I stumbled upon this recipe a couple of years ago and have been using it consistently since. This is hands-down my favorite fish recipe, and it's healthy to boot. It's simple and fast, and produces an elegant dish of savory salmon with a wonderful sweet glaze. I like to make this dish a complete meal by adding couscous and steamed green beans. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar (I have only used light-colored rice vinegar, but other colors might also work)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (REAL maple syrup, not pancake syrup, which is mainly corn syrup)
- One 2 1/2 lb. (1.25 kg) salmon fillet, skin on one side
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I prefer kosher salt, but regular table salt will work just fine)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 additional tablespoons maple syrup
Directions
1. In a bowl, mix the ginger, rice vinegar, and 1/4 cup maple syrup together for the marinade. There are two ways you can marinate the salmon:
1) Place the marinade on a plate large enough to hold the salmon fillet
2) Place the marinade in a large Ziploc bag (my preferred method)
Either way, add the salmon fillet
skin side up to the mixture and marinate in the fridge for at least 20 minutes or up to five hours. More marinating time means more flavor, so marinate for as long as you can.
2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Once heated, place a baking sheet in the oven for about five minutes to heat it up. Meanwhile, remove the salmon from the marinade, letting excess marinade drain off.
3. Place the salmon skin side down on the hot baking sheet (careful!). Sprinkle the fillet with salt and pepper and brush it with about 1 tablespoon of the additional maple syrup. This can be done either with a pastry brush or with the back of a spoon, smoothing the syrup evenly over the fish.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Open the oven door and carefully brush the salmon with the remaining 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Bake for another 7 minutes or so, until the fish flakes nicely when prodded with a fork. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and cut the salmon into six pieces. There is a good chance that the skin will stick to the baking sheet as you pull off the pieces. This is fine, and even desired, since it will give you a nice skinless fillet to serve.
Makes 6 servings.
This recipe has been adapted from the Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2000 Cookbook, an excellent healthy cookbook