“The very best technique to make salmon! It’s a staple Japanese breakfast merchandise and I now make it not less than twice every week.”
— Junji
Recipe Highlights
Japanese Salted Salmon (Shiozake) is without doubt one of the most basic grilled fish dishes in Japanese house cooking. With solely three components, this recipe turns recent salmon right into a deeply savory dish with crisp pores and skin and wealthy taste. It’s simple to arrange, economical, and a staple my household has loved for years.
Right here’s why I preserve coming again to this recipe:
- Simply three easy components
- Versatile for conventional breakfasts, bento, and rice balls
- Simple to make at house and freeze for later
In case you love easy Japanese salmon dishes, strive my Miso Salmon, Teriyaki Salmon, and Miso Butter Salmon recipes subsequent!
What’s Japanese Salted Salmon?
Japanese salted salmon—referred to as shiozake or shiojake (塩鮭)—is made by cleansing skinny, skin-on fillets with sake, then curing them with salt. The result’s salmon with a agency texture, deeply savory taste, and pores and skin that crisps fantastically when broiled.
Historically, salting was a technique to protect the season’s considerable salmon catch—and the approach has been a staple of the Japanese desk ever since.
Elements for Japanese Salted Salmon
- Japanese-style salmon fillets – thinner and smaller than Western-style fillets; discover them within the Japanese grocery retailer.
- salt – I take advantage of Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- sake
Discover the printable recipe with measurements beneath.
Methods to Make Japanese Salted Salmon
- Reduce a facet of salmon into fillets (elective). See Methods to Reduce Salmon into Japanese-Type Fillets for my step-by-step photographs.
- Clear. Sprinkle sake over the fillets and allow them to relaxation for 10 minutes. Pat utterly dry with paper towels.
- Salt. Sprinkle salt generously on all sides, together with the pores and skin. This removes odor, attracts out moisture, enhances umami, and companies the flesh.
- Treatment. Sandwich the fillets with paper towels, place in an hermetic container, and refrigerate for not less than 2 days.
- Cook dinner or freeze. Pat the fillets dry. To freeze, wrap every fillet individually in plastic and retailer within the freezer till prepared to make use of. To prepare dinner, broil pores and skin facet up, or grill or pan-fry till the flesh is tender and the pores and skin is crisp.
- Serve. Get pleasure from as a part of a Japanese breakfast, tuck right into a bento field, or inside rice balls (see Broiled Salmon and Salmon Onigiri for the total recipe).
Nami’s Recipe Ideas
These easy ideas will enable you to make Japanese salted salmon each time.
- Use Japanese-style fillets. Skinny fillets prepare dinner quicker and preserve the pores and skin on prime for a crispy broiled fish. I like to recommend firmer, leaner sockeye salmon should you’re slicing your individual. See Methods to Reduce Salmon into Japanese-Type Fillets for step-by-step photographs.
- Pat the salmon dry earlier than salting. Eradicating floor moisture helps the salt penetrate evenly and improves the ultimate texture.
- Salt all sides, together with the pores and skin. Even protection means higher taste—and crisper pores and skin when broiled.
- Don’t rush the remedy. Refrigerate for the total two days. This offers the salt time to attract out moisture and convert the fats into amino acids, deepening the flavour.
- Serve with rice. Shiozake is supposed to be eaten in small parts (sometimes 3 oz / 80 g) alongside rice, not as a regular protein.
Variations
Listed below are a number of simple methods to make this dish your individual.
- Regulate the salt ratio. The usual is 5% of the salmon’s weight, however you’ll be able to scale back it to three–4% for a milder taste. Plan to prepare dinner it sooner, because it received’t preserve as lengthy.
- Strive a special minimize or selection. Firmer, leaner salmon works greatest. I’ve used Atlantic salmon with good outcomes.
- Swap up the cooking technique. Broiling is my go-to, however grilling or pan-frying works simply as nicely.
What to Serve with Japanese Salted Salmon
This recipe makes a scrumptious protein for a conventional Japanese breakfast, bento lunch field, or rice ball filling.
Storage and Reheating Ideas
To retailer cooked salmon: Preserve in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days or within the freezer for as much as 2 weeks.
To retailer cured (raw) salmon: Wrap every fillet tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Defrost within the fridge in a single day earlier than cooking.
To reheat: Broil pores and skin facet up till warmed by and the pores and skin is crisp once more.
FAQs
How salty is shiozake?
Japanese salted salmon is deliberately salty—meant to be eaten in small parts alongside plain rice and delicate facet dishes, not by itself.
In Japan, a 5% salt ratio is commonplace, making a daring, savory taste that enhances plain rice completely.
Can I scale back the salt in Japanese salted salmon?
Sure, you’ll be able to scale back the salt to three–4% of the salmon’s weight for a milder taste. Simply know that much less salt means a shorter shelf life, so plan to prepare dinner it sooner.
How do you take away salt from salted salmon when it’s too salty?
In case your shiozake seems too salty, soak the fillets in chilly water for 20–half-hour, then pat dry earlier than cooking. For a gentler strategy, use calmly salted water (about 1% salt)—this attracts out extra salt extra evenly with out making the flesh watery.
The calmly salted water technique, referred to as yobijio (呼び塩), is a standard Japanese approach used for desalting cured fish and greens. The concept is {that a} small quantity of salt within the soaking water pulls extra salt out of the fish extra progressively than plain water, preserving texture higher.
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Japanese Salted Salmon (Shiozake)
To Reduce the Fillets (elective)
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In case you’re utilizing pre-cut fillets, leap to the “To Salt the Salmon” part beneath. To chop fillets from a facet of salmon, observe my detailed directions with photographs in Methods to Reduce Salmon into Japanese-Type Fillets. Place a facet of salmon pores and skin facet down with the slim tail finish to your left and minimize off the narrowest half. Tilt your knife again 30 levels and slice the salmon diagonally towards the tail into fillets about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. This facet of salmon yielded 8 Japanese-style fillets and three odd-sized items.
To Pat Dry
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Open the container after 2 days and discard the moist paper towels. The fillets might be darker and firmer. Gently pat them dry with a clear paper towel. The salted salmon fillets at the moment are prepared to make use of. To prepare dinner them now, leap to the “To Broil“ part. To freeze the fillets to make use of later, see the subsequent step.
To Freeze for Later (elective)
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Wrap the cured salmon fillets individually or in pairs to freeze and prepare dinner later. To wrap two fillets collectively in the identical sheet of plastic wrap, see the subsequent step.Nami’s Tip: I normally wrap two fillets collectively, as I usually want two for bento bins or 4 for a household meal.
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To wrap two fillets collectively, fold one nook over one fillet, protecting it utterly. Place the second fillet subsequent to it, separated by the plastic layer. Roll each tightly within the plastic wrap. Wrap the remainder of the fillets, put them in a freezer bag, and retailer within the freezer for as much as 1 month. Nami’s Tip: Separating the fillets with a layer of plastic wrap retains them from fusing collectively when frozen. That is useful when it’s essential take out only one frozen fillet.
To Defrost the Frozen Fillets
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The night time earlier than cooking the salmon, place the frozen wrapped fillets within the fridge in a single day to defrost utterly. Let the salmon sit on the counter for 15–20 minutes to heat to room temperature.
To Broil (beneficial)
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Collect all of the components. Place the oven rack within the heart place, about 9 inches (23 cm) away from the highest heating aspect. Preheat the oven broiler on Excessive (550ºF/288ºC) for five minutes. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and apply a skinny coat of (spray) cooking oil. Place the salmon on prime, pores and skin facet up (for crispy pores and skin). Nami’s Tip: I take advantage of foil for simple clear up. When broiling, you don‘t management the temperature within the oven. As a substitute, you management the space between the broiler and the floor of the meals. It‘s just like utilizing hotter and cooler zones in your grill.
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Broil the salmon for 8–10 minutes, till nicely performed—it needs to be flaky and extra dry. No must flip it.Nami’s Tip: The cooking time varies relying on the thickness of the fish and the space between the broiler and the meals.
To Bake (elective)
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If you do not have a broiler, preheat the oven to 425°F (218ºC) with the rack positioned within the center place. Bake the salmon on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 10–12 minutes, till nicely performed (extra dry and flaky).
To Grill (elective)
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In case you want, prepare dinner the fillets on a wire fish grill on medium warmth over a stovetop or direct fireplace. Cook dinner about 5 minutes on either side, till nicely performed (extra dry and flaky).
To Serve
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Peel 2 inches daikon radish. (I take advantage of a ceramic grater.) Grate the daikon and gently squeeze out many of the liquid, retaining it moist. Serve the broiled salmon with grated daikon on the facet. Nami’s Tip: I additionally served Tamagoyaki (Japanese Candy Rolled Omelet) and Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing on this meal.
Salmon fillet: I suggest sockeye salmon as a result of it’s agency and lean, however I’ve additionally used fatty Atlantic salmon) for this recipe. I sliced your complete left facet of untamed sockeye salmon from Costco.
Salt: You should use any kind of salt, however please go by the burden. 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal salt weighs 10 g. For 600 g salmon, I used 30 g salt (5 % of the salmon‘s weight).
Energy: 108kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 15g, Fats: 5g, Saturated Fats: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g, Monounsaturated Fats: 2g, Ldl cholesterol: 41mg, Sodium: 665mg, Potassium: 385mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 30IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 11mg, Iron: 1mg
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Editor’s Word: This put up was initially revealed on December 2, 2012, up to date with new pictures on March 30, 2022, and republished with useful content material on April 29, 2026.