This recipe packs a punch and manages a good balance of flavor. It is salty from the soy sauce, sour from the lime juice, sweet from the sugar, provides some heat from the pepper, and umami from the fish sauce. 

With two other Salmon recipes, the herb salmon and baked salmon with dill sauce, you may wonder if a third one is really necessary. As my old boss, Robin Metz, used to say…Hummmmm………

I never would have tried this recipe if I hadn’t gotten rave reviews from my sister Sherry and daughter Annie, who, having discovered it themselves, encouraged me to try it.  It turns out that cooking salmon in a tangy lime and ginger caramel that is spiked with fish sauces is a really great treat.

Melissa Clark – Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 Skin-on salmon fillets, preferably center-cut pieces (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 T Extra-virgin olive oil
• Fine sea salt to taste
• 1/3 C Packed light brown sugar
• 3 T Asian fish sauce
• 2 T Soy sauce
• 1 t Grated peeled fresh ginger
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• ½ t Freshly ground black pepper
• Sliced scallions (white and green parts), for garnish
• Thinly sliced jalapeño, for garnish
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions

• Set an oven rack six inches from the heat source and turn on the broiler.
• Brush the salmon fillets all over with the oil and season them lightly with salt.
• In a 12-inch oven-safe skillet on medium-high heat, combine the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, lime zest and juice, black pepper, and one tablespoon of water. Bring to a simmer.
• Place the fish, skin-side up, in the skillet. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, without moving it, until the fish is cooked through halfway, four to six minutes.
• Spoon the pan juices over the fish and transfer the skillet to the oven. Broil until the fish is just cooked through and the skin is caramelized in spots, two to five minutes for medium rare, depending upon the thickness of the fish (thicker ones will take longer).
• Transfer the fish to a serving plate and garnish it with scallions, jalapeños, and cilantro. Drizzle with the pan sauce, and serve.