Introduction
Teriyaki salmon is a well-known sweet, juicy, quick, and easy dish. Today I am going to share with you the teriyaki salmon Chinese style.

Teriyaki salmon is originally a Japanese dish. Japanese use mirin for the teriyaki salmon, Chinese mainly use Shaoxing cooking wine. Mirin and Shaoxing cooking wines are 2 different kinds of cooking condiments although they have a similar look. I believe the main difference between Japanese salmon teriyaki and Chinese teriyaki is the cooking wine that is used. Mirin is a type of Japanese sweet rice cooking wine, very similar to sake and some people claim that mirin tastes sweeter than Shaoxing wine. Here, I replaced the mirin with Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine. I also added pinch of Hoisin sauce to it to bring out the rich BBQ flavor.
Long to short, it turned out surprisingly full of flavor which is soft and slightly sweet. The color is spectacular, the sweetness and savory tones of the salmon are brought out by the combination of the brown sugar and soy sauce. Plus! Consuming salmon is a wonderful method for you to get omega-3 fatty acids and excellent source of protein. The cornstarch served its purpose in the pan fry process, it works well.
Lastly, the teriyaki taste is a one-of-a-kind flavor that works well with many side dishes. I hope you will like my recipe!
Teriyaki Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 Salmon filets with skin
- 3 tablespoon cooking oil
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 4 tablespoon brown sugar
- 4 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 tablespoon corn starch
- pinch hoisin sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- roasted sesame seeds for garnish
- chopped green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Set salmon fillets in a big bowl, add salt, pepper and Shaoxing cooking wine and marinate for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, let’s make the sauce. Take a large mixing bowl, add light soy sauce and dark soy sauce at ratio of 1:1. Next, add Shaoxing wine, mixed soy sauces, brown sugar at ratio of 1:1:1, (decrease the sugar if you want less sweet) and mix it well. I have tried many versions of it increasing and decreasing the portions of each sauce, and this method turns out the best. It is easy to remember too. Lastly, add a pinch of Hoisin sauce to the mixture at the end.
- Now it’s time to prepare the salmon fillets. Pat the fillets dry with paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the salmon fillets, then coat with a thin layer of corn starch, and shake off the excess. Set aside.
- Add cooking oil to the pan at medium heat, slowly lay in the salmon fillets, then turn the heat to low. Turn the fillets over once one side has turned golden brown, make sure to brown the other side. The right amount of time depends on the size of the salmon.
- Add the premade teriyaki sauce on top of the salmon fillets, keep at low heat. Repeatedly drizzle the salmon fillets with teriyaki sauce with spoon, until the sauce has thickened.
- Top it with chopped green onions and roasted sesame seeds for garnish.
- Serve it hot with steamed rice, enjoy!
Rebecca
Can you please recommend an alternative to the Shaoxing cooking wine? Will regular cooking wine do? Unfortunately I can’t find any where I live. Thanks!
Yuan
Hi Rebecca. Dry sherry may be your best substitute. If not, try dry white wine!
Mark
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Yuan
You are very welcome, Mark. Thanks for the compliment:)