Asian Marinade for Salmon and Steak

This bold Asian steak and salmon marinade is delicious on steak, salmon and chicken. Plus, you can make an incredible pan sauce with the remaining marinade!

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through this link (at no extra cost to you).

Why This Recipe Works

• This Asian steak marinade is bold, flavorful and delicious. You will also love my Tempero Baiano Brazilian Seasoning which can be easily converted into a delicious marinade!
• This recipe doubles as a delicious pan sauce for steak, chicken or grilled vegetables! Be sure to check out my recipe for the perfect Wagyu Burger (the juiciest for most delicious burger ever)!
• Only a few ingredients required and will turn a boring cut of meat into a delicious dinner that your whole family will love. You can also use this marinade to make this amazing Bacon Jerky! You should also check out this article about Brining Chicken Wings for next level flavor and juiciness.
• This Asian steak marinade pairs absolutely perfectly with Bavette Steak or as a marinade for Wild Sockeye Salmon.

Recipe Tips for Marinade

• Tweak the Flavors (if desired): Taste the flavor before you add the meat and if you like a little extra of any ingredient, you can add it. For example, add a little spice if you like! I love hot chili oil as a spicy addition.
• Combine the meat and marinade in a gallon bag: Slice meat (if applicable), put meat in gallon bag, add marinade to bag and mix marinade so all meat is fully coated. Put bag with meat and marinade into a bowl, just in case the bag may leak.
• Save the Marinade!!!! Once the meat is done marinating, be sure to save the Asian beef marinade to make your pan sauce/Demi glacé.
• Grill your meat: While you can use this marinade for other preparations (example: oven baked steak or chicken), I highly recommend using this recipe when grilling.

How long to marinate steak?

This is a bold and assertive marinade so any amount of time will boost flavor. However, I recommend 1-2 hours. You can go up to 4 hours. I have not been able to wait much longer than that! If you don’t have a lot of time to marinate, I highly suggest you keep the marinade juice when done and make the pan sauce/demi-glace. It is super rich and flavorful. You could even use this marinade JUST to make the pan sauce if you don’t have time to marinate. Simply season your steak with salt and pepper and make the sauce.

Will this work as an Asian marinade for salmon?

Yes! This marinade is great on salmon. Salmon is a delicious and fatty fish so it holds up well to the bold flavors of this marinade. I recommend marinating the salmon for one hour. If you love salmon, you should definitely check out this Salmon Tataki!

Can I use this Asian marinade for chicken?

Absolutely!!! I have used this recipe many times as an Asian marinade for chicken breasts and chicken thighs. I love to grill the chicken along with some grilled pineapple. If you are using this Asian marinade for chicken, you will not want to marinate as long as you would steak because chicken will break down more quickly than steak.

This marinade also works well with pork (pork chops or pork tenderloin), salmon, shrimp, tofu and vegetables! As far as other cuts of beef to use, this recipe is amazing with flank steak, tri tip, ribeye, chuck eye, New York strip, tenderloin, porterhouse, t-bone, skirt steak, top sirloin and flat iron. This recipe is bold and assertive, so it will pretty much make shoe leather taste delicious!

How to make pan sauce or Demi glacé from leftover marinade

A pan sauce is a sauce that can be made with only a few ingredients and relatively quickly. It is sometimes referred to as a steak finishing sauce. Many pan sauces are made with wine, however, if you are looking for a pan sauce without alcohol, this sauce is great! While this sauce is technically not a demi-glace, it does have elements such as the meat juice incorporation after marinating the steak and the spirit of adding butter with the other ingredients to create a rich and flavorful balance. To make your pan sauce:

1. Add remaining asian steak marinade to sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce to thick sauce (stirring constantly) and remove from heat.
3. Immediately, add butter and swirl with a fork until butter is melted and combined into the thick sauce.
4. Note: The more you reduce, the more concentrated the flavors will be. You may wish to add more butter if the sauce is more reduced. This will be personal preference.

Ingredients

• Rice vinegar
• Pineapple juice
• Low sodium soy sauce
• Garlic
• Fresh ginger
• Brown sugar
• Optional: Crushed red pepper or hot chili oil

How to prepare garlic

I highly recommend using a garlic press for this recipe. It makes life so much easier! Plus, if you are a garlic lover (like me!), your garlic press will never gather dust in your kitchen because you will use it all the time! I use the Oxo Good grips garlic press and it has served me well for many years. If you are using a garlic press, you will want to use 4 medium/large cloves for this recipe. Just use the pressed portion of the garlic. You can save any remaining (the part left inside the press) for garlic bread or garlic oil.

If you do not have a garlic press, you can use 2 to 3 medium/large garlic cloves and finely mince.

How to prepare ginger

I also love using my garlic press for ginger. Ginger can be very tough and fibrous so I find that a garlic press makes it much easier to extract the flavorful juices and ginger. If using the garlic press, I recommend that you pre-chop about 3 tablespoons of ginger into small squares (before using the press). Then press ginger through garlic press. Use the juice from the ginger when you press it and use the ginger that is pushes through the press. Discard ginger left inside the press as it is fibrous and you will not want that in your pan sauce.

If you do not have a garlic press, use 1-1.5 tablespoons finely minced ginger.

What type of soy sauce and rice vinegar to use?

I recommend using low sodium soy sauce in this recipe. Kikkoman is a good soy sauce brand. You can use rice vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar in this recipe. Keep in mind, seasoned rice vinegar has added sugar so this will make your marinade sweeter. You can cut back on the brown sugar if you wish to offset but I find that to be personal preference. Marukan Seasoned Rice Vinegar and Nakano Seasoned Rice Vinegar are both good choices and are often found in the Asian or vinegar/salad dressing section of most grocery stores. Many grocery stores also carry a store brand version of rice vinegar (ex: target).

Helpful tools to make this recipe

• Jar: I like to shake up the marinade.
• Garlic press: to press the garlic and ginger. It just makes life easier!
• Gallon size bags: Combine the meat or vegetables and marinade in a bag so you can mix it up periodically with ease.
• Grilling utensils: This marinade works best with grilled meat.
• Small Sauce Pan: To make your pan sauce. The pan sauce is optional, but really its NOT. It is SO good. You need to make it. It is rich in flavor, depth and umami goodness.

Looking for other delicious Asian inspired recipes?

• Vegetable Sushi
• Eel Sauce (for Sushi)
• Bang Bang Sauce
• Furikake Salmon
• Miso Ginger Dressing
• Asian Inspired Buddha Bowl
• Chili Crisp

You will also love this popular Chinese street food called Tangulu. It is a delicious candied fruit dessert. My favorite is candied Tanghulu strawberries!

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my EMAIL NEWSLETTER and follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for all of the latest delicious food!

You can also comment below. I LOVE hearing from you! If you loved the recipe, a 5 STAR RATING is the ultimate compliment as food is my love language!