(Experiment 10) Pan seared salmon

I eat salmon about once a week because it’s full of good stuff for the body, easy to cook, and honestly, it just tastes great. Lately though, I keep hearing people say salmon isn’t good, that it tastes bad, or that it’s not worth the hype. So let’s get something straight: you should not be buying fish at the grocery store. It’s rarely fresh, no matter what the label says.

Go to an actual fish shop instead. You’ll be surprised to find the price difference isn’t nearly as big as you’d think, and you’ll also notice there’s more variety than you expected. My local place always carries at least three different kinds of salmon, each with its own texture and flavor.

Once you’ve got decent fish in hand, the next step is knowing how to cook it properly. The most basic and easiest technique, and the one I come back to most often, is pan-searing.

Print Recipe

(Experiment 10) Pan seared salmon

Ingredients

• 1 salmon filet
• salt/pepper/whatever spices you want to put on it
• ~2 tbsp Avocado oil any frying oil will work

Instructions

• For this, you will need a stainless steel pan, sorry. If you don’t own stainless steel please see this post to get a primer
• Heat up the pan at medium-high heat, not max heat here but you want some good heat. When it’s hot* , put the oil in, immediately you should see it “swirling” in the hot pan.
When is the pan hot? With time you will know just putting your hand above, if not, wet your finger and dump a water droplet in the pan. If it swirls around and disappears it’s ready.
• While the pan heats up, prepare the salmon :
• 1-Wash under cold water the fish
• 2-Using paper towel, dry it
• 3-Season the top of the fish
Pstt try steak seasoning on salmon, its really good
• Tip: if it’s a thick piece of filet you have, you can flip the fish over and do 1 or 2 cuts in the skin, maybe 1/4 inch deep. This will prevent the fish from curling but will also help cook the center of it.
• Pan is hot? Time to put the fish in the pan
• Put the fish in the pan with the skin on the top. The oil is clean so this will give a nice sear to the filet. After about 5 minutes, turn it over, skin on the bottom of the pan for about another 5 minutes. Note that you will need to adjust the cooking time to your taste ( medium or well-cooked ) but also the filet thickness, mine was over an inch thick and was cooked medium in the very center. That’s it, you flip it only once, don’t play with the fish.