How to Prepare Salmon for use in Your Kitchen

Ever look at a piece of fresh salmon at the store and wish you could take it home and eat it? Ever walk away from the counter because you are taken aback at having to deal with a piece of raw fish? Worry no more! Look here to see a few tips I learned about how to take care of the salmon that you bring home from the store! 

Some tips to keep in mind when preparing to cook a piece of salmon that I learned from my instructor in culinary class:

1. Apply salt to the surface of the salmon on both sides and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Then washed off the salt and towel dry the salmon before wrapping it twice and out it in the freezer until you wish to use it again.
2. If you are cutting up your own salmon, make sure that the scales are completely removed and the blood has been drained. Salt the surface after all the bone is removed.
3. If you got a fillet of salmon from the store, you may ask them to remove the scales and keep the skin on. If the salmon is already a fillet, but the scales are still on… then cancel the order and buy it elsewhere. The scales on the fish is very much like our fingernails. It gather much dirt and other germs or bacteria, it must be removed completely. If the store’s policy is to keep the scales on the fish and stacking them on top of each other, then you should not buy fish from that store and go some where else. And if you really can’t get fish in that condition, then you should clean it right away after you got the fish home. First wash then in cold water with some salt. Then salt your salmon for 30 min, towel dry then wrap for storage if you are not going to cook it. If you are cooking it, then skip the salting process. Be sure to cook it well.
4. I hope that these tips help you budding chefs out there!