This Swordfish Teriyaki is a delicious, restaurant quality meal. Swordfish is a hearty, dense fish that can be cooked just like a steak. It can stand up to grilling, baking, broiling and pan-frying. And a big bonus about swordfish is that it has more than a gram of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Swordfish can be slightly fishy in comparison to other fish, but the marinade in this recipe easily diminishes any fishy flavor. There is a whole tablespoon of grated fresh ginger in the teriyaki marinade, and that’s going to dominate over any unwanted fishy aroma. Swordfish is similar in taste to mahi mahi. Serve your swordfish teriyaki with a light, citrus salad for the perfect, healthy meal!
If you are a lover of swordfish, you might also like to try our recipes for grilled swordfish with mango salsa, grilled swordfish steaks with avocado mayonnaise and swordfish souvlaki with lemon olive oil marinade. Teriyaki tuna is another option!
Ingredients Needed:
- Soy Sauce: This is the base of the teriyaki marinade. Everything you add to it is going to turn it into that wonderful teriyaki flavor.
- Oil: Use vegetable, canola or avocado oil. Don’t leave it out. Oil adds moisture to the marinade, and it will help keep the swordfish tender while cooking at a high heat.
- Sherry: Use DRY sherry. It’s the sweet, slightly boozy element to balance the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and ginger. You can substitute mirin, rice vinegar or apple juice.
- Ginger: The ginger is going to give the marinade great fresh flavor. Use fresh ginger, not powdered ginger.
- Brown Sugar: A little bit of brown sugar will add sweetness to the marinade.
- Garlic: Minced, fresh garlic is always a great addition to any marinade.
- Hot Chili Oil: You will find this in the Asian products section at your local market. Since you only need a small amount of oil, you might just want to make your own chili oil (it’s easy!) Pour a little vegetable oil in a small bowl, and add some chili flakes to it and let it sit for a while. BOOM, you now have hot chili oil.
- Swordfish: Use fresh or frozen swordfish steaks. I’ve included some information about how to choose the best swordfish down below.
- Lemon: This is optional, but it’s nice to provide some fresh lemon wedges for serving.
How to make Swordfish Teriyaki:
In a bowl, stir together all of the ingredients except for the swordfish and the lemon to make the teriyaki marinade.
Place the swordfish in a glass pan, and pour the marinade evenly over the top. Place the pan with the fish and marinade in the fridge, and marinate 15 to 30 minutes (no longer).
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the marinated fish on a rack set above a pan. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until the swordfish is cooked through. The flesh should be opaque, not translucent. Press it lightly with a fork—it should flake easily but still feel firm. If it’s too soft and jelly-like, it needs more time. If it’s super firm and dry, it’s overdone! You can check for doneness with an instant-read thermometer. Swordfish is cooked through at 130 to 135°F for medium, and up to 145°F if you like it more well-done.
Heat up the marinade left in the pan, and drizzle it on top of the swordfish to serve along with lemon wedges.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t remove the skin of your swordfish. It helps keep the steaks from falling apart while cooking. You can remove it after cooking, if you’d like.
- Over-marinating can bring a mushy texture to your swordfish. 15 to 30 minutes of marinating is perfect.
- Don’t marinate the fish at room temperature. Keep it refrigerated.
- Overcooked fish loses its natural moisture, which can result in a rubbery texture.
- Avoid eating the dark part of the swordfish steak. It’s the kidney of the fish, and it often tastes metallic since it’s full of iron.
What to look for when buying swordfish:
- Fresh swordfish should be firm and have a light pink/white color. Avoid pieces that have discoloration (they may be old).
- It should smell clean and not have an overly “fishy” smell.
- The flesh should be firm, not squishy. It should be dry, not slimy.
- A center-cut swordfish steak is the best choice as it will cook more evenly. Avoid steaks that have cracks, which may indicate dryness.
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In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, olive oil, sherry, ginger, brown sugar, garlic and chili oil to make the marinade.
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Place the swordfish in a glass pan and pour the marinade over it. Marinate in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 450°F.
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Remove the fish from the marinade and place on a rack in a baking pan or on a broiling pan. Bake for about 7 to 10 minutes, or until done. Meanwhile, you can boil the remaining marinade in a small pan. Serve with drizzled with some of the cooked marinade and lemon wedges.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 428kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 46g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 150mg, Sodium: 762mg, Potassium: 1036mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 272IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 23mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.