Eli’s Salmon
Today, I am doing you all a favor. I am pulling the recipe for Eli’s Salmon out from the archives and placing it front and center. I first shared this recipe on February 4, 2013 (I seriously cannot believe that I have been doing this for ten years!) and as blogging was new to me, I included it in a post with two other recipes. For that reason, to this day to find Eli’s Salmon you have to dig, dig, dig.
Most of my friends have had this dish multiple times and at this point, many rightly consider it their own. For those of you who are not familiar with the recipe, Eli’s Salmon is credited to Eli Zabar (of NYC’s Zabar’s fame) and it is a side of salmon that is doused in a soy sauce mixture, covered with panko and doused again. You bake the salmon for a short time at a high temperature and voila! The salmon can be served hot, warm or at room temperature, making it the perfect dish for entertaining (I’m looking at you, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s). And if you are lucky enough to have leftovers, it’s possibly even better the next day. I should add that by replacing the soy sauce with tamari and using gluten-free panko, this dish would be easily adapted for anyone with a gluten intolerance.
As one might expect, I made Eli’s Salmon yesterday because Mattes has come home for Winter Break and it’s her number one request. Of course, I didn’t take a picture. I hadn’t thought about this post and we have seriously eaten this salmon hundreds of times. I looked on the Internet for an image I could borrow and I have to say the photos are quite possibly worse than my own. My conclusion is that Eli’s Salmon is decidingly unphotogenic but do not let this prevent you for making this dish. Because I love you, I will share a photo of our leftovers…don’t judge! Enjoy!
Eli’s Salmon
Ingredients
- 2.25 lb center cut salmon fillet approx. 1.5 inches thick; skin on or off–if it's skin-on, the skin will be easily left in the pan when serving.
- 1 c low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 c rice vinegar
- 1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 lemons
- 2 Tbls oyster sauce
- 1 Tbls fish sauce
- 1 Tbls toasted sesame oil
- 1.5 Tbls chili paste
- 1/2 c sliced scallions
- 2 Tbls minced garlic 8 large cloves
- 2 Tbls minced fresh ginger
- 1.5 c panko crumbs
Instructions
- Line a baking pan with foil.* Place the salmon in the pan.
- In a mixing cup, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, scallions, garlic and ginger.
- Pour 1/3 of the soy mixture over the side of salmon.
- Sprinkle the panko evenly over the salmon.
- Pour the rest of the sauce evenly over the panko. Be sure to soak the panko completely and if any runs off, spoon back onto the salmon. Set aside for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500F. Roast the salmon for 18-20 minutes, or for about 12 minutes per inch at the thickest part of the salmon. The internal temperature will be 120F when it's done.
- Remove from the oven, wrap tightly with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.