Unheralded

CHEF JEFF: One Byte At A Time — Grilled Salmon With Honey-Soy Marinade

There aren’t many places that have better fishing than Alaska. Anyone who lives there or has visited will tell you so.
And if you have traveled there and been fortunate enough to experience casting a hook and line into either one of the state’s plentiful rivers or into the ocean, you’ve may have brought home a bounty of fish that would be the envy of just about any angler or chef in the Lower 48.
There is one other way to enjoy a meal or two of seafood from our 50th state other than making a trip up north, though: have some good friends who like to share their catch.
That’s me, even though a cousin, Paul Hendrickson, has invited me to come to Anchorage to do some fishing several times over the past 20 years. I haven’t yet taken him up on the offer, but he has shared fish that he’s brought back on his trips home.
Paul is not the only person who has given me halibut and salmon from Alaska. Most recently, an old friend, Ron Capistran, who I’ve know since we were in grade school together in Crookston, Minn., shared some nice fish with me.
Ron just returned from his 10th trip to Sitka, Alaska, where his son, Derek works at a resort as a chef. The fishing was great, he said.  His group caught halibut, king and silver salmon as well as rock fish.
Ron was very generous, giving me some beautiful king fillets as well as a nice piece of halibut, which I hope to fix in the next week or so.  
While my favorite place to cook salmon and halibut is in the oven, I’m going to cook this fish on my grill, using the following recipe — from Betty Crocker. I’ve never tried the recipe but know from experience that a honey-soy marinade works great with fish, especially salmon.
Just ask any Alaskan.
Grilled Salmon with Honey-Soy Marinade
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large salmon fillet (about 2 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
In small bowl, mix all ingredients except salmon.
In shallow glass or plastic dish, place salmon. Pour marinade over salmon. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes but no longer than 1 hour.
Heat coals or gas grill. Remove salmon from marinade; reserve marinade. Place salmon, skin side down, on grill. Cover and grill over medium heat 10 to 20 minutes, brushing 2 or 3 times with marinade, until salmon flakes easily with fork. Discard any remaining marinade.




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