Grilled Salmon with home-made teriyaki sauce

Hi guys!

With my exams around the corner, I am always trying to eat healthy and comforting food in order to keep me motivated and give my body and brain everything they need to perform at their best. I was craving fish today, especially salmon. I don't eat a lot of salmon as it is rather high in fat, but this recipe is just too good to skip. It's from Gwyneth Paltrow's "Notes from my kitchen table" and super super easy. 

Here's the recipe:
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon peeled and finely grated ginger
2 sprigs fresh coriander
4 175g salmon fillets without skin
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives, for serving (optional)

1) Combine the soy sauce, mirin, honey, water, ginger and coriander in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the sauce cool down. 

2) Once it's cool, pour into a large bowl or plastic bag and add the washed salmon. Marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight. 

3) When you're ready to eat, preheat the grill. (I used the grill in the oven and preheated it on 250°C (482°F))

4) Put the salmon on a heavy baking sheet with whatever sauce adheres to it and grill until cooked to your liking, 7-8 minutes. While it's cooking, strain the extra sauce into a clean saucepan, bring to the boil, and let it reduce. 

5) To serve, drizzle the cooked salmon with some of the extra sauce and a sprinkle of chives. 

Serves: 4 
Active preparation time: 20 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 1/2 hours up to overnight
© Copyright: Gwyneth Paltrown, "Notes from my kitchen table", p. 177.

Here's how my salmon looks like:

I served it along some Basmati rice which I also drizzled with a little sauce. I cooked the salmon for 7 minutes and it turned out perfectly cooked with a tiny bit of a medium core, just the way it is supposed to be. Tastewise, the salmon gets a beautiful mixture of sweetness from the honey, spiciness from the ginger and saltiness from the soy sauce. The sauce that adhered to the salmon while grilling, caramelizes and turns into a light crust on the fish. This recipe is super easy and pretty fool-proof as you don't have to pan-fry the fish which I find difficult with any fish that's thicker on one end than on the other. Just stick it in the oven and it'll turn out wonderful every single time. 

Have fun trying and enjoy the (long) weekend!