Baked Salmon in Teriyaki Marinade

We rarely cook salmon at home (we leave that to the restaurants, haha!) but I saw some really nice and fresh salmon fillets at the grocery that I just had to buy at least a pound of it!

The easiest (and fastest) way to cook a salmon fillet. . . is to bake it in your favorite marinade.  

My personal fave, teriyaki marinade.  There are bottles of teriyaki marinade which can be bought at the grocery but since we don't have any at home, I googled for some sauce recipes and I remembered seeing a recipe for homemade teriyaki sauce in Jenni Epperson's blog.  She actually used it for her chicken burgers (which I plan on making one of these days).  Her sauce's ingredients were so simple, we have everything at the pantry!  Well, except for the honey.

For a pound of salmon fillet, I used the following:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 ground ginger or minced ginger

1/4 teaspooon garlic powder

5 tablespoons packed brown sugar

Zola's Mom's add-ons:

2 tablespoons of sugar - just because we didn't have honey

3 tablespoons of olive oil - just because we have it, haha!  I saw Ina Garten's recipe for her Asian Salmon and saw olive oil in it.

Cooking Directions:

1) Preheat the oven at 350 degrees
2) Combine all ingredients and marinade the fish for at least 2 hours.
3) Line your baking pan with aluminum foil and grease it
4) Sprinkle some peppery love on your fish before popping it in the oven
5) Put your fish in the oven and cook it for 12-15 minutes (depends on how thick your fillet is)
6) To check the doneness of the fish, poke the fillet with a fork and see if it flakes apart.  (Tip: check at the thickest part of the fillet) 
7) If it's cooked, remove from the oven and serve it with a smile =)

Cooking Notes:
The salmon was delicious all by itself.  Glad we bought them fresh!  I am also happy with the taste of the marinade.  However, we got a taste of it only at the outer layer of the fillet.  So the next time I'm doing this, I'm going to:
- Marinade the fish at a longer time so the flavor would seep through the  meat
- Put honey (I really think it would make a difference)
- Put a little bit of salt for extra seasoning

- Or I can just buy a bottle of teriyaki marinade at the grocery, hahaha!

Happy Cooking!