Teriyaki Salmon
Pan-seared salmon fillets glazed in a glossy four-ingredient teriyaki sauce reduced straight in the pan — a fast, weeknight-friendly main.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Serves
- 4 servings
- Level
- Easy
By Maya Chen
Method
- 01
Pat the salmon fillets very dry and season lightly with salt. Stir together the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar to make the teriyaki sauce.
- 02
Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high. Lay the fillets in skin-side down and press flat for 30 seconds so the skin makes full contact.
- 03
Sear undisturbed for 4–5 minutes until the skin is crisp, then flip and cook the second side for 2–3 minutes. Lift the salmon out to a plate.
- 04
Pour the sauce into the same pan and add the ginger if using. Bring to a brisk simmer.
- 05
Let the sauce bubble and reduce for 2–3 minutes until it thickens to a syrup that coats the back of a spoon.
- 06
Return the salmon to the pan, skin-side down, and spoon the glaze over the top repeatedly until the fillets are lacquered and glossy.
- 07
Serve over rice, scattered with sesame seeds and spring onion, with any extra glaze spooned alongside.
Teriyaki salmon is one of those dishes that tastes far more involved than it is. The sauce is four pantry ingredients, the fish needs only a few minutes a side, and the whole thing reduces to a glossy lacquer in the same pan you seared in. It is the kind of dinner that fits a weeknight but looks at home on a nicer plate.
A real teriyaki sauce
Authentic teriyaki is just soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar, simmered until it thickens on its own. The shine and body come from reducing the mirin and sugar, not from cornstarch, which is why the traditional version coats the fish in a thin, glassy glaze rather than a heavy gloop. Skipping the starch keeps the flavour clean and the texture light.
Sear first, glaze last
The order of operations protects both the skin and the sauce. Searing the salmon skin-side down in a hot, dry pan crisps the skin before any liquid touches it, and removing the fish to reduce the sauce means the glaze thickens properly instead of steaming the fillets. Returning the salmon at the end and spooning the syrup over it builds that signature glossy coat.
