use the broiled fish to make delicious Salmon Onigiri. Try these simple dishes for dinner at home or in your bento lunchbox.
I have some very exciting news to share with everyone today.
Just One Cookbook won People’s Choice Award for CBS San Francisco’s “Most Valuable Blogger” in the Dining/Entertainment category!! My husband and I were both shocked when we were selected as finalists and even more surprised when we actually won! Thank you so much for your love and support. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you will ever know. This recognition means a lot to me personally and inspires me to continue sharing more delicious recipes. Thank you everyone!! I will be giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card soon, so stay tuned! 🙂
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Since my posts on Monday and Wednesday were focused on light meals, I will continue with the same theme and end this week with a healthy post. I hesitated to call this Broiled Salmon dish as a “recipe” because all that is required is to broil the fish in the oven toaster. This is my go-to recipe when I already have a meat dish available as the primary course and don’t really have time to prepare another main dish from scratch.
After I married my husband I learned that the Chinese usually have several main dishes during a meal. I grew up in Japan where we typically have one main dish and the rest are considered all side dishes. We may have 2 main dishes once in a while but it is rather rare. So it was a surprise when my husband asked me if we are having other dishes besides one on the table after I started to cook for him. That was a big culture shock to me because Japanese cuisine is light and simple most of the time. To adapt to our mixed culture life, I’ve started to cook at least 2 main dishes for each meal and when I’m really busy I can always count on broiled fish as one of the main dish because it requires very little preparation.
This simple broiled fish is best served with yuzu soy sauce. Prepare a small dish with soy sauce and add a few drops of yuzu extract. It’s simple yet very delicious and goes well with broiled fish (hamachi, salmon, or aji). A lot of our friends have tried this sauce and they are quite surprised how great it tastes.
Most of the time my children devour any broiled fish we serve, but once in a while, there is leftover. I usually make Salmon Onigiri (Rice Ball) using the leftover. Shiso adds a nice flavor and brings out a great appetite. I hope you will try this simple meal one day.
Have a great weekend!
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Broiled Salmon and Salmon Onigiri (Rice Ball)
Ingredients
For the Broiled Salmon
- 2 skin-on salmon fillets (roughly ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick per fillet)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce (for the dipping sauce)
- 1 tsp yuzu juice (extract) (for the dipping sauce)
For the Salmon Onigiri (optional)
- 4 cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- 2 tsp neutral oil
- 2 fillets broiled salmon (skin and bones removed)
- ½ tsp ginger (grated, with juice)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 5 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba) (cut into chiffonade)
Instructions
★ Broiled Salmon ★
To Broil (recommended)
- Preheat the broiler* with a rack placed about 6 inches (15 cm) away from the top heating element (in the center of the oven) for 5 minutes. When broiling, you don‘t control the temperature in the oven; instead, you control the distance between the broiler and the surface of the food. It‘s similar to using hotter and cooler zones on your grill. *Broiler settings: Low (450ºF/232ºC), Medium (500ºF/260ºC), and High (550ºF/288ºC). I usually use Medium (6 inches away) or High (8 inches away).
- Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleaning. Place 2 skin-on salmon fillets on the foil, skin side up (for crispy skin). Broil the salmon on Medium or High for 8–10 minutes. Please remember the cooking time varies depending on the thickness of the fish and the distance between the broiler and the food. Japanese salted salmon is cooked well done (more dry and flaky). You do not need to flip it.
To Bake (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218ºC) with a rack placed in the center. Bake the salmon on parchment paper for 10–12 minutes. Japanese salted salmon is cooked well done (more dry and flaky).
To Serve and Store
- Mix 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp yuzu juice (extract) and divide among individual small plates or dipping bowls. Dip the salmon in the sauce to enjoy. It goes very well with white rice. You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month. Or, use the broiled salmon to make Salmon Onigiri (recipe below).
★ Salmon Onigiri (optional) ★
- First, make your steamed rice. Once it‘s done, transfer 4 cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice to a large bowl. Please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked white rice. See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- In a nonstick frying pan, heat 2 tsp neutral oil. Remove the bones and skin of 2 fillets broiled salmon and add the fish to the pan. With a wooden spatula, break up the salmon into smaller pieces.
- To the pan, add ½ tsp ginger (grated, with juice), 1 Tbsp sake, 2 tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, and 5 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba). Mix all together.
- Pour the mixture into the bowl of cooked rice. Mix all together.
- While the rice is still warm, make the onigiri rice balls with wet hands. For step-by-step photos and instructions, see my Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls) post.
To Store
- Onigiri (or any rice dish) gets hard when you refrigerate it. The cold air makes the rice dry and hard (which is perfect for fried rice). I don‘t recommend making onigiri ahead of time. But if you really need to, my trick is to wrap the onigiri with thick kitchen towels and store them in the refrigerator. The onigiri will be cool and safe, but should not be cold.
Hello Nami, my question is what toaster oven do you use?
Hi Stephanie, Nami does not use a toaster oven for this recipe, but here is the list of Nami’s Kitchen Appliances: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justonecookbook?listId=2SUF7835VZQ0E.
We hope this helps!
I absolutely love this recipe! It is so simple but bursting with flavor! Thank you!
Hi Suzanne! I’m glad to hear you like the recipe and thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
I use to love stopping at 7-Eleven and picking up a couple of sake onigiri on the way to work. That and an Oronamin C were a pretty common breakfast.
The convenience store in Japan really is convenient! I miss it too… 🙂
For a more Western twist, you can substitute the Shiso with basil, and the yuzu with lime or lemon juice. I used these instead since I have to drive a long way to go to the specialty store.
Hi Minako! Thank you so much for your substitute suggestion for shiso and yuzu! 🙂 Both of them can be very hard to find (even though it’s common ingredients in Japan).