Salmon is so easy to prepare but if you’re not careful, you can easily overcook it and dry it out. I love grilled salmon, roasted salmon, putting salmon in salads – you name it. We don’t cook it a lot at home but when we do, I try to make it good. I always keep miso in the refrigerator because you’ll never know when you might need it. This time around, my miso came in handy to make a crispy skin salmon with miso honey. Yum.
First tip: keep some miso on hand. It lasts for a while in the fridge because the salt content is so high. It’s great for making miso honey, miso butter and just all other types of kitchen shenanigans. As I type this I’m watching David Chang’s new show on Netflix called Breakfast Lunch & Dinner. Watching this show has made me very antsy and ready to travel to different places and eat tons of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, obviously.
I mean, technically – I’m typing this not in Chattanooga, though. I’m nowhere ‘exotic’ just a little up the street in Nashville. Lounging in a hotel room while John DJ’s a wedding. We were in Nashville not too long ago and I still haven’t quite updated my weekend guide yet. While we’re talking about things I haven’t done, I STILL haven’t updated my Birmingham weekend guide from our trip this summer. I promise I will one day.
Seared salmon with miso honey
OK back to the salmon. My ultimate favorite thing about this dish is that it only takes a handful of ingredients to make magic. Raise your hand if you get super-overwhelmed when you see a recipe then you see the ingredient list and immediately become disinterested.
(that’s me)
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes recipes that are a little involved are worth it. Afterwards you feel so accomplished. But once in a while, you just want to make a dinner that’s not going to take you all night. More importantly, it won’t cost you a million bucks at the grocery store either. Let’s give a round of applause for easy recipes.
I’m pretty sure I should have served this dish with something green (besides the green onion garnish) but I was so hungry that I didn’t. Though, I feel like veggies are a very important part of my daily food intake, this particular night – I did not. I served my salmon and miso honey over a bed of rice and called it a day. It was filling, flavorful and I have absolutely no regrets. Neither will you.
Make it.
Ingredients
- 1 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled
- 2 Tbsp. white miso
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 4 4–6-oz. skin-on salmon fillets
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- First let's make the miso honey: Finely grate ginger with a microplane into a small bowl. Add miso, oil, vinegar, honey, and 1 Tbsp. water to the bowl with with the ginger. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- Season the flesh of 4 salmon fillets on all sides with salt. Place pieces skin side down in a cold— not preheated—skillet. Heat skillet over medium and let the salmon cook undisturbed for 5 minutes.
- Press down lightly on flesh with a spatula to ensure all parts of the skin are making contact with the pan. It should be opaque at least halfway up the flesh side. Continue to cook skin side down until fish is mostly opaque and skin is crispy, about 5 minutes longer. If the skin is still sticking to the pan at this point, don't worry. It will release on its own.
- Using a fish spatula , gently flip the fillets, then remove the pan from the heat. Continue to cook off-heat (the pan will still be hot) until flesh is cooked through, about 1 minute longer for regular-sized fillets.
- Spoon miso-honey sauce onto a plate and place salmon on top, skin side up. Sprinkle with scallions.
