Rich, buttery hoisin-glazed salmon is flake-apart perfect over rice! A glamorous and easy option for at home hosting, this salmon is roasted along side glazed carrots then served with bowls of toppings. Fun for everyone to make their own and casual elegance for the host!
Hoisin Glazed Salmon and Roasted Carrot Bowls
You know how little kids are notoriously picky eaters? They turn their noses up at everything. But then get them in the kitchen cooking with you and suddenly they’re trying all sorts of ingredients along the way. When I’m hosting an intimate dinner party, I like to remember that everyone enjoys having a little say in what ends up on their plate. Give your guests the opportunity to assemble their own meal, and suddenly dinner becomes part of the experience.
So for my Double Date Night dinner, I’m sharing a customizable bowl meal that lets everyone build exactly the bowl they want. I start with my delicious Hoisin Glazed Salmon. I just mix up a simple hoisin glaze that’s salty, sweet, and spicy, then use it three ways: some goes on the salmon, some coats the roasted carrots, and the rest gets an extra hit of lime before becoming a finishing sauce for the table.
The salmon itself is extremely easy. I brush it with a bit of the hoisin glaze and roast it for about 10 minutes, until it’s buttery and flaky. The carrots roast right alongside it on the same pan. When it’s time to serve, everything goes on the table with bowls of jasmine rice, edamame, scallions, cucumber, and the hoisin finishing sauce. Everyone gets to build their own bowl, exactly the way they like it.
I love this dish for a Double Date Night dinner or a small dinner party because it’s incredibly host-friendly. One sauce, three uses? Very economical. Plus, everything doesn’t have to arrive at the table piping hot, so there’s no pressure to get everyone eating the second dinner is ready. And it goes beautifully with the rest of this menu: warm Chicken Peanut Satay Dip to start and a Maple Ginger Bourbon Sour to wash it all down.
Whether it’s tacos, omelettes, pizza, chili, or ice cream sundaes, keep hosting simple by inviting your guests to compose their own dish. It’s stress-free, interactive, and brings out the kid in everyone.
Hoisin Glazed Salmon and Roasted Carrot Bowls with Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a blender or food processor, add 3 tbsp lime juice, siracha, soy sauce, hoisin, ginger, garlic, and honey. Blend until smooth.
- Remove 1/3 cup and set aside. Transfer the rest to a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, until reduced.
- While the hoisin glaze is reducing, prepare the carrots. On the baking sheet, toss trimmed carrots with sesame oil, salt, and pepper. Spread evenly. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Push the carrots to one half of the baking sheet and place the salmon on the other half. Glaze both the carrots and the salmon with the reduced hoisin.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes until the salmon is opaque and the carrots are tender.
- To the hoisin sauce that did not reduce, add the last tablespoon of lime juice. Serve it as a finishing sauce alongside the salmon, carrots, rice, cucumber, edamame, and any other toppings you might like. Everyone creates their own bowl at the table. Finish with sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!
Hosting Tips
- What makes this dish fun is allowing everyone to create their own bowls. So when I’m serving it, I just set out bowls of toppings so everyone can make their own. Start by serving everyone a bowl with rice and a piece of salmon, and let them take it from there.
- To save time, the hoisin glaze and finishing sauce can be made in advance. I would make the salmon and carrots just before serving.
- An extra sprinkle of sesame seeds on both the carrots and the salmon give it that extra visual appeal that makes it really pretty to serve.
Doubling up Date Night
My Hoisin Salmon Bowls are a truly delicious dish that also add its own bit of entertainment to a dinner party as everyone creates their own. This is faster than take out, and I find it to be more fun too! It’s a simple way to gather a small group for an evening in. Serve it as part of my Double Date Night Skip the Takeout Menu alongside Maple Ginger Bourbon Sours and the most inviting Warm Chicken Peanut Satay Dip.
If you’d like to try other make-your-own ideas, cook up a batch of my White Chicken Chili with Brie and let guests add their own toppings to it. Or have guests make their own Shrimp Tacos for a fiesta. The same goes for cocktails. Have guests make their own cocktails with my Hazelnut Thyme Champagne Cocktails. Just set out a little card telling guests how many parts of each ingredient and bottles of everything else so they can make their own!
Enjoy serving these salmon bowls and let your imagination go wild with the toppings as well!
