JAPANESE RECIPE: SALMON TERIYAKI WITH STIR FRIED UDON NOODLES & VEG

You can easily add flavour to a chicken or salmon dish by simply adding terikyaki sauce. Bottled teriyaki sauce is available in most supermarkets but you should really try making your own. It requires just one ingredient that you may not have in your kitchen cupboard called sake (Japanese rice wine). Sake can be bought in most Asian markets and if you invest in a bottle of sake there are loads of other recipes that you can use it for so it won't be wasted!

This recipe is a mild teriyaki sauce as I find some of the teriyaki sauces can be too strong. However you can add more/ less sugar or soya sauce to adjust the flavour if necessary. I'd love to hear back from you, let me know how you find it.

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic (peeled and finely grated)

Thumbsize piece of ginger (peeled and finely grated)

100g sugersnap peas

100g baby sweetcorn

Packet of udon noodles (can use other types of noodles)

Fillet of Salmon

Vegetable oil for frying 

Teriyaki Sauce (mix all the ingredients below in a small bowl)

3 tbsp sake (Japanese rice wine)

2 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Place the packet of noodles in a bowl of boiling water and set aside for a few minutes. Gently separate the noodles while in the water and then drain.

2. Pour a little vegetable oil on medium/high heat on a non-stick frying pan. 

3. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for about 30 seconds.

4. Toss the sugarsnap peas and baby sweetcorn into the frying pan and fry for a few minutes leaving the vegetables nice and crunchy. Set aside in a bowl.

6. Add more oil to the frying pan and set the heat to medium/high again.  

7. Place the salmon fillet (skin side down) on the frying pan and seal both sides of the fish. 
 

8. When the fish is nearly cooked (place the salmon fillet skin side down at this point) pour the teriyaki sauce over the fish.
 

9. Use a large spoon to pour the sauce over the fish fillet while continuing to fry.

10. When the sauce is starting to get thick (but not as thick as syrup) add the noodles and veg. Continue to stir until the noodles and veg are completed coated in the teriyaki sauce. 

11. Garnish with sesame seeds. 

TIPS:

Keep a close eye on the teriyaki sauce when it is reducing as it can quickly reduce on high heat.

Japanese Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki is probably one of the most well known and liked Japanese dishes in the West. So it's not surprising that since I started this blog I've been asked many times to post a recipe for chicken teriyaki! I got this recipe from a Japanese chef called Seiya Nakano during a cooking class in the Dublin Cookery School. I was impressed to hear from him that Gordon Ramsay travelled to Galway to meet him to learn how to make the perfect Japanese sushi.

I've changed his recipe a little as I thought the original recipe was a little too sweet and I replaced clarified butter with rapeseed oil. If you'd like the sauce to be a little sweeter just add more sugar.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (skin on preferably)

Vegetable oil/ Rapeseed oil (for frying the chicken)

Teriyaki sauce

8 tbsp soya sauce

4 tbsp sake

4 tbsp mirin

2 tsp sugar

Serves 2

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce in a bowl and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan (medium to high heat).

3. Place the chicken breasts skin side down in the saucepan.

4. When the skin has become brown and crispy turn the chicken over and cook the other side.

5. When the chicken is almost cooked pour the teriyaki sauce over the chicken. At this point reduce the heat (medium to low).

6. While cooking the chicken and teriyaki sauce together use a spoon to pour the sauce over the chicken to ensure the flavour is fully absorbed.

7. Continue to cook until all the sauce is forming tiny bubbles and resembles a syrup.

How to eat:

Cut the chicken breast into slices as shown in the picture above. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice and vegetables.

Tip:

Be careful not to let the teriyaki sauce get too thick and syrupy.

Why not:

Try this dish with beef, salmon or vegetables.

Japanese Teriyaki Recipe: Mince meat and aubergine in a teriyaki sauce

There are many variations of teriyaki sauce. This is a nice recipe to start off with and then you can adjust the proportions of the basic ingredients for the teriyaki sauce (soya sauce, mirin, sake and sugar) to adapt to your personal taste. 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large garlic cloves (finely chopped)

2 inches ginger root (finely chopped)

1 lb mince meat

2 large aubergine (cut into large square pieces)

8 tbsp soya sauce

4 tbsp mirin

4 tbsp sake

3 tsp caster sugar

Pickled ginger to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so (do not brown the garlic and ginger).
3. Add the minced meat and stir using a wooden spoon to help break up the mince meat. Let it cook until the meat is nearly cooked (do not cook the meat fully or it may become dry).
4. Add the aubergine pieces and stir into the mince meat using the wooden spoon.
5. Mix the soya sauce, mirin, sake and caster sugar in a small bowl. 
6. Pour the mixture over the mince meat and aubergine and stir well cooking under high heat for a few minutes, then let it simmer until the aubergines are nice and tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

How to eat:
Serve with a bowl of Japanese white rice. Sometimes I serve this dish with iceberg lettuce leaves (eat it like a wrap). This is not a traditional Japanese way of eating this dish but I find it handy if I don't have time to prepare rice or if I just fancy a change!

Tips:

1. Add less sugar if you prefer the dish less sweet
2. If you have time you could soak the aubergine pieces in a bowl of water before adding to the dish to get rid of the bitterness of the aubergine. 

Why not:

Try adding other vegetables that go really well with this teriyaki sauce. These include green peas, edamame (soya beans), carrots, mushrooms, broccoli etc.