Spicy Honey-Glazed Salmon
Broiled salmon with a sweet, tangy, and spicy glaze of honey, vinegar, soy sauce, and chili, served over rice with avocado, cucumber, and radish. A full, colorful, flavor-packed meal.
- 1 skin-on salmon fillet (~1½ lb / 700 g)
- Kosher salt
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- ⅓ cup mild honey
- ⅓ cup white wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp chili sauce, such as sriracha
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, preferably low-sodium For serving
- Cooked white rice, brown rice, or quinoa
- Sliced cucumber
- Sliced avocado
- Sliced radishes
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1
Prep the salmon
Heat the broiler to high (rack in the middle if it's inside your oven). Line a baking dish with a large sheet of foil, letting it overhang the edges, and fold those edges up around the salmon to form a kind of "boat": this catches any drips from the glaze, it doesn't need to look neat. Place the salmon skin-side down and season with salt.
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2
Make the glaze
In a small skillet over medium heat, cook the smashed garlic, honey, vinegar, chili sauce, soy sauce, and a pinch of salt, stirring often, until it thickens into a syrup (about the consistency of honey), 8-10 minutes. It will bubble a lot but shouldn't overflow. Let cool 5 minutes to thicken further. Fish out the garlic with a fork and discard. Set aside 2 tbsp of the glaze for later.
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3
Glaze and broil
Brush the salmon with half of the remaining glaze. Broil, brushing with the rest of the glaze halfway through, until the salmon is cooked through and the surface is heavily blistered, 12-14 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet. Don't worry if some spots char deeply: that's just the sugars caramelizing, and it won't ruin the flavor. Carefully remove from the oven and pour the reserved glaze over the top, spreading it with a spoon if needed.
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4
Build the bowl
Divide the rice or quinoa among shallow bowls. Using a large spoon, break the salmon into pieces and arrange over the rice, leaving the skin behind. Right before serving, scatter the sliced cucumber, avocado, and radishes on top.
- The foil "boat" is just to keep the glaze drips off your pan: it doesn't need to look perfect.
- If your oven doesn't have a broiler setting, use the highest temperature it has and place the salmon on the top rack, as close to the heat source as possible.
- Deeply charred spots on the glaze aren't a mistake: that's caramelized sugar, and it adds flavor.
- Tossing the glaze left in the pan: a bit is set aside to pour over the cooked salmon, which is where it matters most.
- Pulling the salmon out before the glaze is well charred: those dark spots are part of the final flavor.