Teriyaki Salmon Toast

Something a little different but no less tasty with this salmon teriyaki dish.  Simple crushed peas on top of grilled bread, a delish homemade teriyaki sauce, pea shoots and pickled ginger makes this teriyaki salmon toast one you will devour about 5 or 6 slices easily.  Using items that if you have a well stocked pantry means this dish can be made, quickly, easily and regularly.  Don't stress though f you don't have a well stocked pantry there is no time like the present.  The beauty about this dish is most of the ingredients have long shelf lives so they can be used over and over again.

What is Teriyaki?

Most people (including myself at one point) think teriyaki refers to the sauce which is typically made up of soy, ginger, sake or rice wine and a sugar of some sort.  BUT, it actually refers to the cooking technique in Japanese cooking using said marinade.  The fish or meat is typically broiled or basted in the sauce during the cooking process.  This gives the protein a sweet, sugary glaze.  In fact teriyaki translated is "teri" - to shine or glaze through the sugar content of the sauce. "Yaki" refers to the cooking technique.  So with these powers combined you have an awesome tasting sweet, salty and slightly spicy (from the ginger) sauce.  Hence why I am LOVING this teriyaki salmon toast.

Why I love teriyaki salmon toast!

Simplicity - it doesn't get any easier than this to create a dish that has maximum flavour, looks great and on the table in about 30 minutes.  It may not be a "classical" combination using teriyaki and toast together but it certainly ticks all the boxes.

Flavour - Sweet, salty, fresh from the peas, acidity from the pickled ginger and texture from the toast.  What's not to love?

Presentation - These are some of my favourite pics that I have taken.  No biased opinions here at all!! Imagine a group of friends coming over and laying a tray of 20 of these suckers out.  I guarantee you even peeps without instagram will be whipping their phone out to snap up pics of this teriyaki salmon toast.  Yep, there are some people out there without social media accounts.

Health Benefits - ok so this one is a bit 50/50.  Yep, we are eating carbs and yep we are eating sugar BUT the sugar is unrefined so that's defo better for you.  AND at least when we are eating toast we are loading it with green veggies and fresh salmon.  Peas are known as the heart healthy veg.  Low in calories, high in flavour and they also contain a good amount of fiber too.  Salmon is cracking source of protein.  It's high in essential fatty acids, contains good amounts of vitamin B and a good source of potassium too.

Feel Good Factor - this may sound a little lame and as I write it my head is going really?  But, this dish defo has that factor.  Midweek dinners can all too often for convenience sakes be dishes loaded with pasta, rice, burgers, lazy frozen meals.  So to find one you can make everything from scratch (except the bread - that is doable just not in 30 minutes) makes one feel good.  I don't feel like I need to unzip my pants as I've over induldged and the bank ain't broke from eating it too.  Hence - "feeling good".

Making Teriaki Salmon Toast

The sheer beauty of this dish is its simplicity!  Aside from marinating the salmon it will literally take 15 minutes to make using pantry staples.  Read on, follow my steps and enjoy the glory that is teriyaki salmon.

Teriyaki Sauce

There are many versions of teriyaki sauce.  All quite similar but the one I use comes from a good old Gordon Ramsey recipe!  Simply combine the soy sauce, grated ginger, crushed garlic, soy sauce, maple syrup, olive oil & mirin together.  Literally a 1 minute job.  Using either a bowl or ziplock bag place the salmon in the marinade for 10 - 30 minutes to soak up some of the sweet, sticky, salty goodness.

Cooking the Salmon

Heat the oven to 180c.  On medium heat add 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan.  Remove the salmon from the marinade.  Place the salmon in the pan and gently press down upon it with a spatula.  This helps get a nice crust on the salmon.  Cook for 3 minutes on one side and flip.  Cook the salmon for a further minute and then add the marinade mixture to the salmon and spoon over.  Place the salmon in the oven and cook for a further 5 minutes.  Remove salmon from the oven and set aside.

Crushed Peas

Keeping it simple as with this one.  Place 150g of peas into a saucepan with a knob of butter, pinch of salt and a tbsp of water.  Cook on a medium heat for 3 - 4 minutes and then crush with a potato masher.  Job done!

Grilled Bread

This seems like the most obvious of things BUT the best way to have delish grilled bread is the following (I think).  Cut the bread into decent sized wedges.  I go with about 1.5 inches thick.  Drizzle with oil and place in a grill pan to get those lovely grill marks.  I use this technique when grilling bread for everything - especially my pan con tomate recipe that you will see below!

Assembling The Toasts

The great thing about these is you can either make them up yourself or just place all the ingredients out and let everyone help themselves.  The presentation in my pics may look "fancy" but truthfully it's kinda just "messy cool" you know the way teenage girls THINK they look!  Well basically just go for it.  Spoon out some peas onto the toast, break up the salmon into bite size pieces and place on top of the peas.  Place a few pieces of ginger on top of salmon, sprinkle with sesame seeds, drizzle some of the pan sauce over the top and honestly just drop from a height the pea shoots.  Stand back, grab your camera and snap a pic of your teriyaki salmon toast.  #jobdone

Wine Pairing

Where would we be eating delicious teriyaki salmon toast with family/friends without a good wine to accompany it.  This dish screams drinks and snacks amongst friends and for me, Rose wine does that too!

 

This week and many other weeks throughout spring/summer I am enjoying the Turkey Flat Rose which I picked up for a cracking price of $20 a bottle from winedirect.com.au - even better there was free shipping too as I may have ordered a dozen or so.....

The wine is predominately grenache with a few other varietals making up the rest.  As expected we have tons of red fruits, strawberries and cherries come to mind on both nose and palate, it is well balanced of fruit/sweetness which makes it dangerously moreish with nice balanced acidity too.  The only bad thing about this wine (said nobody ever) is one bottle just isn't enough!

Other snacks on toast

Eating delicious food on toast doesn't just stop at baked beans or smashed avo on toast.  Nowadays there are SO many options to choose from that range from the "healthier" dishes to the just damn right "get in my belly dishes".  Truthfully my teriyaki salmon toast does both of them but if salmon ain't your thing or you just simply want more options here are a few ideas from myself and other blogger friends.

Steak Crostini by yours truly

Pan Con Tomate by yours truly

Mushrooms & Feta Toast by Donna Mansour of 'Whole Food Bellies'

Toasted Baguette w/ Seafood Spread by Kate Vaynshteyn of 'Babaganosh'

Winter Crostini w/ Mushrooms, Broccoli & Hominy by Erica Walton Schwarz of 'Ericas Recipes'

Bruschetta w/ Seared Tomatoes, Roast Garlic & Burrata by Genevieve Morrison of 'She Keeps A Lovely Home'

Shiitake Crostini by Gina Matsoukas of 'Running To The Kitchen'

Marinated Eggplant by Marcella Cantatore of 'Marcella In Cucina'

All that's left to do is head to the local shops and into the kitchen to whip up these bad boys.  Happy Cooking and Happy Eating Friends!!