Salmon teriaki

I'm thinking of using this teriyaki sauce: https://food52.com/recipes..., to make a broiled salmon teriyaki (it's still pretty hot here and broiling is nice and quick - not to mention yummy - so I won't need the oven on for long). A lot of recipes call for marinating the salmon in the teriyaki first, but I am concerned that the high sugar content will cause it to burn if I have it on there from the beginning. Should I marinate first, or just glaze in the last few minutes of cooking? Thoughts?

Kristen W.
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12 Comments

Kristen W.
Kristen W. September 15, 2015
So just to report back, I made the dish tonight for my mom's birthday dinner and it was a great success! I didn't pre-season or marinate, just glazed the salmon with the sauce near the end, and the flavor from that was plenty intense on its own. Happy to have a new easy and tasty dish in my repertoire!
 
Kristen W.
Kristen W. September 15, 2015
"amysarah ", not "any sarah"!! Grrrr, autocorrect!
 
Kristen W.
Kristen W. September 15, 2015
Forgot to mention: that's an interesting idea, any sarah, but even though it's raining it's still hot outside so I may wait to try that another day. Thanks for the idea.
 
Kristen W.
Kristen W. September 15, 2015
Yes, this was my initial instinct. However, because soy-based marinades do penetrate more than other marinades b/c of the sodium, I was wondering if the dish would be missing something if I didn't marinate. However a consensus is a consensus, and it's not worth burning the dish! Thanks, all! Btw, made the teriyaki sauce this morning and it tastes great! Going to add that one to my repertoire for sure.
 
HalfPint
HalfPint September 15, 2015
@Kristen W., you could season the salmon with salt or soy sauce, grill, and then brush on the teriyaki sauce.
 
HalfPint
HalfPint September 15, 2015
Yes, the teriyaki will burn by the time the salmon is cooked. I would grill the salmon first, then brush on the teriyaki, grill or broil until it starts to bubble.
 
amysarah
amysarah September 15, 2015
For broiling/grilling, brushing the sauce on at the end is best. But if you want to marinate as well - and are willing to turn on the oven - you could try slow roasting the marinated salmon at a low temp (250 or so,) good for keeping it moist in any case, for maybe 10-15 minutes, until just barely cooked. At that point/temp the sugar probably won't have burned. Then finish it under the broiler for a minute or two, just to brown the glaze on top. (This diverges from standard teriyaki, but might be worth a try.)
 
Kristen W.
Kristen W. September 15, 2015
That's right, I did read that and forgot about it when I came back to the recipe! I've never happened to have made a teriyaki dish before so I looked up a bunch of recipes and they all included marinating the meat in the teriyaki sauce so I started to wonder if I'd be sacrificing flavor if I didn't do it. But what you say makes sense - thanks.
 
Cav
Cav September 15, 2015
In general marinades take so long to actually do more than coat the surface that I've found I get the same effect by treating them as a glaze or a sauce. There's no loss of flavour and many dishes suddenly become speedy and accessible.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. September 15, 2015
Kristen, this is my go to teriyaki glaze when I crave a simple chicken rice bowl or as a quick glaze for salmon. It's really good. I think it's the addition of sake that elevates it from a typical bottled sauce. In both cases, I use it at the end of cooking and not as a marinade. I like to put it on when the meat has just a minute or two left so it barely gets a char on the edges and then add a little more when it comes off the grill or oven or at the table.
 
702551
702551 September 15, 2015
The recipe author actually touches on this in her notes: "It's fantastic when barbecuing -- just make sure to brush it on when your meat is almost done so it doesn't char too much. "

I suggest a late application on the salmon as well.

This is the same basic concept about applying sweetish glazes to barbecue. You do it at the end.

Good luck.
 
Kristen W.
Kristen W. September 15, 2015
Please pretend I spelled teriyaki correctly!
 
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