Have you ever eaten salmon? Do you know how to cook salmon? It is just one of the few hundreds of fish dishes. From appetizers and salads to soups and entrees, fish is a portion of delicious, nourishing food.
You can buy fresh, frozen or canned fish. Always make sure to get the freshest fish from your fishmonger as much as possible. It keeps its natural goodness and quality only if adequately handled from the time it got caught to when it gets cooked.
Salmon, like any other fish, is seasonal. Prices could vary according to the season. Some fish are plentiful only during particular seasons and only in certain areas.
There exist various ways on how to cook salmon. You can bake, broil, panfry, oven-fry, braise, steam or even poach it in a seasoned broth enriched with wine. You will still get your tasty salmons.
How to Remove Pin Bones of a Fillet
- Lay the fillets with the skin side down on a clean surface.
- Gently run your finger on the fish surface to feel any tips of the pin bones.
- Use pliers or kitchen tweezers to pull out the bones. Be careful not to tear or rip up the fillet.
Cooking Salmon Fillet in Oven
First things first, you got to prepare your salmon before cooking it. It should always be refrigerated until you are ready to cook it since it is highly perishable. It needs to be fresh and of high quality. For freshness, it should retain its skin. It’s essential to remove the pin-bones in the fillets if they are present, too.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds thawed skin-on salmon fillets, centre-cut
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter or other fat, melted
- One teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Two teaspoons garlic powder
- Two tablespoons lemon juice
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit-425 degrees Fahrenheit. (180 degrees Celsius-220 degrees Celsius.). Grease a baking pan well with olive oil. Use a knife to get rid of unwanted parts of the salmon, i.e. whitish fat from its belly then cut into four same-sized pieces. Cut some shallow slashes on each piece, taking care not to cut deep into the flesh.
- Rinse off thoroughly and drain the fillets since you can’t tell how long it’s been at the store you bought from and also to wash away any present bones—Pat dry with paper towels.
- Place the salmon fillets on the pan. Pour your butter on them and season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder and lemon juice.
- Transfer the baking pan with the fillets into the lowest part of the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the centres of the thickest parts of the fish are still translucent.
- Let them cool a bit, serve and enjoy.
How to Bake Salmon in Foil
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients
- Five tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Three tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Three garlic cloves, minced and crushed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Five salmon fillets
Method
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit-400 degrees Fahrenheit. (190 degrees Celsius-200 degrees Celsius.). Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil.
- Mix the butter, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a small dish.
- Brush the top surfaces of the salmon fillets with the butter mixture.
- Place the fillets, skin side down on the baking tray.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the fillets become tender.
- Serve, allow them to cool a bit then enjoy.
Baking salmon in foil helps to preserve moisture that is important to taste. Lemon helps to add flavour and colour.
Cooking Salmon Fillets on a Pan
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- Two salmon skinned boneless fillets, divided each into two
- Two tablespoons extra virgin oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- One lemon, juiced
- One small bunch of parsley
- One large lemon
Method
- Wash and drain the salmon fillets. Dry them on a clean kitchen cloth.
- Brush the fillets with some olive oil then season with salt and pepper to taste and half of the lemon juice.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining olive oil to the frying pan and add the fillets on it.
- Fry them on both sides until golden brown for approximately 4 minutes on either side. Use a palette knife to turn the fillets.
- Carefully remove the fillets and arrange them on a fish platter. Sprinkle them with the little lemon juice.
- Garnish with a small bunch of parsley and lemon wedges.
- Serve and enjoy while still warm after cooling a bit.
While this recipe for pan-fried fish given here is for salmon fillets, it may be used for other fish as well, e.g. Nile perch, trout, black bass and most sea fish.
This method is not only suitable for fillets, but also small whole fish and fish steaks.
To sum up
If you do not know how to cook salmon by the end of trying these methods, it may be disappointing. They are quite easy to follow through. The dry-heat methods such as the baking and panfrying bring out the natural salmon flavour. However, moist-heat methods add variety to meals.
Before you cook the fish, properly prepare it. Ensure it is clean and wiped dry. Scrutinize the fillets to be sure all the bones are off the fish. Thaw frozen fillets in the refrigerator then cook within 24 hours.
Cook salmon fillets until completely done, though, do not overcook them. Undercooked fish is unpleasant to consume, and there are chances of contamination with harmful bacteria and microorganisms. Also, if fish gets overcooked, the protein toughens, and it ends up getting rubbery. For a perfectly cooked one, it’s usually firm and flakes easily. You can also judge white-coloured fish by the colour. Uncooked white fish is translucent- you can almost see through it.
