Salmon cooked in a coconut-miso sauce of coconut milk, miso paste, ginger, garlic, and fish sauce. Green beans in the dish and rice on the side makes this a complete meal.
- Prep Time:
15 mins - Cook Time:
15 mins - Total Time:
30 mins
I knew this recipe for salmon with coconut-miso sauce was a keeper when my younger daughter wanted to eat a bowl of rice with ONLY this sauce on top.
That is exactly what she got to do too when I finished this photo shoot. Truth be told, I ate a bowl myself and regret nothing. The last time we were this excited about a sauce was when I developed the mahi-mahi with Thai coconut curry sauce recipe. It continues to be one of my most popular posts to date.
With such a flavorful sauce as a base, adding some healthy salmon and green beans made this dish even better. It’s a complete dinner that comes together in 30 minutes in one-pan and tastes decadent without actually being decadent.
Although this dish feels somewhat like a curry, there is no curry paste or curry powder in the recipe. It’s perfect if you like Thai inspired curry dishes but don’t like the spiciness that often comes with them. The coconut-miso sauce gets its deep flavor from a generous amount of aromatics – onions, ginger, and garlic and the surprising addition of white miso. There’s also just a small splash of fish sauce to deepen the flavor.
The recipe makes a generous amount of sauce which is delicious with a side of steamed rice. However, I recently read about a saucy curry dish that was served with rice stick/vermicelli noodles. You can bet I’m trying that next!
Salmon with Coconut-Miso Sauce
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
Salmon cooked in a coconut-miso sauce of coconut milk, miso paste, ginger, garlic, and fish sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 medium red onion, halved and sliced 1/2-inch thick (1 1/2 to 2 cups)
- 3 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup white miso
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (13.5 ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce, plus more to taste
- 12 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed
- 1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
- Steamed jasmine rice, for serving
- Chopped fresh Thai basil, for serving
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Cook sauce base: In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Add miso and cook, stirring frequently, until miso is lightly caramelized, about 2 minutes.
- Make sauce: Add broth, stirring constantly to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan and to dissolve the miso (see Notes). Stir in coconut milk and fish sauce and bring the sauce to a boil over high heat.
- Cook green beans: Add green beans and reduce heat to medium-high. Cook for 5 minutes or until beans are tender-crisp.
- Cook salmon: Carefully stir in salmon and simmer gently (making sure that all the salmon pieces are submerged in the sauce) until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Taste and season with additional fish sauce as needed.
- Serve: Divide rice among bowls. Top with salmon, green beans, and sauce. Sprinkle with basil and cilantro. Serve with additional lime wedges on the side to squeeze on top as desired.
Notes
- To help dissolve the miso paste, I find it helpful to mash any lumps of miso against the side of the pan with a rubber spatula or back of a spoon.
- Recipe adapted from New York Times Cooking.
Liz says
I substituted trout for salmon and asparagus for green beans and it turned out very good. Mine was a little too salty because I used full sodium broth, so I will probably water the broth down next time. Very tasty and easy to make.
Nguyet says
I love the substitutions. The sauce is so flavorful that it works with most mild fish and green veggies. So glad you loved it.
Stacey Avelar says
Made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it. I omitted the fish sauce due to an allergy issue, it was still full of amazing flavor. It’s going in the rotation.
Nguyet says
Wow, thanks so much Stacey! I’m glad it was still wonderful without the fish sauce.