Salmon, No Lemon?!

~ Baked Teriyaki Salmon Fillets ~

Before I discovered cooking with Teriyaki sauce, I associate baked fish dishes with lemon or lime most of the time. I went on searching for options because of my toddler who does not favour sour lemon juices recipes like we adults do. I then discovered store bought version of Teriyaki sauce, which I have been baking my salmon with since then. The dark coloured sweet and salty sauce is a glaze of soy sauce, mirin and sugar or honey. Such simple glaze of savoury and sweetness combined gives great impact to any baked dish, leaving a wonderful taste bud memory. It makes a great alternative for most grilled/baked fish and even meat dishes.

Do you know that the word Teriyaki is a combination of 2 Japanese words? They are Teri, which refers to a shine given by the sugar content in the sauce and Yaki, which refers to the cooking method of grilling or broiling. Traditionally, the sauce is boiled and reduced to the desired thickness. When cooking meat, the sauce is dipped in or brushed on the meat several times. However, in the 17^th century more innovative cooking style has been brought in due to urbanisation and foreign influence in Japan. These are amongst the interesting facts I understand from Wikipedia.

As Teriyaki sauce contains sugar, it can be more sensitive to heat. Any baked/grilled dish cooked with a sweet or sugary sauce requires more tender care in heat control, which is quite important not to burn the food which then makes it carcinogenic. However, if there is insufficient baking/grilling heat to the dish, it somehow lacks the charred flavour.

I have tried Baked Teriyaki Salmon Fillet a couple of times. As I marinated the salmon fillets beforehand with Teriyaki sauce, it can be quite easily burnt but my AMC cooking system has never disappoint me! In the end, the flesh were so moist and flaky, making it such an awesome texture for my toddler to chew on. You would understand what I am talking about if you have experienced salmon dishes which can be dry and hard in texture even for an adult.

With the AMC Navigenio Hot Plate and a 24cm Hotpan unit, it worked well. I preheated the pan unit on medium heat level and baked on a low heat level for 10 minutes to ensure the salmon fillets are cooked. For a final touch to make a slightly charred flavour, I simply baked the fillets on a high heat level for 2 minutes. The entire baking process has always been a bliss!

Baked Teriyaki Salmon Fillet Recipe (Serves 3-4) :

1. 2 Salmon Fillets (approximately 400 grams)
2. 2 tablespoon Teriyaki Sauce
3. 1/2 teaspoon Black Sesame Seeds (garnishing)
4. 1/2 teaspoon Brown Sesame Seeds (garnishing)
5. 2 florets of English Parsley (garnishing)

AMC Healthy Cooking Method :

1. Marinate pad-dried salmon fillets with Teriyaki sauce for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat AMC 24cm 2.0 liter Hotpan unit with Navigenio heat level “3” to 50°C or “Meat Window”. Use Audiotherm as an indicator by turning it on, place on lid knob/Visiotherm, indicating 50°C or “Meat Window”.
3. When Audiotherm beeps, turn off Navigenio & Audiotherm. Remove lid and set pan on an up-turned lid.
4. Place seasoned salmon into the pan unit and cover it with Navigenio turned upside down. Turn Navigenio to bake on low heat level “-“ for 10 minutes and higher heat level “=” for 2 minutes. Activate Audiotherm and set 10 and 2 minutes respectively to bake.
5. When Audiotherm beeps, turn off both Navigenio & Audiotherm.
6. Garnish with sesame seeds and parsley before serving.

Tips : Believe it or not?! An AMC pot is the smallest and most efficient baking oven in the world! Instead of heating a baking oven with approx. 60 litres volume, you can bake cakes, pastries, cookies etc in an AMC pot (approx. 3 litres volume) on the Navigenio for your family. You save 75% time and energy!