Have you ever watched the Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba? This salmon recipe is a nod to a classic Japanese dish shown in the series, where one of the character Giyu Tomioka was enjoying his favorite dish 鮭大根.
鮭大根 literally means salmon and daikon. It's basically a comforting miso flavored stew with salmon and daikon. I made mine here extra soupy, so you get the option to enjoy it like a hearty soup on its own too. More sips of that miso-flavored Japanese stock yumminess.
Soupy version simmered salmon and daikon in miso broth -
Ingredients?
- 480 grams salmon fillet
- 1 daikon
- 1 string scallion
- 2 ginger slices
- 4 to 6 tablespoons Japanese tsuyu
- 4 to 6 tablespoons yellow miso
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Stock:
- 2 medium pieces kombu
- 20 grams katsuobushi bonito flakes
- 4 cups water
How?
We are going to use homemade stock but it's not obligatory. Stock powder works too, whichever way works for you, we are not trying to exhaust the person cooking in the kitchen here.
So have two medium pieces of kombu ready. Mine was like a whole long dried kelp so I had to use a scissor and cut into smaller rectangular pieces before using it. Add the kombu to a pot filled with 4 cups of room temperature water. Switch to medium heat and wait till almost bubbling. Keep it that way and continue to gently drawing out the essence from the kombu for 10 more minutes.
After that let's turn the heat off. Add in 20 grams of katsuobushi and soak for 5 minutes. Then we filter the stock to the actual pot that'll be doing the simmering work.
As for other ingredients, peel then trim-off both the top and end tips of daikon. Slice the main section to thick semicircle chunks.
Peel-off the salmon skin if any then slice the flesh to medium chunks too. Scrape the ginger then cut into 1mm thickness slices. Destem the scallion and slice diagonally. You can store the prepped scallion in the fridge first, we will only need it for garnish in the end.
So we already have the pot filled with stock, let's add in daikon and switch to medium heat. Bring to a light bubbling stage and continue to cook for 15 more minutes.
Sift in miso, the yellow-looking kind, not the dark brown variety. Use 4 to 6 tablespoons depending on how heavy the taste you prefer and the type of miso used. So it might be better to start with 4 tablespoons and add more if needed.
Also add 4 to 6 tablespoons of Japanese tsuyu. Same as miso, start with 4 tablespoons and use more if needed, especially there're like double-condensed, triple-condensed, and even quaduple-condensed version. Better start little here too.
Don't forget to add 2 tablespoons of mirin and 1 teaspoon of sugar. The sugar will help smoothen out the saltiness, kind of like a balancing element here.
Transfer salmon over along with ginger slices.
Put on the lid or cover the surface with fitted parchment paper.Use medium heat with just a bit of bubbling going on, continue to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or till daikon can be easily poked through with a chopstick.
Remove the lid. Give it a taste and do some final adjustment if needed. Once all checked, garnish with the scallion we prepped earlier and serve.
Some people like to enjoy this dish on its own, that's why I prefer to make it extra soupy, so you get more stock to enjoy instead of just a dish with a little bit of juice.
Besides that, I love to serve it alongside steamed rice. When eating the soup and rice together, somehow it just speaks "comfort" in my mind. Especially heart-warming in chilly weather!
Other miso recipes:
- Beef and king oyster mushrooms stir-fry with miso tomato sauce
- Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり
- Japanese katsuo tataki salad with miso and ponzu dressing
