Ponzu Glazed Salmon (ポン酢鮭)

• servings: 2
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2-3 salmon filets (two people’s worth of food, skin-on is ideal)

4 tbsp ponzu sauce

1 tbsp sake

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp potato / corn starch

1 tbsp unsalted butter

30 g bell peppers, sliced thin

50 g maitake mushrooms, sliced into bite sized pieces (mushrooms shrink by half during cooking)

50 g leafy greens of choice

Directions

Dry the salmon filets with a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with a pinch of salt and pepper. Coat them with a thin layer of 1 tbsp potato starch, and set them aside for now.

In a large, wide pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter or oil over medium heat until it gets up to temperature. Swirl the fat around to evenly coat the pan, then add the salmon filets skin-side down. Fry for around 4 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and releases from the pan easily. Flip and fry the other side for 2 minutes, or longer as needed, depending on how thick your filets are. Remove the salmon from the pan and set aside.

Add in the bell peppers, maitake mushrooms, and any other vegetables of your choice (save the fresh leafy greens for the finished plate). Saute until the bell peppers are slightly softened,

If you have room in the pan for everything, scoot the peppers and mushrooms to the side and add back the salmon to the pan, along with the ponzu sauce, sake, and mirin. Keeping the pan on medium heat, allow the sauce to reduce until glossy and slightly thickened, basting the salmon occasionally. You can add some more butter here for a richer sauce. Remove the pan from the heat. (If you don’t have room in the pan, then just reduce the sauce in a separate smaller pan and drizzle over everything prior to serving.

Serve hot with rice and fresh greens of choice. Sesame seeds are a great garnish.

Notes

Ponzu is a lesser known citrus-forward Japanese sauce. It’s usually composed of soy sauce, lemon and orange juice, and rice vinegar. It’s a very tart and acidic sauce with umami from the soy sauce, and it goes particularly well with fish. This recipe is a simple vegetable stir fry with pan-fried salmon and a reduced ponzu glaze, alongside rice or a starch of your choice. Vegetables and mushrooms listed are recommended, as always just substitute with what you have at the time.