How to Treat a Salmon Nicely
As a former West Coaster, I have had my fair share of opportunity to cook and eat salmon. I was asked by a friend today how I cook salmon, so I decided to make a quick post about it.
There a couple of things to remember about fish. The first is that it has such a mild taste that it cannot handle too many strong flavors, so you need to be careful not to over-spice it. Second, the meat is very tender and cooks very quickly, so cooking at high temperatures for a short amount of time is the way to go.
Most seafood does very well with flavors that are considered “high notes” in the flavor spectrum. This means ingredients like citrus fruits and vinegars are effective. White wine is also a nice addition, much better than red would be.
My favorite way to cook a salmon is to make a “tartar” sauce by finely chopping an onion, and adding it to some mayonnaise, along with some fresh dill and lemon zest. Sometimes I add some coriander as well, or instead of the lemon. Coriander has a sort of lemony smell and flavor without the acidic element to it, but it is not as strong a flavor either. The mayonnaise mix gets spread inside the salmon, both sides. Often, I will put a few pats of butter in it too.
Lastly, I slice some lemons thinly and put them inside as well, plus a few slices on top of the salmon once it has been closed up again. The fish gets wrapped up thoughtly in tin foil, and baked at arouond 400 degrees for around 30 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. For more tender fish, bake it for longer at a lower temperature.
When the fish comes out of the oven, it should stay in the foil to cool down for about ten minutes before opening the foil. Once you open it up, the skin and bones should be easy to remove; if not, then the fish is probably not cooked enough.
Yours in Good Taste,
Erik Christensen