Dearest Reader, do you ever come up with accidental recipes? When Mr NQN’s family lived nearby we used to invite them in after a day’s activity and I’d try and make something quickly based on what we had in the pantry or fridge. If it was just before grocery shopping day, then things would get tricky but a perverse part of me relished the challenge.
Sometimes things would work out, sometimes not and sometimes these “accidental recipes” have become part of our simple weeknight meal list. Ever since hearing about the benefits of eating salmon, I’ve consciously tried to include fish in our diet. I first made this recipe over 10 years ago for my sister. She had bought some salmon fillets on the way home from work and asked me to cook them for her. I decided to pan fry them as we both like a simple piece of fish grilled or pan fried. So I took out the frying pan, seared it skin side down and then flipped it over.
Being unable to leave well enough alone I peered at the huge bottle of kecap manis that was standing next to the stove top. We both love the stuff so I told her that I would do a bit of experimenting to see whether it would work. After all, if we liked both items by separately, wouldn’t we like them together?*
The kecap manis lent a gorgeous flavour to salmon as the sugars reduced and glazed the fish. Salmon works particularly well as it is a rich, fatty fish and is strong enough in flavour to stand up to the salty sweet glaze. I’ve since refined the recipe and added garlic and ginger to round out the flavour but the 10 minute cooking time remains and you can have a delicious salmon meal on the table in 10 minutes – accidentally or on purpose!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have any accidental recipes? And do you eat a lot of fish in your diet and do you tend to cook it at home or order it in restaurants?
*By the way that logic doesn’t always work, and many really bad combinations come to mind i.e. oyster cupcakes, pork rib macarons and sashimi eclairs… 
10 Minute Soy Glazed Salmon
An Original Recipe (by accident!) by Not Quite Nigella
Serves 2
- 2 x salmon fillets, about 200grams each
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 slices fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
- 1/4 cup kecap manis or Indonesian sweet soy sauce (regular soy sauce won’t give the same glaze)
- Rice or salad to serve
Buyer’s tip: kecap manis or Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce is available at most supermarkets in the Asian foods section. It can also be bought at Asian grocery stores.
1. Heat a frypan on medium heat. Remove any pin bones from the salmon (press against the salmon fillet and if you feel a bone, use fingers or tweezers to remove the bones). Add the oil and the ginger and garlic to the pan and fry for about a minute until it starts to soften and become fragrant. Add the salmon fillets, skin side down and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Turn salmon over and add the kecap manis and cook with the lid on for about 3-5 minutes (depending on whether you like your salmon cooked all the way through). During this time, occasionally baste the sides and non skin side with the sweet, sticky, bubbling sauce that gathers at the bottom of the pan.
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78 Comments | Add your own
That salmon loooks wonderful!
Cheers,
Rosa
Oyster cupcakes! lol I really want to see those now because while they sound dreadful, they’re crazy enough to be intriguing
Personally, I end up stumbling over good combinations all the time – whatever I’ve got in the fridge that really needs to be used gets chucked in. But I haven’t turned many into recipes as I often can’t remember later what I did!
This salmon looks mouthwatering and I always love a glaze over salmon – I think it needs the tangy and sweetness of the sauce…
I’ve actually accidentally cooked salmon this way too; it was quick and tasty.
A gorgeous glaze with the sweetness of the kacip manis…yum! I just wrote a post about how I really only used to order fish when eating out because I didn’t know how to cook it properly. After years of practice finally I feel more confident to cook it at home without the fear of over cooking a lovely piece of fish.
YUM!! I love salmon, especially teriyaki salmon so I’m definitely going to give this a try
My favourite type of cooking! This is divine Lorraine and live the styling with the newspaper.
I totally do something similar except I bake it in the oven – we must have similar tastes.
We tend to eat a lot of fish, for the health benefits, but probably because we like variety too.
drools!
I use ketcap manis a lot, the salty sweetness is delicious. I haven’t tried it with fish, this look delicious. I love doing fridge dinners – cooking whatever you find. Sometimes it’s really tasty, sometimes less so. GG
So that’s the secret! Ketchup Manis. I could never get it to work with plain old Chinese soy.
Thanks for the tip and happy Friday!
SSG xxx
accidental recipes, nope but spur of the moment recipes, yes.
i just combined chicken breast from my sister’s herbal chicken soup, toss it in kewpie sesame dressing + salad greens + japanese rice seasoning = japanese chicken salad.
This dish is right up my alley and if you went up said alley, you would find kecap manis. It is just addictive!
Excellent use of kecap manis – one of my favourite sauces – I just love the stickiness of it.
I don’t particularly like fish, but try to eat it regularly as it is so nutritious – this will be a nice addition to my standby treatments for it.
Simple yet delicious! Salmon is always a winner!
Yes I have had so accidental recipes that have worked like adding fish sauce to my satay sauce recipe.
Yes I try to eat fish but being in the country even though we have a fresh fish shop it wouldn’t be as fresh and as nice as you would be able to get.
Looks delish! And love your serving plate – very scout camp / Bourke Street Bakery style
I really don’t eat enough fish
Looks lovely Lorraine. Happy Friday!!
Gorgeous and simple. I need to get more fish into my diet. Perhaps it’ll make me smarter…..
Ahhh Yum!
I love love love salmon. I found a great glazed salmon recipe that I make weekly. Its a similar glaze with soy, honey, lemon rind, ginger and garlic with some fresh coriander. All you do it pan fry the salmon for a minute on each side then place on a baking tray and pour glaze on top, grill in the oven for a few minutes…. then there is a think syrupy glaze. Serve with buk choy and coconut rice… So good. Actually here is the recipe- (the coconut rice is a bit salty for my liking so i skip the stock and use water instead…)
http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/273/ginger-soy-glazed-salmon-with-buk-choy/
I really enjoy salmon and always have a large bottle of kecap manis in the cupboard so will try this next time. I like the skin crispy but inside almost raw so will probably reduce the cooking time a tad. I love how the raw salmon flesh is so soft and silky. Mostly I eat fish at home, was disappointed last time I ordered it out as it was overcooked.
Looks so delicious. What a great, tasty and quick meal.
Love when recipes come by accident. Big fan of kecap manis. Definitely have to try this.
Nice accident. I suppose its a bit similar to teriyaki, Indonesian teriyaki:)
I’ve made a few good and bad accidents also!
Kecap Manis is a very commmonly used ingredient in our house. I used it once to help bind together meat balls and since then it’s my (not so) secret ingredient.
I might try this toni9ght.
Accidental recipes? Living semi-rurally with food supplies arriving every 3-4 weeks, these are naturally par for the course
! Living alone, should one of them be not quite ‘restaurant quality’, you just pour yourself an extra glass of dry white and have a laugh eating a ‘once only experience’ 
! Actually use an awful lot of kecap manis [all the local four supermarkets keep at least a couple of the brands] and, for marinades, oft mix low-salt soy 1/2//1/2 with the sweet soy, adding the usual garlic, ginger and honey or b’cue sauce! Yummy with beef!!
I actually cook it longer skin side down (3-5 minutes) then about 2-3 minutes after flipping it over.
That looks so tasty! And it reminds me that I haven’t had salmon in ages.
what a great flavour combination!
Thanks for this easy recipe.Always looking for interesting things to do with salmon – it’s so good for you but can be soooo dull. Also very hard to get my 7 yr old to eat it but he loves Kecap manis so this should work
I really like the looks of this recipe. Sometimes I think accidental recipes are the best. The hallmark of a good cook. I have to use well-thought out recipes in my classes, but when I cook at home, I just wing it and come up with whatever works for the ingredients at hand. My husband always says, “Write that one down!.” But I rarely do
That looks soo good. Oyster cupcakes?
Bill Granger has a similar recipe but it is grilled/bbqd. Delicious!
Oh, that’s even better than one of Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. I love kepcap manis too and cook with it very often. It goes brilliantly with salmon and I’ve also cooked duck breasts in the same way.
Love it! Boy and I are trying to decrease the amount of food we throw out, so my accidents are usually a result of some odd combination of food from the fridge that needs to be used!
I do a very similar salmon dish – just marinate for 15 minutes in Kikkoman spicey teriyaki marinade before frying in non stick pan, then I add the marinade to the pan to heat through.
That’s so funny, I saw another comment where someone has accidentally made this!
I did that same! I had 2 fillets of beautiful fresh salmon, and remembered that I had a great teriyaki salmon the week before so using that as inspiration, mixed Japanese soy sauce with honey and a dash of rice wine vinegar for a perfect sweet / sour / salty sauce, then poured it onto the salmon just before it finished cooking to make a perfect sticky glaze! YUM! Now that I think about it Kecap Manis is also a perfect alternative
I’m terrible with eating fish. I know we should eat more but I’m really bad at cooking it and most of the time just forget to buy it.
I have made quite a few accidental recipes. Most of the time it’s just average but sometimes I discover something great and wish I’d written down all the little details!
Good one! I have salmon in the freezer so might try this sometime. My meals are often accidental / something I threw together on a whim, too. So satisfying when they work!
that looks wonderful! salmon is my favourite fish to eat, sashimi, cooked thru or seared! when cooking salmon with soy i tend to cook it so its still raw the int centre and let the residual heat cook it thru! yum!
Totally on purpose trying this this week.
ive made something similar.. but i steamed it..
ITs so nice and healthy .. ahh
I love salmon and I love Ketchup Manis. I can’t wait to make this. Thanks for the recipe.
Oops, now am I going to make every reader slightly ill by changing the topic from ‘salmon kecap manis’ to Peggy Porschen’s elegant cakes of 24 hours ago? Have just taken some lunchtime off to view/listen to your whole interview with her. Lorraine, I am mightily impressed! Both by the very illuminating interview and your style. OK, you were ‘lucky’ to meet a lady similar to yourself who was willing to talk at some length – it still took a tremendous amount of self-control and expertise to let her fly and to know exactly when to come in and how to have, just at the right moment, a brief Q/laugh ready to lead her further. That she trusted you to do the right ‘thing’ by her was obvious and the result is a joy1 Thank you so very much for the enlightenment
!
We have grilled salmon once a week now (although I *could* eat it more often)!
I’ve got a bottle of kecap manis in my cupboard actually – I’ll try this next week
Love a simple meal, that is tasty! I am a meal planner, so I dont often have many accidental recipes. I love fish and seafood, SO i try to have as much as I can for the week. I love to cook it at home
Or, dear. I think all my recipes are accidental..:) And I do love fish very much. I understood during our time here that I need to live not far from the ocean, Pacific ocean preferably. Or, as I tell my husband, back home, in Seattle…
That is the beauty of salmon or any good piece of fish — it lends itself to almost any preparation, as long as you don’t overcook it. Mmm, this dish looks superb. No wonder everyone scarfed it up.
Brilliant! How refreshing to read your blog after a day of dramas … missing stock etc. You remind us of the simple pleasure of cooking food. This is creative and original and whilst we are having thai fish cakes tonight, I will take your idea on board and add some kecap manis to 3 fish cakes for my not-so-fond of fish but I will-eat-it-if-I really have to daughter. Thanks for the idea! Some of your best kitchen creations come from accidentally experimenting. This one is a keeper.
Looks and sounds delish!
Looks so nice and sticky- yummo! But I have to disagree with you Lorraine, I think Pork rib macaroons with a subtle meaty smokey umami flavour and some pork floss on top would be great, maybe with bbq sauce buttercream in the middle?
I might give it a try!
I love my fish glazed this way – we often do it with tuna which we have an abundance of at the moment
I used to make salmon just like this before I moved out, though usually with chilli and a bit of normal soy as well as the kecap manis,and we’d marinade and then barbecue or bake in the oven, rarely frying. Happy memories though!
I had some ocean trout in the fridge so it is no accident that we will be eating it cooked this way tonight. Thanks Lorraine.
Goodness, that’s the sort of dish my dad would really enjoy – especially now that we’re on the tail-end of Lent! As for accidental recipes, I actually hit upon one of my family’s favorite cakes (coffee sponge with caramel and chestnut cream) when I made the mistake of using ground coffee instead of cocoa powder! (I had a cold at the time…)
accidental recipes? Hells yes. Some fails but a lotta good results too. Love winging it in the kitchen. Gosh, this looks awfully good and yes, you’ve made it so simple.
We eat salmon often, probably same amount as eating beef? This recipe will be handy and I do have the Indonesian Kecap (one of my very random condiments). Can’t wait to try this!
Lorraine, are those navy blue fingernails? How very cool.
Some might say ALL my food is accidental. I consider recipes as suggestions only.
Sadly, fish makes me really ill. I can swallow fish oil hidden in a capsule but that’s about it. I have a friend who says I just can’t cook it. LOL
I can’t eat it when other people cook it either but your salmon looks wonderful!
Smashing. Want some now. Will cook next week. Thanks for another great idea, lorraine!
I pretend every good accidental recipes were intentional. That way I get all the credit.
Nice mani, girl! I had to look up keycap manis! I’m going out this weekend to track some down, thank you for the introduction!
My recipes are always accidental…perhaps an accident waiting to happen? I usually get something in my head in the morning and it swelters around in there all day. When I come home, it just pours out. Some good and some not so much. Your salmon looks fantastic. I’m excited to try this sauce.
I love kecap manis (though I hate spelling it) and I love accidental recipes like that – I often feel like there is enough food in the house if only I can be a little creative to mean I don’t need to go to the shops and make do
Beautiful flavors, Lorraine! I rarely cook fish because it scares me! I really should and I do love salmon with soy sauce or asian flavors which work so well with the full flavor of this fish. And husband is the ad lib cook at our house and does create some spectacular recipes!
Most of the recipes are generated by an accident, I never had one, ok I mena, I never an accident than turned into something that we can eat
Sounds delicious! I have to find somekecap manis now!
OMG hahaha oyster cupcakes? That’s a bit absurd
I try to eat more fish…but I really don’t like fish apart from Salmon so this recipe is great for me hehe ~
I order more fish when I go back because I’m not really sure how to cook and make it to get rid of the ‘fishy’ smell
Great meal Lorraine, love it when you accidentally creat the worlds best meal.
Did you take up the offer of free bibles advertised to the right of the plate? Lol.
Wow… Oyster cupcakes.. Did they go an awful grey colour? Teehee… Dry wrench at the thought.
Accidental recipes… Yep, often. Alot of fish in the diet,, no not enough, always order it when I go out though.
#53 again. This was delicious simply served with some wok fried julienne of vegetables.
Thats the difference between you and I.. we have so many accidental recipes, but we never document them… so when we strike gold, 9/10 we will not remember how to replicate them *sadface*
I love this idea! I can’t always find the time to cook up a feast but 10 mins is so much easier to find!
Salmon is my absolute favourite fish and what u have donne with it is my taste too. Cant wait to try your recipe soon!
oyster cupcakes, pork rib macarons, and sashimi eclairs? i shudder to think!
Such a gorgeous color. Simple meals are often the best. xoxo Mum
Ah, now, I reaaaaaally fancy this!!
Love the crinkled newspaper. Love this salmon more. Accidental food could be my middle name because I can’t stick to recipes, but when it works it works. When it doesn’t, I don’t tell anyone. Only my trash can knows for sure.:)
I love dishes such as this. Stud always asks (while I’ve got food in the pan and in the middle of whipping something up) “whats for dinner” and usually my honest reply is “I dont know” lol, because I actually dont, until Im about 5 minutes from plating! haha
Yummm I love kecap manis.. most important thing I look forward to while eating mi goreng..
Some of the best (and worse) recipes come out of an empty fridge or an emergency meal. It has happened to me quite often, but until I had a blog I never recorded them and tend to forget quite easily.
Ocean trout and Oyster sauce is another good combination.
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