Pictorial: Sake Teriyaki Donburi!

rice bowl with teriyaki salmon,
swiss chard with miso/sesame dressing
and hot korean chili paste braised veggies

main ingredients:

2 X small salmon filet
6 TBSP teriyaki marinade
1 CUP cooked japanese short grain rice

side dish #1 ingredients:
(swiss chard with miso/sesame dressing aka goma-ae)

1 X swiss chard (exchangeable with spinach, green bean, etc)
1 TBSP veg oil
2 TBSP roasted sesame
2 TBSP miso
2 TBSP mirin
2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP rice wine
1-4 TBSP water or rice wine
1/2 TSP soy sauce
1 TSP rice wine vinegar

side dish #2 ingredients
(hot korean gochujang braised veggies)

1/3 X cucumber (exchangeable with zucchini, swiss chard stems, etc)
1 X handful soybean sprouts (optional)
1 TBSP gochujang
2 TBSP thai fish sauce, anchovies stock or [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashi]strong ichiban dashi[/url]
2 TBSP mirin
2 TBSP rice wine
1 TBSP honey
1 TSP roasted sesame

marinate the salmon with teriyaki sauce for 15-30 min, get the rice cooker going



wash the chard and cucumber, chop'em up, then blanch the chard with boiling water,
swiss chard is not as delicate as spinach, 3-4 min are okay, drain hot water, quench
with cold water and gently press the remaining liquid out of it



combine all side dish #2 ingredients in a small pan, except the sprouts and sesame



bring to boil for a minute or two, then reduce heat to simmer and let it braise away



prep the goma-ae (miso/sesame dressing), combine all remaining side dish #1 ingredients



in a food processor blend until smooth, season to taste, some miso pastes are pretty salty,
adjust the seasoning accordingly or go for 1 TBSP less miso, 1 TBSP more sesame



have everything else ready by now, because the salmon will require your full attention,
use paper towel to pet-dry the salmon, too much marinade on it would carbonize, the result
would be a black and bitter crust

oil the pan, crank up the heat, add the filets and flip them after a few seconds
to sear from both sides, then lower the heat to medium



back to the gochujang braised veggies for a second, just drop the sprouts on top



keep a close eye on the salmon, it's better to flip than to burn it



when the salmon is almost done (check for pinkness on the sides of the filets),
then deglaze the pan with a small splash of rice wine, don't drown the fish,
just add enough to have a thin film of liquid in the pan, flip the filets in
the deglaze, lower the heat to low, add another sip of teriyaki marinade and
flip the filets in it while watching carefully for caramelization, again too
much heat and the sugar of the marinade will burn to black and bitter coal



check back on the veggies, if it's too runny crank up the heat and evaporate some
liquid until there is just a thick syrup-like sauce left, this will take just a moment



arrange all items in a bowl of rice, dress the blanched swiss chard with miso dressing
and sprinkle some sesame on top of the gochujang braised veggies





Itadakimasu!