Teriyaki salmon

Salmon is one of those delicious fish that only of late I discovered could be made even more delicious by cooking it less, so that the inside becomes a juicy near jelly-like delight. Here the salmon is grilled, marinated in a favourite teriyaki sauce and served over japonica rice (the sort used for sushi), with sautéd green beans and some pickles.

1 piece salmon, de-scaled

5 dsp soy sauce (shoyu if available)

5 dsp brown sugar

5 dsp cooking saké

Vegetable oil

Handful of green beans (per person)

Fresh lemon

1 clove garlic, finely sliced

Pickles

Rice (1/2 cup per person)

Add the soy sauce, sugar and saké to a small pan and stir on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside teriyaki sauce and let cool.

Rinse and then pat dry the salmon with a paper towel or similar. Place in a pyrex (or other grill-friendly) dish, spoon over a few spoonfuls of the teriyaki sauce until covered, and leave marinating in the bowl flesh side down. Tip remaining sauce in a jar and store in the fridge for future use. (It keeps a while.)

Rinse rice well, drain, and add water in a 1:1 ratio. Set over a high heat, wait until it's bubbling, then cover pan with a lid and move to a spot with the lowest heat setting available. Leave to cook until done. (Approximately 20mins - and no lifting the lid!)

Place salmon under grill on medium heat, skin side down, for a minute or two until the top is a little cooked. Then remove, baste, flip it to skin side up and return to under grill. Cook until the skin is bubbling and there's still a little wobble left to the flesh (meaning the interior is still juicy.)

Slice up a few pickles, and set to one side. Current favourites are pickled daikon (mooli) and baby aubergine (eggplant).

Finely slice a clove of garlic, and prepare beans. If a little tough, slice thinly and steam for a few minutes until just done, then dress with some lemon and garlic vinaigrette. If more tender, blanch and then sauté with the garlic, then add lemon and a drop of soy sauce to serve.

Serve up a heap of steaming rice, a side of tender green beans, and the crispy-skinned teriyaki salmon. Add pickles, and enjoy!