Gordon Ramsay's Teryaki Salmon

Thank goodness Australia has Costco! As much as I love this land down under, I also love me some American-sized grocery shopping..

I have become grateful for the little conveniences these trips to Costco provide. For example, the suggested weight size on the side of a box of diapers or "nappies" is in pounds, not just kilograms...very helpful for an American who is horrible at metric system conversions.

I'm grateful for a two child shopping cart or "trolley" (with lower rack) that is enjoyable to push (at normal grocery stores, the carts go side-to-side and front-to-back making steering them an absolute mess! AND, there is no lower rack for those paper towels/toilet paper/diapers, etc!). BUT at Costco, the shopping carts are a dream!

Finally, I'm grateful for a big parking lot (most inner suburbs in Australia lack great parking).

So...every few weeks at Costco, I cheerfully steer my children around that big warehouse, picking up (among many, many, many other items and free samples), fresh salmon and lamb chops.

We'll talk lamb chops later. Today: the salmon. I found an easy and delicious teriyaki salmon recipe by Gordon Ramsay that is hard to mess up. As long as you have 20 minutes to 2 hours to allow the salmon to marinate, you'll be golden. It has become my go-to these days...just sauté some veggies on the side, cook up some rice and you have a healthy meal for the whole family.

Gordon Ramsay's Teryaki Salmon

Ingredients:

2 cm piece of fresh root ginger, finely sliced/chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
4-6 salmon fillets
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. Put the chopped garlic and ginger into a small bowl and mix with the soy sauce, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, and a drizzle of olive oil. Set aside.

2. Place the salmon fillets in a dish, season with salt and pepper, and pour the dressing over them. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge to marinate for up to 2 hours, but at least 20 minutes.

3. Place a large frying pan on medium heat and add a dash of oil. When hot, add the salmon, skin side down (mine are always skinless), reserving the marinade. Cook for 2 minutes, then pour in a few spoonfuls of the reserved marinade, and cook for a minute or so, until the salmon fillets are opaque halfway up the sides. Turn them over and cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes, basting with the sauce. Add a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.

(Sometimes instead OF STEP 3, I put the marinated salmon fillets in a hot pan and I do NOT spoon the extra marinade over it, and they have turned out great. I just sear and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes).

4. If you want, you can serve the salmon fillets with or without the extra cooked sauce left in the pan. I find I do not need any extra sauce, but you should try it both ways! Serve with sautéed veggies and rice.