Soy and Miso-Glazed Salmon

Photographer: Sarah Tuck
Serves 8

Delight your friends and family with this show-stopping salmon dish. A fragrant and easy-to-prep meal, this is the ultimate grazing plate.

INGREDIENTS


1 tablespoon white miso paste
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 thumb ginger, grated
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons table salt
1 side of skin-on salmon, pin-boned (mine weighed 1.4kg)

To garnish:
1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced
1 cup Asian microgreens
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

METHOD


1. Whisk the miso with the soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar and honey.
2. Put the salt in a big roasting dish, deep enough to lay the salmon in and with capacity for 6 cups of water. Add 1⁄2 cup boiling water to the salt and whisk to dissove it. Top up with 51⁄2 cups cold water and leave to cool. I threw some ice cubes in to speed up the process.
3. Add the salmon, flesh-side down, and leave
in the brine for 30 minutes – this will help to prevent the milky white fat from rising to the top of the salmon while cooking. Preheat the oven to 230°C and line an oven tray with baking paper. Carefully remove the salmon from the brine and pat dry. Lay, skin-side down, on the baking paper. Brush the soy miso mixture over the salmon flesh. Bake for 10–15 minutes – I did 15 for my whopper, but if your salmon is smaller, stick to 12 minutes or less; you really don’t want to overcook it.
4. The salmon can be served immediately
once cooked, or refrigerated until half an hour before serving. To serve, garnish the salmon with spring onions, microgreens and black sesame seeds.
Because the salmon is so tender I tend to leave it on the baking paper to serve and just slide
a tray underneath to transfer the whole lot. If cooking well in advance, the salmon is easier to transfer without the baking paper if you prefer.