Sweet Chilli Salmon (Gluten Free)

I make this dish almost as a matter of course when my pescatarian and wheat-free friends come over as it satisfies all of us perfectly. It is also a go-to dish for my Dad and I (along with my Korean Ramen with Belly Pork) as there aren’t many dishes that he loves which don’t involve potato. He’s a Quick Pan Aggie kind of guy!

I love using fish with Japanese inspired flavours. Apart from the obvious use in Sushi, I love to steam some cod with soy and ginger or more often than not, grab a fat salmon fillet and add to any variety of noodle, stir fry or Sticky Rice.

How to Serve Sweet Chilli Salmon

I often have a bowl of Miso Soup on the side to make me feel Japanese authentic along with some kind of steamed or fried dumpling.

I almost always serve this salmon with a heaping portion of Sticky Rice and either steamed greens or something like my Sesame Tenderstem Broccoli.

The Sauce

The sauce recipe originally came from a Wagamama cookbook but when I first wrote up this recipe, I couldn’t find it or remember what it was called. Internal culinary Chinese whispers over time meant that I couldn’t even recall how close this version was to the original. I did know that the spring onion and coriander were my own additions.

And the one day I opened up my copy of The Wagamama Cookbook and lo and behold, went straight to the original recipe for this sauce. Its called “Chilli Ramen Sauce” and started life as follows:

4 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce
6 tbsp Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)
2 scant tsp Sugar
2 tbsp Malt Vinegar

So, not so different as a base but the ratios have changed a bit over the years!

Salmon

My preferred cut is a thick slice from the centre of a side of salmon. Not the horseshoe shaped fillets that are a full slice of the whole fish.

I find that thick side fillets are thick enough to get nice and coloured on the outside whilst staying juicy and pink on the inside. But use whichever cut you prefer.

This recipe pan fries the salmon fillet but you can use my air fryer salmon fillet instructions instead if you prefer.

Ginger Paste

I always buy my ginger in jar form. This means that I always have some on hand in the fridge. It also means that I don’t have to break anything chopping it (beware the garlic press, they are just not robust enough!) and I don’t end up with wrinkled and unusable nubs of ginger littering my fridge drawer.

Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)

This is a pungent asian sauce made from fermented anchovies. And it stinks. Really badly. But it tastes nothing like it smells so please try it if you are unfamiliar. It really makes the sauce all it should be.

All of the supermarkets sell it but I love to buy massive bottles from the Asian grocers.

Be Flexible

You could easily replace the salmon in this recipe with another fish, or just use some fat king prawns. Equally you could use a chicken breast/thighs or a juicy pork chop as the main protein sauce. Duck breast works great too.

The sauce is incredibly flexible. You could also swap the sticky rice for noodles.

If you don’t like coriander, and strangely many don’t, just leave it out.

Make it Vegetarian

My Sweet Chilli Salmon is suitable for pescatarians but not vegetarians without modification.

There are a couple of easy swaps to make it vegetarian. Firstly the bulk of the protein needs to be addressed. Fried chunks or slices of tofu would work great here. Actually I quite often serve some fried tofu on the side anyway!

You could substitute something else like quorn chunks or just go heavy on the veggies.

The other ingredient which should be avoided is the fish sauce. It is made with anchovies. I would substitute this with a mixture of 1 part: vegetable stock (very strong), 1 part light soy sauce and 1 part: lime juice.

Make it Vegan

Depending on the alternative protein source that you choose, making this dish vegetarian does also makes the recipe suitable for vegans as it contains no dairy at all. Please see the section above.

I say this but choose the alternative protein source carefully as some vegetarian meat substitutes like quorn contain egg and are not suitable for vegans.

Make it Allergy Friendly

This Sweet Chilli Salmon recipe is naturally dairy, nut, egg, and gluten free. But. This does rely on the sweet chilli sauce that you choose being free from these ingredients. So please check carefully.

Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.

Equipment Notes for Sweet Chilli Salmon

I keep a small pair of tweezers in my utensil drawer for the sole purpose of pin-boning fish. They don’t get used terribly often but boy are they useful to have when I need them.

I use the smallest frying pan possible when cooking the salmon to minimise the smoke. Open a window and put the extractor on in any event. Salmon is oily so it smokes quite a lot when cooked on a high heat.

A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.

Get Ahead

Whilst I would always cook the salmon immediately before eating, you can get ahead with both the rice and the sauce.

The sauce can be prepared up to a couple of days in advance and could be frozen too. I would however be inclined to add the spring onion and coriander after reheating and just before serving.

Leftover Sweet Chilli Salmon

It is fairly unlikely you will have much in the way of leftover salmon as you will generally cook as many salmon fillets as you have people. If you do find that you have some leftover salmon, it will reheat in the next day or two.

A great idea would be to mix it with a little of the sauce and use as a filling for my Scallop Onigiri instead of the miso scallops. Yum!

Sweet Chilli Salmon Tips

Always start cooking the salmon flesh side down.

This stops the issue of the skin shrinking and the flesh not coming into contact with the pan once flipped.

Also don’t forget to cook the sides of the fillet.