Cooking Salmon

[MarillionFan]

Cooking in an oven? Where's the fun in that?

Because if I tried putting the dishes in the washing machine I'd have to go down to Argos for a forty piece dinner set for a tenner again.

[SimonMac]

Because if I tried putting the dishes in the washing machine I'd have to go down to Argos for a forty piece dinner set for a tenner again.

Forty piece?

Like you have enough friends to warrant that many place settings

[hyperD]

Fresh salmon can be eaten without cooking. Makes very nice sushi. Maybe what you've seen is smoked salmon.

I would add a degree of caution to that statement NAT: fresh salmon (more likely wild than farmed) may contain parasites that can make you extremely ill.

If you want to eat raw (unsmoked) salmon then I suggest you find "sushi grade" salmon which has been deep frozen (-20°C?) to kill any parasites.

However, speaking to a Waitrose manager last year she said off the record that the salmon quality was probably OK to eat as sushi but couldn't officially say so.

[hyperD]

Fresh wild salmon with a splash of sweet sake mirin and light soy, a scatter of julienned fresh ginger, a drizzle of acacia honey, wrapped in foil and BBQ'd over hickory chips for a few minutes.

Done.

[aussielong]

There are two good ways I know of.

Lightly season and fry in olive oil. But importantly you have to put a lid on the pan (I use a saucepan lid that is smaller diameter than the frying pan). Do not turn the fish. Leave it for roughly 5 minutes cooking skin side down. You will get a nice crispy skin and the fish will be cooked all the way through.

Or, heat your oven to 250 deg C for about 20 minutes or until it is really hot. Season your fish and put on an oiled baking tray. Turn the oven off just before you put the fish in. Leave the oven door closed for 10-15 mins (you will have to experiment depending on size of fish). The less intense heat does not overdo the flesh. This works really well for bass, bream, etc (where you have a delicate flesh) but will also work for salmon.

You don't want to season fresh fish much. Just salt, pepper, and a bit of decent olive oil.