Grilled Salmon Skewers
⏱ 40 min prep · 🍳 4 min · 🍽 4
Grilled salmon skewers are one of those meals where the marinade does the heavy lifting — five minutes of prep, a short soak, and the salmon spends less than five minutes over the coals once it actually hits the grill. Soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and lime give it a sweet-salty base that doesn't need heat to carry the flavor, which makes it easy to keep the toppings split so everyone can add their own peanuts and cilantro (or skip them).
Budget 20–30 minutes for the marinade while you put together the cucumber salad on the side. Longer isn't better here — the salt in the soy sauce and fish sauce starts breaking down the texture after about an hour, so pull the salmon out while it's still firm.
This is a good one for a weekend dinner that tastes like more effort than it took, or a weeknight meal you marinate in the morning and grill the minute you're home.
Ingredients
- 600.000 g laks (fersk)
- 100.000 ml soyasaus
- 30.000 ml sukker
- 3.000 stk hvitløk
- 15.000 ml ingefær
- 4.000 stk grillspyd
- 2.000 stk fennikel
- 1.000 stk krydder (diverse)
- 70.000 g lime
- 15.000 ml akasiehonning
- 22.500 ml fiskesaus
Instructions
Bløtlegg trespiddene i vann i minst 30 minutter.
Skjær laksen i 1 cm tykke skiver.
Bland sammen ingrediensene til marinaden og la laksen ligge i den mens du lager agurksalaten.
Finsnitt fenikkel, agurk og chili, og bland sammen med lime, honning og fiskesaus og la stå kaldt til servering.
Tre laksebitene på spidd, og grill spiddene over høy varme i 2–4 minutter.
Pensle med marinaden underveis og snu spiddene et par ganger slik at de blir jevnt grillet.
Server laksen med agurksalat og gjerne litt koriander og grovhakkede peanøtter på toppen.
This recipe earns its keep on nights when someone at the table claims not to like fish: the marinade is sweet enough to soften the salmon's flavor, and if you split the toppings — cilantro and chili on one side, plain on the other — everyone gets to opt in instead of picking things off their plate. Buy the salmon as a single fillet from the seafood counter on your Friday grocery run, so you've got time to soak the skewers and marinate the fish before you fire up the grill. Pair it with the cucumber salad and treat it as a weekend dinner where the prep takes longer than the actual cooking — the kind of meal that's worth penciling into the weekly plan rather than deciding on the fly.
FAQ
Can I use frozen salmon instead of fresh?
Yes — just thaw it fully in the fridge overnight and pat it very dry with paper towels before cutting it into cubes. Excess moisture waters down the marinade and makes the salmon slide off the skewer on the grill, so the drying step matters more than usual. Cut the marinating time to 15–20 minutes, since thawed fish absorbs flavor faster than fresh.
How long can the salmon sit in the marinade?
20–30 minutes is enough for the soy sauce, ginger, and garlic to really soak in, and it's about how long the cucumber salad takes to pull together. Don't leave it more than an hour in the fridge — the soy and fish sauce are salty enough that the texture starts turning rubbery if the fish marinates too long.
How do I adapt the skewers for kids who don't like heat?
Split the marinade in two before you add any chili, and set aside a few pieces of salmon in the mild batch for the youngest eaters. Keep the cilantro and peanuts on the side as optional toppings instead of mixing them into the skewers — that way each kid decides for themselves instead of picking bits off.
Do I need wooden skewers, or can I use metal?
Metal skewers work just as well and skip the 30-minute soak entirely — go straight from package to salmon. If you're using wood, soak it anyway; without it the skewers scorch or catch fire under the high, quick heat salmon needs.
How should I store and reheat leftovers?
Grilled salmon keeps well covered in the fridge for 1–2 days. Reheat it gently in a skillet on low, or serve it cold — pull it off the skewer and fold it into the leftover cucumber salad for a fast lunch the next day. Skip the microwave; it dries the salmon out fast.
Can I get the skewers ready the night before?
Yes — marinate the salmon the evening before and keep it covered in the fridge, but don't thread it onto skewers until you're ready to grill. The fish firms up and holds together better right before cooking. Pull the skewers out of their water bath and pat them dry just before use so they steam less and char properly.