Salmon Mentega Miso

Instructions

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. For the seasonings, combine 1 Tbsp miso, 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp mirin, and 1½ Tbsp soy sauce. Mix well and set aside.
3. Finely chop some chives and cut off the stems of ½ package shimeji (brown beech) mushrooms. Separate the shimeji into smaller clusters with your hands.
4. Cut off the stems of 2 shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice them.
5. Check to see if your salmon has any bones and remove if there are any (I use a pair of fish bone tweezers). Pat dry 2 fillets skin-on salmon fillets with a paper towel and season them with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Sprinkle ½ Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour) on the salmon and thinly coat it all over. The flour will seal in the delicious salmon juices and act as a thickening agent for the sauce.
7. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil. Place the salmon in the pan, flesh side down. Cook for 5 minutes. Tip: You can see how far you've cooked by checking the color of the fish from the side of the fillet. After cooking for 5 minutes, you should see that about ¼ inch (6 mm) of the flesh has turned a lighter color from cooking. Be careful not to burn your salmon using high heat.
8. Flip the fillets over so the skin side is on the bottom. Then, add the shimeji and shiitake mushrooms. Cook the skin side for 5 minutes.
9. Next, cook the sides of the salmon fillets for 1 minute each. It is completely okay when there is a bit of translucent pink in the middle. The remaining heat will continue to cook the rest of the fish.
10. Add 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and sauté the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms on top of the salmon so the fillets absorb some of the delicious sauce.
11. Add the seasonings mixture to the pan. Coat the salmon with the sauce using a spoon.
12. Transfer the salmon and mushrooms to individual plates. Spoon some pan sauce on top and garnish with the chopped chives and toasted white sesame seeds.
13. You can store the leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.