Recipe: Salmon with Soy-Mustard Glaze

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated for dinner July 1, 2012

Makes approximately 3 servings.

Ingredients

Salmon

1 teaspoon light brown sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon cornstarch

1 pound center-cut salmon fillet with skin

Ground black pepper

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Soy-Mustard Glaze

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons low salt soy sauce

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon cornstarch

⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Prepare glaze: Add ingredients to a small sauce pan.
2. Whisk to combine the ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Decrease heat and simmer for about 1 minute to thicken the glaze.
4. Remove from heat and keep warm.
5. Prepare salmon: With rack in middle position, heat oven to 300°
6. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, salt, and cornstarch.
7. Cut the salmon into 3 or 4 portions (kitchen shears work well for cutting the skin), pat it dry with paper towels, and season with pepper.
8. Rub the brown sugar mixture evenly into the flesh side of the salmon.
9. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet until it just starts to smoke.
10. Add the salmon, flesh side down, and cook about 1 minute to lightly brown the fish.
11. Carefully turn the salmon pieces over, skin side down, and brown for about one minute.
12. Move skillet off heat and transfer the salmon to a rimmed baking sheet, skin side down. (If you have an oven-proof skillet you can skip this step.)
13. Spoon glaze over the salmon and bake until the thickest part of the fish registers 125°, about 8 minutes.

A beautiful one-pound wild sockeye salmon filet.

The salmon is patted dry, coated with a mixture of brown sugar, salt, paper, cornstarch, and browned.

After browning the flesh side, the skin side is browned.

The browned fish is coated with glaze and finished in the oven.