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And all in just about 30 minutes. Yessss!
So today is all about this super simple, super quick and crazy delicious caramelized teriyaki salmon.
Teriyaki is one of my most loved sauces. As a kid, my dad would make a stir fry with grilled chicken in a teriyaki sauce, I always loved it. Now that I’ve grown up and cook on my own, I’ve learned that teriyaki sauce is actually so simple. It’s basically just reduced soy sauce, a little rice vinegar and a lot of ginger, at least  in today’s case.
FYI, I am on a HUGE ginger kick lately. I cannot get enough.
Since we are smack in the dead of winter, I felt like today might be a good day to have a summer-ish meal. I mean, to be honest you can make this recipe any day of the year, but for some reason, to me it feels a bit summery, you know?
I dunno, maybe it’s the salmon, I tend to think of fish as more of a summer food, but yet I still cook it year round. Who knows!! What I do know is that this is one of those dinners (or lunches!) you make on a day when you need a little sunshine in your life, but the sun just will not pop out from behind those snowy clouds (or rain clouds depending on where you live).
Don’t get me wrong, there are A LOT of snowy days when all I crave is a big bowl of cheesy soup, and an even bigger bowl of pasta, but then there are the days when I am just like… well, SO over it all. Over the snow, over the cold and ready for warmth and tropical things. I know you know just what I am talking about.
This dish is perfect for those kinds of days. It’s fast, healthy, colorful and totally perfect for breaking out of the heavy winter food rut you may be in. It’s also totally satisfying! Hello, carbs, protein, sweetness, saltiness and a little bit of veggies too.
Complete meal!!
The salmon takes SO little time. I was inspired by this month’s issue of Bon Appetit to make a salmon teriyaki the simple, traditional way. So not a whole bunch of sugar and a gazillion other ingredients. These days it seems like teriyaki sauce has a whole bunch of ingredients that I personally cannot even pronounce. Even the homemade version seem to have a whole slew of ingredients and thickeners. NONE of that here. Just soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake, a pinch of sugar and ginger.
Promise it’s all you need to make a killer piece of salmon teriyaki. You first start by caramelizing the salmon in a skillet over high heat. I love this method of cooking salmon because it gets the outside sweet and crisp, but the inside stays moist and tender. You then simmer the teriyaki sauce down to a thin glaze and add the salmon. Done and done.
You see, so simple.
For my side dish I had a long debate in my head about whether or not I should use buckwheat noodles (aka soba noodles) or just cooked buckwheat. At the time I was feeling like all I ever tell you guys about are noodles, so I went with the regular old, cooked buckwheat. I have to admit though, I think I really prefer the soba noodles. That’s not to say that the buckwheat was not delicious, but just more that I REALLY like noodles. If you’re like me and are a big ole noodle person, you can sub cooked soba noodles in place of the buckwheat. Just toss them with the dressing and you”ll end up with sesame toasted buckwheat noodles. YUM!
And you guys?? That’s kind of it. No stories or rambles today, my brain is thinkin Friday, Friday, Friday and then it’s thinking oh no, I’m watching Asher for the next five days. What am I gonna do with her?
All you mom’s out there? Tell me, how do you work and have fun with you kids at the same time?
Also, what the heck do I do with her for FIVE days and FOUR nights?? I’m thinking we might go and make some pottery one day, and then if the weather is nice maybe go horseback riding, and then MAYBE, if I’m feeling super sisterly, I might take the little girl to get her nails done, because she would LOVE that. But see, I have this thing about getting my nails done. As in I hate it cause it totally weirds me out. Bad experience when I was younger… still makes me cringe.
UGH.
Caramelized Teriyaki Salmon with Sesame Toasted Buckwheat.
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 741 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon peanut or sesame oil
- 1 1/2 pounds skin on salmon cut into filets
- 2-3 teaspoons sugar
- steamed edamame for serving
Sesame Toasted Buckwheat
- 1 cup raw buckwheat groats*
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 2 teaspoons honey
- juice + zest of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1/2 hot house or english cucumber sliced thin
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
Sesame Toasted Buckwheat
- Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add the buckwheat and boil until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain. Add the buckwheat to a bowl and toss with the soy sauce, peanut oil, honey, lime zest + juice and ginger. Stir in the cucumber, green onions and cilantro. Keep warm and serve a long side the salmon.
Salmon
- In a bowl, whisk together the sake, rice vinegar, soy sauce and ginger. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. Sprinkle the top of the fish with with the sugar. Once hot, add the salmon, skin side down. Sear for 2-3 minutes or until the skin is crisp. Carefully flip the salmon and cook another 2-3 minutes or until the salmon has caramelized slightly. Carefully remove the salmon from the pan.
- Wipe the skillet clean of any grease and add the teriyaki sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by a 1/3. Add the salmon, skin facing up. Cook two minutes and then remove from the heat. Serve the salmon along side the buckwheat and drizzled with the teriyaki sauce. EAT!
Notes
* You can also substitute soba noodles for the buckwheat, I did, and found them to be delicious! *Salmon inspired by the January 2016 issue of Bon Appetit.
And now we eat. Preferably with chopsticks because they are my favorite and SO fun!!
P.S I love chopsticks! 🙂
That caramelized salmon is the best ever, what a gorgeous meal!
Omigosh. Salmon is THE BEST fish and even though I can’t use chopsticks to save my life, I might just try because the vibes ya know?
haha! Totally! Thanks Payton and have a great weekend!
Hi Tieghan. I like using buckwheat but had not thought of using it like rice. Clever!
I am a mom work from home as well as homeschool. So yeah, I’m nuts…BUT!
Since you are a most awesome big sister, I’ll bet Asher would totally love to be your “assistant” in the kitchen. If you give her REALLY simple tasks I’d bet she take a real shine to it. For fun let her decorate a plate of food and then take pics of it. My kids responded positively to the tasks bc we were spending time together. Now they can make their own meals!
UM!! Whoa, go you!! I mean, can you say super mom! 🙂
Thank you for all the tips and have a great weekend!
My daughter absolutely loves salmon and I am always looking for a great recipe to make after work that’s quick but healthy. I like the noodles better too, but i would eat it either way. I’m going to have to pick up some salmon and try it out!
As for working and playing with kids? That’s a question I think mom’s have been trying to answer since the dawn of time. Sometimes it’s just impossible, but when my daughter was younger I would make sure she had her own time so I could do my work. I would plan maybe a park outing or horseback riding like you mentioned at a specific time of day. If she could occupy herself – coloring, craft projects, etc for lets say 2 hours, then we could both wholeheartedly do the planned thing together. It saved us both from being too worried about other things and allowed us to enjoy the time together. Just find some simple projects Asher can do on her own – maybe someone’s birthday is coming and she can make cards, or making paper flowers to decorate the house. Easy but fun! Good luck!
Thanks for all these awesome tips!!
So I was watching somethings on the Chew today about salmon and I thought I would share! It’s funny because I agree salmon seems like a summery dish but it is actually in season now if you buy wild pole caught! Also I saw some comments about not liking the “fishy” flavor. They said most often this is because of over cooking the fish.
Oh cool! I bought wild caught! 🙂 Thanks!!
While I personally love noodles, sometimes it’s nice to switch it up sometimes. This teriyaki salmon looks amazing.
Thanks Nicole!
I love salmon, and teriyaki!! Maybe this will warm me up after all the snow I’m about to get hit with!! I sure hope so!!!!! Thanks!
– Madeline<3
Hope it does! Thanks!
I love salmon, buckwheat and TERIYAKI! This looks absolutely amazing!
Thanks Cassie! 🙂
Oh my oh my, teriyaki salmon just might be one of my favorite dishes. I’ve never tried buckwheat before though, but it looks great!
Thank you so much! 🙂
TGIF—-I would go with the noodles also.
haha! Thanks!
I love the use of both edamame and buckwheat in this dish. Very creative and it looks divine! Your photographs always have me drooling!
Thank you so much, Casey! Hope you had a great day!
I always have a box of kasha (buckwheat groats) on the shelf. Thanks.
Perfect! 🙂
What a lovely recipe, this teriyaki salmon looks and sounds delicious. I am always looking for new ways with salmon. Thanks so much!
Me too! Salmon is tricky cause you don’t want it to taste, um, you know. Fishy. Yuck. I love the innovative spin on fish that spices it up in an vibrant way. Quite thrilling! My husband loves fishing on Lake Ontario and we catch our own Salmon but struggling with the cooking bit.
Fishy salmon is the worst!! UGH.
Thanks Laura!
Thank you!
Ah I just did a panang curry this week and instead of coconut rice, I threw in soba noodles, because, well, noodles!! But when it comes to buckwheat – which I only discovered recently, to say the truth – I do get a huge kick ou of it, in fact I’m having it for dinner tonight with azuki beans!! Have been cooking buckwheat instead of regular white rice because I’m so bored with rice… unless it’s red rice or risotto rices, those I can never get enough of!! Teriyaki, meeh not my thing, sadly.
http://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt/
LOVE coconut rice! 🙂
though i understand where you’re coming from with the soba, i love buckwheat! when my mom was on a super strict no nightshades/sugar/dairy/etc diet, she’d make miso buckwheat with a bunch of veggies for breakfast. this sesame toasted buckwheat sounds just as tasty, without all the work (she now refuses to make the miso one because it was so time-intensive).
Oh yum! Miso buckwheat sounds awesome! 🙂