Soy-Glazed Salmon Hand Rolls

By Kay Chun

Published March 18, 2023

Soy-Glazed Salmon Hand Rolls
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(1,620)
Comments
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Unagi sauce is a sweet, thickened soy sauce traditionally used on grilled eel. Here, the simple sauce of soy sauce, sugar and mirin is enhanced with the addition of aromatic garlic and ginger, transforming it into a savory glaze for buttery salmon. Once the salmon is roasted and lacquered in the sauce, it becomes the perfect filling for customizable hand rolls. A perfect roll is assembled with the flaked salmon and some creamy avocado and crisp cucumbers for bites that are rich, fresh and crunchy all at once. Including cooked short-grain rice in the filling is traditional, but these rolls would be a great place to use other leftover grains like farro or quinoa.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 3tablespoons neutral oil, such as safflower or canola
  • ½teaspoon minced garlic
  • ⅓cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • ⅓cup mirin
  • 3tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ¼teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal), plus more for seasoning
  • ½teaspoon peeled grated ginger
  • 1(1½-pound) skinless salmon fillet (preferably center-cut)
  • Toasted seaweed sheets, quartered
  • Cooked short-grain rice and wasabi paste (optional), for serving
  • 3Persian cucumbers, halved crosswise and cut lengthwise into thin spears
  • 1 to 2avocados, pitted and thinly sliced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

617 calories; 38 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 41 grams protein; 874 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium. Stir in garlic until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add soy sauce, mirin, sugar, black pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced by about a third and has thickened slightly, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in ginger and remove from heat. You should have about ½ cup sauce; reserve half of the sauce in a small bowl for serving and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place salmon on the prepared sheet, rub with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt. Coat the salmon on both sides with the other half of the sauce.

  3. Step 3

    Roast salmon for 5 minutes, then baste with the sauce that’s dripped onto the sheet tray. Continue to roast until salmon is just cooked to medium, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer salmon to a large plate.

  4. Step 4

    Flake salmon into bite-size pieces and drizzle with the reserved sauce. To build hand rolls, top seaweed with some rice (if using), cucumbers, avocado and salmon. Wrap and enjoy. Serve with optional wasabi on the side, and dab a little onto the salmon for a spicy hit.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,620 user ratings
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Comments

Red

I, for one, enjoyed this recipe - but I’m astonished to find how many people say “NO” to hard-worked recipes from the NYT staff. There are SO many variations to this particular dish, let’s just be a bit friendlier and recognize other people’s efforts instead of bashing on them and saying yours is better!

Brady and Kathleen

So delicious and fun to eat. I love the glaze. Our one modification was cooking the fish low and slow for 40 minutes at 225, as we learned in “Salt Fat Acid Heat.” That is the best way to cook salmon IMO, better than any restaurant salmon I’ve ever had. It gets sooo tender and flaky, while still retaining all of its juices.

Ferrer

You do not need to add salt when you use soy sauce, even when using low-sodium soy sauce. And it gets even better if you add some sake.

Dustin

One of our favorite meals. I just make it as a rice bowl instead of fiddling with individually wrapping each roll. Much easier. Throw in some mango or radishes if you feel like it. We don’t go through nori fast enough to buy the normal packages (use a few sheets and the rest goes bad) but the nori sold in snack packs is perfect.

Marianne

With the left overs I put them on cooked rice noodles and add furikaki. Heavenly!

cristin

This was so so good. Perhaps my three boys favorite NYT dinner recipe ever. The rolling part was so fun! I didn’t have mirin, so I used rice vinegar and some extra brown sugar. Delicious!

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