I hate salmon. With a passion. Chalky, dry, smelly, slimy-skinned, the worst of the worst when it comes to fish. At least, that's what I would've said about a decade ago, when the only salmon I had tasted was over-poached at buffets or overcooked at restaurants that frankly didn't quite know what they were doing. I don't know if I was running the right circles, but it seemed de rigeur in my youth to cook salmon to a shade just past well-done.
We didn't seem to exit these culinary dark ages until some time in the '90s, by which time my bias against the fish had already been firmly established.
It wasn't until I started cooking in nice restaurants the kind that I could never afford to go to as a civilian that I realized that it wasn't the salmon that was at fault, but rather as usual the cook. Properly cooked salmon is amazing. Crisp, crackly, crunchy skin that can rival the best roast chicken's; tender, moist, flavorful meat that melts across your tongue like butter. There's a reason, after all, why salmon is the most popular fresh fish in the country. But before we even begin cooking it, let's take a quick look at what you might find at the fish counter.
There was a time not long ago when salmon was salmon. It was the pink fish that skinny people ordered at restaurants or fancy ladies in French hats would pick at on a high class buffet. These days, diners are a little more aware of what's out there, or at least that there are options when it comes to specific salmon species.
Here's a quick guide to what you might find in the market. Over the course of the next few weeks, the folks at Copper River Salmon will be sending us samples of various salmon species, so stay tuned for some more detailed updates! In general, I prefer larger, fattier King Salmon for high-heat cooking methods like pan roasting. Their thicker size and higher fat content offer a little more protection from overcooking or drying out, things that salmon is prone to do in the high heat of a pan or an oven.
That said, any salmon will do as long as you are careful with how you treat it. There's an unholy trinity of fates that can befall salmon. If you've ever cooked salmon, these are probably all too familiar a sight:. The Picked Scab :. Flaky bits of salmon flesh that get stuck to the pan as it cooks. Not only does it make the finished cooked fillet look like a pock-marked teenage crater-face, it also makes the pan a bitch and a half to clean when you're done.
We'd rather avoid that. The Leatherhead :. Like the TMNT character of the same name , there may be something soft and tender underneath, but the dried out, stringy, crusty, downright malicious exterior is all you can pay attention to. The Bloomin' 'Bumen. That's right. The white gunk that gets squeezed out of the layers of salmon flesh, oozy and unattractive like a popped pimple what's up with the blemish similes today?
It's not just that it's something you don't want to eat, it's also a pretty surefire indication that the salmon you are about to put in your mouth has been overcooked beyond repair. Luckily, the first two problems can be solved relatively easily. How many of you have been intimate with a salmon fillet? During this time, residual heat will continue to cook the meat, and the internal temperature in the center of the salmon will continue to rise, even after it's off the heat.
If you're unsure whether thicker fillets are ready, check the internal temperature. Personally, I prefer to cook my salmon at higher temperatures for shorter amounts of time, and treat it like a steak. First, salt and pepper the fleshy side of a one-inch thick salmon fillet skin on, bones removed and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Then, heat a medium-sized skillet on medium-high for about two minutes. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil and sear the skin-side for four to five minutes—until browned and crispy—and flip, adding more oil if necessary. Sear the fleshy side for three to four minutes, or until golden brown. Remember what we discussed: Let it rest. Dear Rick, savior of overcooked salmon, I overcooked salmon last night.
However, even perfectly cooked salmon can form some of albumin on the surface. The best way to avoid the white stuff is to cook your salmon to the perfect internal temperature. Salmon is one of the fish used commonly Thanks so much for your comment! I did not realize that it was F instead of C, even though I read it over and over again. Appreciated your comment very much :. The word "no body" in the comment "no body likes to proof" is spelled wrong.
Nobody is one word. Nobody likes to proof! Also, people should be aware of something known as "caching". In order to save system memory RAM and increase load times a server will not update or refresh the contents of a website for an amount of time specified by the web developer.
A user can get around this by deleting this browser cache on their computer. This way the new content will be loaded rather than your browser waiting for the server to tell it that "it's time to refresh the cache". This is probably why many of you for some reason became unjustifiably irritated that this minor typo was not remedied with unnecessary haste.
I appreciate the post. Helped me a ton with my salmon. And I would tell all the grammar nazis to eat a bullet. So many people who only have time to pick apart something that was meant to help folks. Seriously this world is full of assholes. Wild salmon has more collagen and thus connective tissue and, more important, a significantly greater number of chemical cross-links between collagen molecules. When the wild varieties are cooked to just degrees, the muscle fibers contract less and therefore retain more moisture.
The leanest wild salmon also contains less fat, about half as much as farmed salmon, so there is less fat to provide lubrication and the perception of juiciness when cooked.
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