Crispy Pan-Seared Salmon with Lemon Garlic Sauce

(Upbeat music) Today I'm going to show you how to make

crispy

grilled

salmon

. Plus I have a delicious

lemon

garlic

butter

sauce

that complements the fish. It's restaurant quality food made at home. I enjoy eating

salmon

with the skin on, but my husband Jason prefers it skinless. For this recipe I will show you how to prepare and cook salmon both ways. Let's start with the skin of the salmon. I'm going to take this beautiful fillet and turn it over and the scales run down the salmon this way from head to tail, which means you're going to want to remove it this way, you can use the spine dull part of the knife held at a 45 angle degrees, which starts easily here and you start to feel the resistance on your skin and the scales start to come off and be careful, they like to fly so be careful with their eyes, they might catch you!

So continue running the knife across the tenderloin at a 45-degree angle until all the scales are removed; Alternatively, another method I like to use is a spoon. It also does a good job, however you prefer. Oh, it's like a shoulder workout. Okay, now I've removed most of the scales and just so you know, the scales are actually edible, but I like to remove as many as I can so that it's perfectly safe to eat if you have a couple left on the fish. Okay, now I'm going to cut the salmon into individual fillets for about a 6 ounce serving, try to make it about 2 inches wide or just a little larger.

Um, I like to trim this part first and then from here we'll make the 2 inch cut, so it's perfect here. I like to cut the fillets from the center portion of the fish that way they cook evenly. and at the same time so I have my four fillets but maybe cut one more and then save this nice piece of tail for later. Now we want to make sure that the surface of the fish on both sides is really dry. This is extremely important because it will determine how

crispy

the fish will be and for safety. Because if there is any moisture left on the surface, it will hit the pan and start splashing, so we have to be very careful.

Now I season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper. I usually wait to add the salt right before frying the fish, but you can always dry the surface right before if you do it a little in advance. Okay, these look good, just transfer them to a clean plate. Now I'm going to show you how to remove the skin. Well, the key to this is that you want the fillet to be as close to the edge of the cutting board as possible so that it is easy for you to move your hand along the salmon.

So I start from the tail end, which is the shortest end, and you just cut off a little bit and you want to cut at a downward angle so you don't cut into that good meat and you just work slowly, but look how the knife is very close to the edge of the board so it's easy to make little sawing motions and then hold that edge of the skin as a little grip for yourself and we want to try to get the salmon out in one piece just use a knife really sharp knife I like it Use a boning knife because it's a little flexible, but you can also use a chef's knife.

So I'm pulling the skin a little tight as I move it down and if it gets slippery you can also use some paper towels. There you have it, don't you see there's too much meat left on the skin and then I also like to check for any spines that may still be attached to the meat. You could just use needle nose pliers to remove them if you feel any, but I don't. It looks good and then we're going to cut it into fillets, so I just trim the edge here so I have nice evenly sized fillets and then again a little bit larger than two inches for a six ounce serving.

So I pulled out five pieces of this and will save them again for later. So again, make sure the surface is very dry so it crisps up right away when it hits the hot pan and season the fillets with salt and pepper. And I usually wait to add the salt because it will start to draw moisture to the surface, but if you end up salting it a little early, just pat it down with a little paper towel right before frying. If you are lucky enough to buy fillets that are already cleaned and cut into individual portions, wait about 10 minutes before frying them because if you add very cold salmon to the hot pan it will stick.

Now that they are ready we are going to fry them. My favorite pan is stainless steel because it distributes heat evenly and quickly, which prevents hot spots and sticking. The thing is that the surface is very porous, so when heated it starts to shrink, so you need to heat the pan first and then add the oil. The oil I am going to use is a high smoke point oil. It should be 375 degrees or higher, which will give it a cushion when frying. We are going to cook the fish at about 350 degrees. I'm going to use pure olive oil, but light olive oil, avocado, or vegetable oil also work well.

Heat a 12-inch stainless steel nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot, about two minutes. Add the olive oil and then turn the heat to medium-high. Once the oil begins to shimmer, about a minute or two, carefully add the salmon skin side down, one at a time. This allows it to fry in the oil for longer, ensuring an extremely crispy coating. Using the back of a spatula, immediately press the fish into the pan for about 10 seconds. This will help reduce sagging of the skin. Add the remaining fillets to the pan, pressing each one down before adding the next piece.

Reduce heat to medium, cook salmon, occasionally pressing flesh until skin is golden brown and crispy and releases easily from pan, about five to six minutes. The salmon will be 75 to 80 percent cooked through. Use tongs to carefully turn the salmon over. Gently press the surface to make direct contact with the pan. Don't move the fillets. Cook until the top is golden brown, the edges are opaque, and the center is slightly translucent, about a minute or two. Oh, the skin looks nice and crispy. We're just going to transfer it to a paper towel lined plate to drain, and since we spent so much time creating this beautiful crispy skin, I like to proudly serve it skin side up and that way when we add the

sauce

later.

It doesn't get soaked. Now I am going to show you how to cook fish without skin. Heat a 12-inch stainless steel nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil and then turn the heat to medium-high. Once the oil begins to shimmer, about a minute or two, carefully add the salmon one at a time, flesh side down. Using the back of a spatula, immediately press the fish into the pan for about 10 seconds. Add the remaining fillets to the pan, pressing each one down before adding the next piece. Reduce heat to medium, cook salmon, pressing occasionally into flesh until top is golden brown, crispy, and releases easily from pan, about four to five minutes.

Use tongs to carefully turn the salmon over. Gently press the surface so that it makes direct contact with the pan and do not move the fillets. Cook until the edges are opaque and the center is slightly translucent, about a minute or two. The salmon will be ready when the internal temperature reaches 120ºC for medium rare and 130ºC for medium, so let's check it. This looks good. I'm going to transfer them to a paper towel to drain. But the protein and fat in salmon has so much wonderful flavor that we're going to make a

lemon

garlic

butter sauce.

In the same pan, heat the same pan you used to cook the salmon over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 1 teaspoon lemon zest, sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add a quarter cup of lemon juice, half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Stir and cook for a minute. Turn off the heat, add three tablespoons of unsalted butter until a slightly thick emulsion forms. Return the salmon to the pan and garnish with dill leaves, parsley, and drizzle with lemon-garlic sauce. Wow, this looks so good. Now I like to add some lemon slices to serve as a side, which makes a really pretty presentation.

To complete this meal, I would serve it with this tasty side dish right here. I hope you enjoyed learning the science behind grilled salmon and if you did, give it a thumbs up, it will mean a lot when you do. See you in the next video.