Tag: fish
Teriyaki Salmon Onigirazu
Teriyaki Salmon Onigirazu
Onigirazu are like small sushi sandwiches. The rice is pressed tight in a musubi or onigirazu press. This layer is like the bread of a sandwich. Then they can be filled with a variety of fillings: tonkatsu, bulgogi, ham egg and cheese…The list goes on. Then another layer of rice is pressed over the top of the filling. It is all wrapped in a sheet of nori. This particular recipe uses leftover teriyaki salmon and steamed asparagus.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- musubi press
Ingredients
- 4 teriyaki salmon fillets
- 12 asparagus spears cut in half and steamed
- 1 1/2 cups sushi or jasmine rice steamed
- 4 nori sheets
Instructions
- Place the musubi press in the center of a sheet of nori.

- Place 2-3 tbsp of the cooked rice in the press. Press it down.

- Put a skinned piece of the teriyaki salmon on the rice.

- Put 4-6 half pieces on top of the salmon.

- Put 2-3 more tbsp of the rice on top of the asparagus. Press it tightly.

- Wrap up the onigirazu. Seal the edges with a little warm water.


Teriyaki Salmon
When you go to an American grocery store, you will see countless varieties of pretty horrible tasting bottled teriyaki sauces on the shelves. Honestly, because of this, teriyaki has always been a huge turnoff for me. They all have too much salt and extra ingredients that you don’t need. Puke. In a Japanese grocery store, you won’t find any. Why? Because every household in Japan makes their own. The best part is, real Japanese teriyaki only has 4 ingredients: mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar. It’s simple with a proper balance of sweet and salty.Japanese-style teriyaki Salmon is so much more complex than putting a sauce on salmon. The Japanese fillet their salmon at a 30 degree angle 1/2”-1” thick with the skin on instead of cutting a straight on 90 degrees portion out of the fillet. Cutting the salmon this way will do several things. It gives the salmon a wider spread of the flesh, allowing it to absorb the teriyaki. That also means that the fillets won’t require marination. Since the fillets are thinner, the salmon fillets will cook a lot faster and more evenly. It is highly important to leave the skin on the salmon while cooking. I feel that I have to repeat this again because of all the recipes I see out there removing the skin before cooking salmon. IT IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO LEAVE THE SKIN ON THE SALMON WHILE COOKING. For several reasons…The skin holds the fillets together. If I were to remove the skin before cooking this salmon, you’d have flaked salmon in teriyaki sauce…Between the flesh and the skin is a nice layer of fat where you get your omega 3 fatty acids. You are throwing away essential nutrients by removing the skin…It also keeps your salmon moist…Nobody said you have to eat the skin. LEAVE IT ON! I bet the same people that remove the salmon skin eat boneless skinless chicken breasts with their snotty children, Cooper and Emily.End of angry rant.
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon fillet head end of fillet
- 1/2 tsp salt
- cracked black pepper
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp sake or rice wine
Teriyaki Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
How to fillet salmon Japanese-style
- Instead of straight on cutting smaller portioned fillets out of the whole one, the Japanese will cut the fillets 1” thick at a 30 degree angle.

- Thinly cutting the salmon this way gives a wider spread of the flesh, allowing to absorb more of the teriyaki.

- Cut the entire fillet.

Teriyaki Salmon
- Season each fillet with salt and pepper. Dust the fillets in flour. Shake off any excess.

- Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add in the salmon fillets skin side down. Sear for 3 minutes.

- Flip over. Add the saki and cover, cooking for another 3 minutes. Remove from the pan.

- Mix together all of the teriyaki ingredients.

- Pour in the pan.

- Once it starts to boil, add the salmon fillets back in.

- Toss and coat each side in the teriyaki sauce.

Steamed Salmon in Black Bean Sauce
Steamed Salmon in Black Bean Sauce
This is a low maintenance and healthy meal that can be made in under 25 minutes. A white fish fillet is typically used for steamed fish with black bean sauce, but I saw some nice salmon steaks at my local Asian market that caught my attention. I purchased a large steak that was 1 lb.; but you can use 2 – 8oz fillets. I like steaks because they are the same thickness all the way through and cook more evenly then a fillet. Line a steamer basket with parchment paper. Make a bed of sliced onion. Lay the salmon steak on top of the onions. Drizzle with olive oil. Pour over all of the black bean sauce and top with green onions. Wrap up the parchment package so excess water doesn’t dilute the sauce. Steam for 15 minute. If using fillets, steam for 10-12 minutes. Serve with steamed rice. You can also add a vegetable of your liking to the salmon while steaming such as asparagus.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- steamer
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon steak or 2 – 8oz fillets
- 1/4 white onion thinly sliced
- 1 green onion chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Black Bean Sauce
- 2 tbsp fermented black beans
- 1 1/2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- 2 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.

- Line the inside of a steamer with parchment paper. Put a layer of sliced onion over the bottom. Place the salmon steak on top of the onions. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with the black bean sauce and green onion. Fold over the parchment paper to cover up the salmon. Place the cover on the steamer and steam for 15 minutes.

- Let rest before serving.


Fish Pepper Soup
Fish Pepper Soup
This is one of my favorite African recipes. I make this fish pepper soup fairly often and it is always different, which is great. One thing that changes is the spice powder. The base is always smoked paprika, white pepper, and bouillon. There are multiple additional spices that can be added to the powder including fennel, cumin, coriander, allspice, curry powder, njangsa, alligator pepper, African nutmeg, lemongrass, etc. That is really up to you. The other other thing that changes is whether or not I sauté the rest of the ingredients chopped or turned into a paste in the food processor. If you want your soup chunkier, don’t turn the ingredients into a paste. I like to use king fish for this soup. It’s inexpensive, flavorful, and very meaty for fish. Other fish that you can use include catfish, tilapia, cod, swai, snapper, or mackerel. You can either cut up your fish into smaller pieces if you’re using a fillet. I chose to keep my king fish steaks whole so I can serve 1 per person.Serve the soup with steamed rice or boiled plantains.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Spice grinder
- food processor
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 lbs king fish steaks
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 habanero
- 1 tbsp ginger grated
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 6 basil leaves chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 4 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- salt to taste
Spice Powder
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon
Optional Spices
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp njangsa
Instructions
- Grind the fennel, cumin, njangsa, white and black peppercorns in a spice grinder. Mix them with the smoked paprika, and chicken bouillon. Set aside.

- Blend the onions, garlic, ginger, habanero, green onions, celery, and basil in a food processor until it is almost a paste.

- Heat up cooking oil in a large pot over medium heat. Fry the paste for 5-6 minutes.

- Add the spice powder mix. Fry for a minute.

- Pour in 4 cups of water. Add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt.

- Add in the fish steaks. Simmer for another 10 minutes until they are cooked through.














