Here is a quick glaze that is beyond delicious on salmon.  Simple ingredients (and only 4 of them) you probably have in your pantry/fridge that when mixed together produce a super tasty glaze/marinade.  And that’s the key, always ensure your glaze is tasty. Remember, it will not magically become tasty by putting it on something else, it will just be a lousy glaze on a great piece of something else! So always taste your glaze, adjust the seasonings if needed, taste again – then use it.  It is also delicious on chicken breast.  

This may seem like an odd combination – dry Marsala with miso, but they blend and complement each other really well. If you don’t have dry Marsala, white wine will substitute, so will mirin. If you don’t have miso – please go buy some. It lasts forever in the fridge and you can will it to your grandkids. I use miso in soups, salad dressings, glazes, cookies and cooking – did I leave anything out?! I used salmon steaks but you could also use salmon fillet as well.

Serve this with scallion-oil noodles. If you have been to my Vegas Nights cooking class, you will have had garlic mashed potatoes. In this class I would, over a low fire, steep lots of garlic with some cream – maybe 30 minutes or so. This is the same idea except you cut the scallions (green onions) into thin slivers. Easily done – top and tail the scallions, slice in half and then each half into slivers (or just cut into 2” long pieces and follow the directions). Don’t sweat the cut, just get them into the oil with some thinly sliced garlic, dried red chilies and just to keep it healthy, in the last minute of cooking, throw in some slivered snow peas and snap peas. This on top of some cooked noodles (I used dried Chinese noodles but any pasta will do) – super tasty.

Make this tonight or any night of the week, you will not be disappointed! Get vaccinated, wash your hands, wear a mask, socialize responsibly and stay safe! As always – enjoy!

For the marinade/glaze
2 tbsp white miso (it’s caramel color)
4 tbsp dry Marsala or white wine
1 tsp sugar plus more to taste
1/2 tsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) or cayenne pepper, paprika will also work as will gochugang – quantity to taste

Combine all these in a bowl and whisk until smooth – taste, season – more marsala, miso, chili, sugar etc. – taste again – set aside (you will have extra, thin it with water for a salad dressing or keep in the fridge for another use – maximum 4 days)

For the salmon
2 salmon steaks
Olive oil

For the Scallion-oil Noodles
Dried Chinese noodles (ramen style, for the quantity of people serving or if you want leftovers)
½ cup grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 bunch scallions (green onion), slivered
3-4 dried chilies or ¼ – ½ tsp gochugaru or chili flakes (not powder – it burns too easy)
4-6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Toss the ingredients in a small pot or frying pan – you need enough oil so the scallions can fry and turn crisp so if you are using a bigger pan/pot – you may need to add more oil. The oil keeps for about 1 week in the fridge and can be used for any cooking application calling for oil.
Start the cooking on medium heat, after you add all the ingredients, drop it down to medium low – the garlic should not burn or turn brown – you barely want bubbles – “steeping” think tea
This should take about 30 minutes in total at which point the scallions should be crispy and browned
During this 30 minutes get your salmon marinated and cooked and start a pot of water to boil for the noodles
I used 2 x 1” thick steaks and it took about 20 minutes at 450f for a moist – not raw – salmon, and then broiled for a further 5 minutes to produce some lovely caramelized bits on the surface and skin
Cook your noodles and drain according to directions on the package – you want them to be ready just before the scallion oil is ready
Remove the scallions to a paper towel lined plate to crisp up
Spoon a generous amount of oil – to your dietary restrictions, onto the noodles and toss
When well coated, add the scallions and toss again
Serve immediately with the salmon

Well Why Not!
Add a bit of greenery by tossing some snap peas and/or snow peas into the boiling pasta no more than 1 minute before it is done – drain with the pasta and toss in the oil
I made a horseradish and miso paste using bottled horseradish (an afterthought or I would have used fresh)
Use some of the cooking oil to toss some noodles and other chopped veggies to have with the meal, bok choy, broccoli etc. – your choice!