Sweet and Spicy Salmon Sunday Glaze
Sweet, yet spicy with a hint of sesame oil.* As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 tbsb Sriracha (Plus 1 tbsp to brush directly onto the salmon for extra-spicy salmon!) Or, you can use all gochujang. You don't really need both hot sauces but we like the combo.
- 2 tbsp gochujang Or, use all sriracha. You don't really need both hot sauces but we like the combo. I use Sempio gochujang.
- 2 tbsp brown sugar Raw, turbinado sugar works fine as well. (sprinkle extra brown sugar on top if you prefer a more sweet than spicy glaze, and a browned, caramelized top)
- 1 tbsp honey Optional (also great to drizzle over the top of the glazed raw salmon for a sweeter, less spicy glaze)
- ½ tbsp Lawry's coarse ground garlic powder with parsley Optional
- 2 tbsp tamari Or soy sauce (plus 1 tbsp to brush on the salmon if you like a little extra salty-umami) Update: I find we like the flavor of Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce best!
- 30 oz salmon fillets Skin on
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a bowl or zip-top bag combine well.
- I like to brush my salmon with tamari, then a thin layer of sriracha for extra spiciness before I brush on the glaze.
- Brush about 1-2 tbsp of glaze on each salmon filet covering the top and sides. (More or less depending on how thick your fish is.) I like to brush it on and let it sit until it gets to room temperature, or just get the chill off of it for even cooking. (About 20-30 minutes or so.) Add more glaze, or reapply before grilling or baking if desired. A lot will run off.
- We use salt blocks on the grill and skin-on salmon filets. The filets we get from our fish market are large and thick and stand up beautifully to this glaze. If your filets are thin, you may want to brush a lighter amount of glaze on, but I've never found it to overpower the salmon.
- Some people like to cook their salmon on lower heat, but we like to get our salt blocks up to 500° before adding the fish, skin side down on the top rack of our grill. You can also put it in a baking dish or rimmed sheet in the over at 450°-475°. For thick salmon, over an inch thick, you will want to grill it for about 7 minutes with the lid closed (NO PEEKING) then do the fork test (below).
- Never-fail salmon fork test: Stick the tines of a fork just over halfway into the fish and hold it there for ten seconds. Remove and carefully tap it on your wrist (we tap it to our lips) and if it's nice and warm, the fish is done. If the tines are still cool, cook it a couple minutes at a time checking it with the fork test. Overcooked salmon is not great. The USDA currently recommends 145°, but you may like it more or less cooked. Nice thick filets usually take us anywhere from 10-15 minutes tops. Fillets without skin will cook much faster!
Notes
NOTE: The nutritional value posted assumes none of the glaze will run off. Actually about half of it will run off before the fish is cooked.
When I serve this to people who don't like spicy food, I don't brush the fish with extra sriracha, and I top the fish with extra brown sugar right before cooking.
A word about soy sauces - I've tried store brand soy sauces and they really don't compare to name brand soy sauce. The store brands tend to be saltier and have less of that umami flavor.
If you don't like soy sauce, try substituting with smoked sea salt!
Nutrition
Calories: 261kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 29gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 661mgPotassium: 750mgFiber: 1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 84IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg
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