Ponzu Salmon

Submitted by Mooseybear

"The ponzu sauce from this recipe is fantastic on any seafood. The sauce recipe makes 1 cup"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 (6 ounce) skinless salmon fillet
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• Northwest Ponzu Sauce

• 1 grapefruit
• 1 orange
• 1 lime
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
• 1⁄4 cup rice vinegar

directions

1. For the sauce:

2. Use a zester to remove the colorful outer rind from the grapefruit, the orange and the lime; save the zest on the side.
3. If you don't have a zester, use a vegetable peeler to remove the rind, then cut it into julienne strips with a sharp knife.
4. Juice the fruits and combine the juices.
5. Put the sugar in a dry pan over medium-high heat and swirl the pan until the sugar has begun to dissolve; it will be caramel-colored.
6. Pour in the fruit juice and step back because the mixture will boil and steam rapidly before settling into a steady boil.
7. Boil for about 2 minutes, swirling the pan now and then to dissolve the caramelized sugar.
8. When the caramelized sugar has dissolved, add the soy sauce and vinegar.
9. Drop in half of the citrus zest that was set aside before the fruits were juiced and continue boiling the sauce for 2 or 3 minutes, or until it is slightly thickened.
10. The zest may be left in or strained out.
11. Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature.
12. For the Salmon: Rinse the salmon fillets, pat them dry and sprinkle with the sea salt.
13. Put a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and allow the pan to preheat for 1 minute.
14. Put the oil in the pan; it should be almost smoking-hot.
15. Put the salmon skinned-side-up into the pan and allow the salmon to cook undisturbed for 4 to 5 minutes or until a crisp brown crust has formed on the underside of the fish.
16. Turn the fillets and cook 5 minutes longer or until fish is just cooked through.
17. Make a puddle of ponzu sauce in the center of four plates and plant the pan-seared fish fillets on top.
18. Garnish the fish with reserved zest from a grapefruit, an orange and a lime.

Reviews

[Jangomango]

Excellent ponzu sauce. When I juiced all the fruit up I had over 1 1/2 cups and thought it would be too much for the proportion of sugar. I used 1 cup. That was about right, but it could have gone to 1 1/4 just fine. It didn't taste as much of grapefruit as one would expect. It just tasted citrusy and had a perfect balance. For cooks new to caramelizing sugar: do stand back when you put the juice in the saucepan - that pan is mighty hot. I used flathead fillets for the fish. Nice combination.

 

[KissMyTiara]

I was leary about this recipe but LOVE to try new sauces for salmon. I thought it would be too zesty/sour. It was absolutely incredible and surprisingly simple to prepare. I would think you could also use this with a tuna or shark steak too. I think I'll be making this for my Father's Day dinner party this year. Regarding STEP 10...I left the zest in. Thank you for a great recipe. I'm so glad I made it!

 

[Mommy2two]

First off, I have to say that I don't like fish. I bought some salmon because I know it's good for me, but I didn't really like it the first time I prepared it. I decided it needed some strong flavors to accompany it and so I found this recipe. It is easy, quick, and I really enjoyed it!! I didn't think I would be buying salmon again, but we discussed having this meal again while we were eating last night. I was afraid there would be too much soy sauce, but I made the recipe exactly how it's written, and it turned out beautifully. I loved the "crust" on the salmon, it created a great mouthfeel (which is a reason I think I don't like fish--it's too soft feeling). I was afraid that just salting would make it bland, but with the sauce, it was perfect. I didn't "puddle" the sauce on the plate, but served it in tiny bowls on the side so we could dip as much or as little as we wanted. Thanks Mooseybear!!

 

[riffraff]

I am always looking for new sauce for our salmon. It was very good. I had the worst day in the kitchen with everything turning out wrong but this sauce was already done and waiting. I did it in a non stick pan so clean up was easy.

 

[starryynite]

Delicious- I don't think I let the ponzu sauce thicken enough but it still worked well. After plating i added some fresh cilantro for color and an orange slice. Also perhaps using a low salt soy sauce would reduce the sodium content.