Soy-Roasted Salmon with Cucumbers

Ingredients

• 0.5 cup cream sherry 
• 8 servings crunchy cucumber salad 
• 0.5 cup cooking wine dry white
• 0.3 cup ginger fresh chopped
• 0.3 cup green onions chopped
• 8 oz lemons rinsed thinly sliced (ends discarded)
• 0.1 ounce california nori dried toasted (optional; see notes)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 2 ounces radish sprouts (1 cup; optional)
• 3 pounds boned salmon fillet 
• 1 tablespoon sesame seed toasted (see notes)
• 0.5 cup soya sauce 
• 0.3 cup sugar 

Equipment

• frying pan
• oven
• baking pan
• spatula

Directions

1. In a 1- to 2-quart pan over high heat, stir soy sauce, wine, sherry, green onions, ginger, and sugar until boiling.
2. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, with tweezers, pull out tiny pin bones from salmon. Rinse fish and cut into eight equal pieces; arrange in a single layer in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish.
4. Add lemons to cooled soy marinade and pour mixture evenly over fish. Cover and chill fish, turning pieces once, for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
5. Lift fish from marinade and pat dry; discard marinade. Set a 12-inch nonstick ovenproof frying pan (or two 10-inch pans) over medium-high heat; add oil and tilt to coat. Set fish, skin side up, in pan(s) and cook until browned on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. With a wide spatula, turn pieces over.
6. Transfer pan(s) with fish to a 500 regular or convection oven.
7. Bake just until fish is barely opaque but still moist-looking in center of thickest part (cut to test), 3 to 5 minutes.
8. Transfer fish to a large platter or dinner plates and serve warm or at room temperature. Just before serving, mound sprouts equally on each serving, sprinkle with sea palm fronds and toasted sesame seeds, and mound crunchy cucumber salad alongside salmon (or serve in a separate dish).