Rich, delicious salmon fillet with balsamic glaze and miso-crusted new potatoes; it’s a festival of flavours that’s hassle-free, nourishing and elegant.
If I had to eat just one type of food for the rest of my life it would probably be seafood. Words cannot express how much I adore every single type of seafood out there. Some types of seafood are a bit more challenging to make and eat, but one of the easiest weeknight dinners you could possibly make is pan-fried salmon fillet with potatoes. It doesn’t require much work and the resulting dish looks dramatic and tastes amazing.

In theory, you can use most types of oily fish fillets in this recipe. Trout works perfectly well too, as does mackerel. I know a lot of people don’t particularly like the rich, strong flavour of oily fish, but I personally love it. In this recipe it’s best to use fillets with the skin on, as it adds crispiness and flavour, not to mention that the skin contains most of the good omega-3 fats your body needs. The skin is definitely my favourite part, I usually gobble it down first and then slowly savour the rest of the fish fillet.
As for the potatoes, I recommend using lovely little new potatoes, although if you can’t find any then good roasting potatoes will work too. You can use either dark miso paste or Korean-style soybean paste. I love the savoury, powerful umami flavour of dark miso, and it adds complexity to the food while being just one, convenient ingredient. It’s a single ingredient that packs a powerful punch!
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets, about 6 oz. each
- A teaspoon each of garlic powder, powdered cumin, smoked paprika, chilli flakes and salt to taste.
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- Store-bought or homemade balsamic glaze
For the potatoes:
- 10 small new potatoes
- 1 large tablespoon dark miso paste or fermented soybean paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Method
- Parboil the potatoes for 3 minutes, then cool quickly by placing them in a bowl of cold water.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (for conversion check the conversions section of this website)
- Cut the potatoes in half and toss in miso paste, garlic powder, and olive oil.
- Roast for 20 minutes or until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
- Rub the spices and salt onto the salmon, on both sides but paying more attention to the meat rather than the skin.
- Heat the canola oil in a cast iron pan, when hot place the fillets in it skin-side down
- Pan fry until skin gets crispy, then gently turn over to cook on the other side for about 2 minutes
- Remove from heat, drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve with the potatoes and a mixed salad. Enjoy!

Do you use miso paste for uses other than the typical ones? What are your less-usual uses for miso paste? Would love to hear more in the comments!
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