Shio Koji Salmon

Round 2 with shio koji was simpler than the chicken experiment, but the results were stunningly good. My usual method for grilling salmon is to oil the skin side of the fillet, place it on foil, and grill it in a closed grill over medium high flame until it's fork tender at the top surface of the thickest part of the fillet, about 10 minutes. I like mine medium rare, so I check on it occasionally until I find the flesh is just beginning to come apart with a fork. Off the grill, a little splash of soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice are all that are needed to finish it off. Serve with rice, a side dish of vegetables, and maybe some miso soup, and you've got a fine meal ready in 20 minutes.

The magical mystery sauce of shio koji took the flavor up a big notch and made the salmon irresistibly good.

Shio Koji Salmon

1 salmon fillet, skin on or off
1 Tbsp shio koji
little bit of vegetable oil
splash of soy sauce
squeeze of lemon juice

Coat the fillet in the shio koji and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to a day. Grill as described above and dress with soy sauce and lemon juice. Or don't dress it and let that salty fermented rice speak for itself. It's pretty good on its own, but does bring out the best in other flavors.

The biggest down side to this sauce is that it isn't available in the U.S. yet. You can buy koji from certain wine making supply stores that are geared for making sake, and then add salt. But once my supply is done, I guess I'll have to go back to Japan.