These Honey Garlic Salmon Bites are easy and taste amazing! You start with fresh salmon and cut it into small cubes. The key is cooking them long enough on each side until they get a little crust.
It’s the sauce that makes these so delightful. The secret ingredient is hot honey mixed with soy sauce and a little lemon juice. Of course, there is a little butter mixed in too. Serve over rice and make your family smile!
How to make Honey Garlic Salmon Bite
1. Make perfect rice. Place the rice and water into a sauce pan. Bring the water to a boil with the lid on. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 20 minutes with the lid on. There should be little holes in the top layer of the rice when it is done. This is how you know you have perfect rice.
2. Buy a salmon filet. I like to buy mine at Costco, but you can buy salmon anywhere. There are so many different kinds of salmon, large or small fillets, frozen or fresh. The salmon I buy is half of a fish without bones or skin. If you buy one with skin, it needs to be removed.
3. Slice the fillet into cubes. The cubes need to be one to two inches in length. Smaller pieces have a tendency to fall apart when frying and turning them over. Making them larger will give you more surface space to make a nice crust. You can cook smaller pieces, but because salmon is so delicate, they might fall apart easier.
4. Place the salmon cubes in a bowl and sprinkle on the season salt, paprika, chili powder, creole seasoning and soy sauce. Gently mix everything until all the salmon pieces have been coated. If you are concerned about buying a creole seasoning, there are lots of different kinds. I purchased the brand Tony Cacheres, but there are so many to choose from. Zatarains and Konriko are two brands that make a creole seasoning. Walmart has a Great Value creole seasoning and Old Bay is considered a creole seasoning,too. Any of these will do.
5. Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan. Gently place the salmon pieces in the pan. You will need to cook the salmon in batches. Not all the salmon will fit in the pan and you do not want to smash them together because they will be hard to turn.
Honey Garlic Salmon Bites Are Quick and Easy To Make
6. Cook the salmon until there is a nice crust, about 2 – 3 minutes on each side. Turn the pieces over and cook another minute or two to get a crust on the other side. Place the cooked salmon bites on another plate. Begin cooking the second batch by placing more raw, seasoned salmon in the pan.
When you take the salmon pieces out of the frying pan, some pieces might not be cooked all the way through. That is fine. They will finish cooking after you make the sauce and put them back in the pan to glaze. Finish cooking all the salmon. Take all the cooked salmon and set aside.
7. For the honey sauce you will need fresh garlic. Pry four large cloves from a bulb of garlic. Smash them with the flat side of a large chef’s knife. Peel off the garlic skin and then grate each clove on the small side of a box grater. Make sure you check on the inside of the grater so you do not leave any behind.
8. With the drippings in the pan, add more four tablespoons of butter. Now add the grated garlic. Stir until the garlic begins to cook. You will know this when you get a bloom of garlic smell. It only takes about 30 seconds on medium heat. Add the hot honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and the sriracha or gochujang sauce to the garlic and butter. Heat and mix everything until it begins to bubble. Let the sauce gently boil on a medium low heat for about one minute or until it thickens and turns into a glaze.
9. Place the salmon bites back in the fry pan and gently spoon the sauce on them. If you turn or pick up the salmon too much, it will begin to fall apart as it cooks further so be careful. Cook the salmon for another minute in the honey garlic sauce. Take them out and place in a bowl or tray. Continue cooking the rest of the salmon in batches in the honey garlic sauce. If the sauce thickens up too much, add a little butter or soy sauce.
10. Serve the salmon bites on a plate of rice and garnish with sesame seeds and chives. The sesame seeds and chives makes everything look so good. I put a tablespoon of each in the recipe as amounts, but do not feel like you need to use all of that. Just sprinkle on what you think looks good.
Let me know on Instagram or Facebook if you make this. Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner.
Honey Garlic Salmon Bites
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups Rice
- 3 Cups Water
- 1.5 lbs. Salmon, cut into cubes
- 1 tsp. Chili Powder
- 1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp. Creole Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Lawry's Season Salt
- 4 Tbsp. Soy Sauce, divided
- 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 6 Tbsp. Butter, divided
- 1/2 Cup Hot Honey
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 2 tsp. Sriracha Sauce or Gochujang Paste
- 1 Tbsp. Chives, garnish
- 1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds, garnish
Instructions
- Mix the water and rice in a sauce pan.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
- Cook for 20 minutes with the lid on.
- While rice is cooking, cut the salmon into cubes.
- Mix the chili powder, smoked paprika, seasoning salt and cajun seasoning in a small bowl.
- Place the salmon cubes in a bowl. Sprinkle on the combined spices and add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Mix gently until all pieces of salmon are covered.
- In a skillet on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Once the butter has melted in the skillet, add cubes of seasoned salmon. Don't crowd and cook the salmon in batches.
- Cook until there is a crust on the top of the salmon and then turn them over to get a crust on the bottom side. Each side takes about 3 minutes to cook.
- Once the salmon is cooked, take it out of the pan and set aside.
- Peel and grate the garlic cloves.
- Add 3-4 tablespoons of butter to the skillet Heat until all the butter is melted.
- Add the grated garlic to the skillet and cook until you can smell the it, about 30 seconds.
- Add the hot honey, 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, lemon juice and the sriracha or the gochujang sauce to the pan.
- Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cook until the sauce gets thicker, about 2 minutes.
- Add the salmon back into the sauce. Use a spoon to pour sauce over salmon.
- Once the salmon is heated through, serve on a bed of rice and garnish with sesame seeds and chives.
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