A simple yet rich tasting honey glazed salmon that features moist, tender salmon glazed with a balanced sauce that is savory, sweet, and bursting with aroma.
Whenever I want a quick dinner, pan fried salmon is always one of my favorite options. Depending on my mood, I might dress the crispy salmon with ginger soy sauce. I might cook the salmon stir fry style with a light brown sauce. Or I might even make the salmon into fried rice.
Today I want to introduce this scrumptious honey glazed salmon recipe. This is not your typical three-ingredient one dimensional taste honey glaze. It combines soy sauce and Shaoxing wine for a savory umami. And it’s simmered with ginger, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon and star anise to create a warm cozy taste that will win your heart. It’s easy to prepare and quick to cook. And I want to share this one quick secret to help you cook the best salmon.
Dry cure the salmon before pan frying
This is a process that’s commonly used in restaurants to create a better texture with salmon. All you need to do is mix equal parts salt with sugar, lightly coat the salmon, and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then rinse off the cure and pat the salmon dry.
This step allows the salt to draw out moisture and slightly firm up the flesh, resulting in a more flavorful and textured fish when cooked. Essentially, it’s a process of brining the salmon without liquid, just using a dry mixture.
This is an optional step. But I highly recommend you to try it out if you have some time on your hands.
Honey glazed salmon ingredients
What type of salmon to use
My favorite type of salmon is king salmon, which has a rich and buttery texture and a luxurious taste. The salmon flesh is very soft and tender, and still tasty even if you accidentally overcook it a little.
Another great variety of salmon to use is coho salmon. It has a lower fat content than king salmon, but works great in this recipe as well.
Sockeye salmon has much leaner meat and a very distinctive taste. The honey sauce in this recipe works great with sockeye salmon to cover any potential fishiness, but you will need to reduce the cooking time. Sockeye salmon pieces are usually much smaller and prone to overcooking. I recommend keeping the inside still a bit medium or medium rare for the best texture.
Sauce and aromatics
The sauce and aromatics include:
- Honey
- Shaoxing wine: To add complexity to the sauce and mask any fishiness of the salmon.
- Light soy sauce: Adds umami to the sauce.
- Dark soy willow: Imparts a beautiful dark brown color to the sauce and adds a light caramel taste.
- Ginger: Fresh ginger works wonders.
- Garlic
- Bay leaves: I used fresh, but dried works as well.
- Cinnamon sticks: Adds warmth to the sauce.
- Star anise: Another layer of warm flavor.
Remove the scales from the salmon skin
If you enjoy salmon skin as much as I do, make sure to check the skin and remove any remaining scales. Most grocery stores will remove the fish scales, but not very thoroughly. And it results in a very bad texture once the fish is cooked.
To remove the scales, place the salmon flesh side down on a cutting board. Hold the salmon in one hand. Use the back of a knife or one side of some poultry shears to gently scrape the skin against the direction of the scales. Once done, rinse the salmon filet to wash off the scales and pat dry.
How to cook honey glazed salmon
1- Sear the skin side of the salmon until golden crispy.
2- Flip the salmon, pour in the glaze, and add all the aromatics.
3- Cook until the salmon is just cooked through while glazing the salmon.
Tips – how to achieve perfect doneness
Salmon filets take different amounts of time to cook depending on the thickness. The honey glaze also takes a different amount of time to reduce depending on the size of your pan and the heat level you use.
It’s very important to check the salmon pieces after they have cooked 3 to 4 minutes in the honey glaze, by gently flaking the thickest part. Remove the salmon pieces from the pan if they flake easily, to prevent overcooking.
How to serve honey glazed salmon
Serve honey glazed salmon with a side of steamed or sauteed greens as a main course. To make the meal a bit more substantial, consider adding another starchy side such as garlic fried rice, air fryer friesor milk bread rolls.
Honey Glazed Salmon
A simple yet rich tasting honey glazed salmon that features moist, tender salmon glazed with a balanced sauce that is savory, sweet, and bursting with aroma.
Ingredients
- 4 salmon filets (6 to 8 oz / 170 to 225 g per filet)
Salmon curing ingredients (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Aromatics
- 1 ” ginger piece
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 fresh bay leaves (or 4 dried bay leaves)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 whole star anise pods
Cooking
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 lemon juiced
- green onion sliced (for garnish)
Instructions
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To cure the salmon (Optional): Mix salt and sugar together, and sprinkle evenly over the flesh side of the salmon filets. Let it cure in the fridge for 30 minutes, and no longer than 1 hour. This will fully season the fish and give it a better texture.
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Mix the sauce: While the fish cures, mix the honey, Shaoxing wine, and the light and dark soy sauces together in a medium-sized bowl.
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Prepare the aromatics: place the ginger, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and star anise in a small plate.
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Once the salmon is cured, rinse the cure from the fish with cold tap water, and thoroughly dry with paper towels.
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Cook the salmon: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Carefully place the fish into the skillet, skin side down. Use a fish spatula to press the fish down, one fillet at a time, so the skin gets full contact with the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, until the skin is golden crispy. Flip the fish and immediately pour in the sauce, and add the aromatics. Use a spoon to baste the fish with the sauce while cooking. Cook until the sauce thickens into a glaze. If the sauce is taking a long time to reduce, check the fish after cooking for 3 minutes. Use a fork to check the thickest part of the fish. If it flakes easily, immediately transfer the fish to a serving plate to prevent it from overcooking. And keep cooking the sauce until it thickens.
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Once the sauce is reduced, add the lemon juice and mix well. Remove the aromatics. Pour the sauce over the salmon. Garnish with green onion. Serve hot as a main dish.
Notes
- Gluten-Free Adaptation: to make the dish gluten-free, use dry sherry to replace Shaoxing wine, and use tamari to replace both light and dark soy sauce. Your dish will come out with a lighter color but still taste good.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 445kcal, Carbohydrates: 40.4g, Protein: 35.3g, Fat: 17.8g, Saturated Fat: 2.9g, Cholesterol: 78mg, Sodium: 596mg, Potassium: 743mg, Fiber: 0.6g, Sugar: 37.3g, Calcium: 71mg, Iron: 2mg
