Broiled Miso Salmon Recipe

This broiled miso salmon is so flavorful and easy to make, it will become your new favorite weeknight fish dinner. According to food blogger Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, making miso salmon has never been easier, thank to your oven's forgotten powerhouse: the broiler setting. Broiling cooks fish via indirect high heat from above, searing the skin, and cooking the fish all the way through the center without burning the bottom.

With broiled salmon, it won't stick to the pan, or create any annoying frying smells. It's just you, a baking sheet, and some well-seasoned salmon baking for 6 to 8 minutes — just take care not to overcook your fish. But what is miso, you may wonder? Miso is a prized Japanese ingredient with a soybean base that's fermented with salt and koji — a specialty mold made from rice. It's usually divided into three types: white, red, and yellow miso, each with its own flavor and traditional uses. Broiled miso salmon is full of umami flavor without raising blood pressure or cholesterol like salt would. Once you taste this simple salmon preparation, you may never follow another recipe again. 

To make miso salmon, you will need salmon filets, any miso you'd like (the darker the color, the stronger the taste), soy sauce or tamari sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and scallions. You can optionally serve this dish on a bed of cooked rice. 

In a bowl or casserole dish large enough to hold your fish filets, combine the miso, soy sauce, maple syrup, and sesame oil. Whisk well to combine. Place the salmon in the marinade skin-side up, ensuring it's well-coated. Transfer to the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

When you are ready to cook, preheat the broiler, or set the oven to 500 F, if you don't have a broiler setting. Set the oven rack on the bottom rung to prevent the miso coating from burning. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the salmon filets onto the prepared baking sheet, skin-side down (if they have skin). Brush with the remaining marinade.

Cook salmon for 6 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your filets. Your salmon will be ready when a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the fish measures 145 F.

Serve broiled miso salmon sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions, and optionally accompanied with rice or noodles. Leftover miso salmon will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.