teriyaki salmon with crunchy garlic & ginger

My mother-in-law is a wonderful chef. She came to San Jose all the way from Singapore when I gave birth to my daughter to take care of us. She cooked almost everyday for 7 weeks. She asked me what I wanted to eat and I always said, "teriyaki salmon" because her teriyaki salmon was awesome! She taught me how to make it. It tastes much better when she makes for me, but this recipe is quite good, too. Thank you, mom!

Ingredients:  

Salmon fillet (skin on or off - your preference. *See TIPS) - 1 lbs/2 big fillets

[A]
Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce - 1/2 cup (If you want to make your own teriyaki sauce, see TIPS)
Soy sauce - 3 TBS
Sugar - 4 TBS
Salt & Pepper

Ginger - however much you want  (about 1/4 cup)
Garlic - however much you want (about 5 cloves)

Oil for frying

Prep:

1. Slice ginger and garlic into very thin slices.
2. Season salmon fillets with salt & pepper. Set it aside. 
3. Mix ingredients in [A] together in a bowl. (Taste the teriyaki sauce first. If the teriyaki sauce is too salty, add water instead of soy sauce. If the sauce has strong alcohol taste, add soy sauce)

 

Cook:

1. Heat frying pan with enough oil to quickly 'deep' fry garlic and ginger until golden brown & crunchy. Set it aside.
2. In the same oil, fry salmon fillets, (skin side down first). Fry for about 4-5 minutes with cover on. Fry the other side for another 4-5 minutes. It should be golden brown and crunch. Take it out on paper towel-ed plate. 
3. Wipe out excess oil, and leave just enough oil to line the frying pan. Put the teriyaki sauce mixture into a pan, put the salmon back into the pan. 
4. Let the sauce 'caramelize' on salmon. Flip after 2-3 minutes. (see TIPS)

 

Serve:

1. Put the salmon on a large plate, pour left over teriyaki sauce on top. Add the crunchy garlic and ginger on top.  Eat with rice and grilled veggies.  

TIPS

• I personally prefer skin-on fillet for this recipe because it will be very crispy & crunchy and goes perfectly with the sauce!
• If you want to make your own teriyaki sauce:
• 2 1/2 cups soy sauce 
• 1 3/4 cups mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 TBS hondashi
• 1 cup water 
• 3 TBS cornstarch & 3 TBS water
• Mix 3 TBS cornstarch & 3 TBS water in a small bowl
• In a saucepan combine the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil. Add cornstarch & water mixture and boil (low heat) for another 15 minutes. Cool before using. 
• Caramelizing the salmon is optional. You can heat the sauce separately and pour on top of the salmon.
• I used shrimps (because I ran out of salmon fillet) and it turned out great!