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!

Pan Roasted Salmon atop Udon Noodle Pesto and Salmon Caviar

Ingredients: seasalt, 4 tablespoons of butter, a fresh piece of skinless salmon filet, 1 package of Japanese Udon Noodles, premade pesto sauce,Italian seasoning, teriyaki sauce

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Directions:

1. Take your fresh or thawed piece of salmon and pat it dry. Get out a frying pan and put in the butter. Set the stove to high and sear all the sides of the salmon filet. Make sure to sear one of the large sides of the salmon more heavily than the rest of the edges.
2. Flip the salmon over on the side that is opposite of the most seared side ( the side that is seared less. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. The reason for flipping the fish is because the side that is seared the least will then cook and you will have an evenly cooked piece of salmon. In this span of four minutes do not uncover the pan to check on the fish. The purpose of covering it is so that the steam in the pan will circulate and cook the rest of the fish. This way you will get a nice, tender, and moist fish.
3. While the fish is cooking in the steam it is time to prepare the noodles. Bring water and salt to the pasta water to help flavor it. Bring the water to a boil in a pot on high heat and toss the udon noodles in. The noodles will cook vey quickly- in about 3 minutes. Do not over cook the noodles. Once 3 minutes have passed turn off the heat and drain the water immediately.
4. The next step is to prepare the pesto sauce. There is one golden rule of pesto: DO NOT put it on heat because it will melt and turn into a greasy mess. Just take it out of the jar and stir it around to make sure that the oils in it are evenly distributed.
5. Mix the drained slightly cooled udon noodles with the pesto sauce. Toss in a bit of Italian seasoning and sea salt to taste. Stir it into the pasta, and put it to the side for now.
6. At this point you can go back to the salmon and uncover it. At this point the steam from the pan should have cooked it. Check and make sure that it is cooked, but still soft to the touch. You can add in some teriyaki sauce and the salmon just coat the salmon with it in the pan and make sure that the sauce gets heated up.
7. To plate first place the pasta in the plate and spin it with a fork. Place the salmon on top of the pasta in the center for classic plating. You may add a dark colored sprout as a garnish to create a dark contrast. You may also add salmon caviar on top as well.