Pan-Seared Salmon

Monday, 26 May 2008

You can with or without sauce on this salmon. A flavorful “dry brine” of sugar, salt and pepper is used to coat the salmon before it’s cooked. This mixture forms a paper-thin crust on the flesh. When company’s coming, I’ll sometimes pan-sear just the flesh side, then plant the filets skin-side-down on a baking sheet and hold them half-cooked until just before serving time, then I’ll finish them in the oven.   (Serves 4) 4 5 to 6-ounce pieces of wild king salmon filet with the skin on 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 teaspoons sea salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons oil (olive, peanut, or canola) 1.) Use a pair of tweezers or hemostats to remove any pin bones in the salmon. Sprinkle the sugar, salt and pepper over the flesh of the fish and allow the salmon to stand for 10 or 15 minutes at room temperature before searing it. 2.) Put two tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and cook the salmon, skin-side-up, seasoned-side-down, until it forms a browned crust and slips easily from the bottom of the pan, about 4 minutes. Flip the salmon and cook it skin-side-down for five minutes more, or if you don’t want to serve it right away, transfer the salmon from the sauté pan to a baking sheet, placing the seared salmon skin side down. When all the salmon pieces are browned, they may be finished at once, held at room temperature for up to half an hour, or parked in the refrigerator for several hours. To finish the filets, preheat the oven to 400 and bake the salmon until it is sizzling on its skin and is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

 

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