How to Properly Cook Salmon with Crispy Skin
Dear All In Good Taste Catering Blog Readers,
One of the questions I get all the time is how to cook Salmon so its skin is nice and crispy. This has happened to all of us I’m sure: You go to a nice restaurant and order salmon. It comes out and the skin is perfectly crispy. Some other night at home, you decide to cook the salmon the same way, but you can never get it crispy like in the restaurant.
Now, I love salmon with the skin on it, but if you don’t cook it right, it can get soggy and tough at the same time (which sounds crazy, but it happens!). Besides, the salmon skin is where a lot of the natural oils and fatty acids come from. It is quite healthy!
There are few things you need to do correctly to get that restaurant-quality crispiness on your salmon!
Here is how to do it right:
-First, buy some nice cuts of salmon WITH the skin on. Do not cut off the skin!
-Place the salmon on a cutting board with the skin-side up.
-Gently pinch or roll the salmon so that it is firm. With a sharp knife, cut about a quarter of an inch into the flesh from about a quarter of an inch from the edge of the salmon. Repeat this about a quarter of an inch all along the length of the salmon.
-Season the skin side of the salmon with salt or pepper. If you like other spices, you can add them but don’t go too crazy on this side.
-Gently pour Olive Oil onto the skin.
-Flip the salmon over and season the top to taste.
-In a pan, heat olive oil on med/med-high heat until it is just smoking.
-Place the salmon, skin-side down into the pan and let it sit. Do not touch the salmon again until you’re ready to flip it! You will know when it’s time as the color of the salmon changes from dark pink to light pink.
-When the salmon is cooked halfway up, flip it over and cook the other side until it is cooked all the way through.
-It is important not to touch the fish or flip it more than once! When it is done cooking on the final side, take it out and serve it with your favorite vegetables or sides!