Here’s a relatively simple salmon dish that will bring out your inner kitchen goddess/god. Five ingredients, twenty-five minutes, loads of flavor! What’s more decadent than a piece of just-cooked-through fish in contrast with the perfectly robust crunch of crisp skin? Add the lovely spicy-sweetness of the apricot-Sambal glaze and boom! You’re a deity! Well, at least in your kitchen, to your fervent devotees. I mean…. guests! It’s hard not to get a big head with a meal this spectacular!
The crisp skin takes a little practice. It’s one of those techniques where less is more – the less you mess with it, the better. Flip it over and over, move it around mercilessly, poke and prod at it and you’ll end up with a mess of broken fish with soggy underdone skin. Put it in a screaming hot pan, and let it be, let it be, let it beeeeee, oh let it be – and flip it once, and you’re in business. Once you master it, you’ll be able to make crispy skin fish a million ways. Let me know how you do with it, okay?
Apricot- Sambal Glazed Salmon with Crispy Skin
4
Author:
Auria Abraham
Here’s a relatively simple salmon dish that will bring out your inner kitchen goddess/god. Five ingredients, twenty-five minutes, loads of flavor! What’s more decadent than a piece of just-cooked-through fish in contrast with the perfectly robust crunch of crisp skin? Add the lovely spicy-sweetness of the apricot-Sambal glaze and boom! You’re a deity! Well, at least in your kitchen, to your fervent devotees. I mean…. guests! It’s hard not to get a big head with a meal this spectacular!
The crisp skin takes a little practice. It’s one of those techniques where less is more – the less you mess with it, the better. Flip it over and over, move it around mercilessly, poke and prod at it and you’ll end up with a mess of broken fish with soggy underdone skin. Put it in a screaming hot pan, and let it be, let it be, let it beeeeee, oh let it be – and flip it once, and you’re in business. Once you master it, you’ll be able to make crispy skin fish a million ways. Let me know how you do with it, okay?
Ingredients
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1.5 lbs salmon filet cut into 4 portions
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1 teaspoon apricot jam
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1 teaspoon Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen Hot Chilli Sambal
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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Corn oil (or other neutral oil)
Directions
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Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash salmon, dry well with a paper towel and place uncovered in refrigerator for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, warm the apricot jam in the microwave for 20 seconds.Add Sambal and stir to combine. With a sharp knife, make two small cuts in each filet. Rub salt onto all sides of the fish.
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Heat a heavy-bottomed, over-proof pan over a medium-high flame. Get it really hot.
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Add enough oil to coat the bottom evenly. Let the oil come up to temperature.
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Just when it begins to smoke, add the fish skin side down.
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Now here’s the tricky part. Let it be. Do nothing. Oh well okay, if you must do something, do this – with a flexible spatula, press down on each piece for a few seconds to make sure the whole surface of the skin is in contact with the pan.
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Once you’ve done that, again, step back and let it do its thing. Get your glaze and a pastry brush ready to go because you’re going to have to move very quickly for the next step.
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When you can see a nice deep brown color on the edge of the skin, gently flip each piece over. I use this spatula and a pair of tongs to baby the filets over so as not to break them. I wish I had a picture of this maneuver, however it was difficult enough to take the previous picture with the spatula in one hand and my iPhone in the other.
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Imagine this – with my left hand, I slide the spatula ever-so-gently under the cooked skin and make sure nothing’s stuck to the pan, then with my right hand I gingerly pick up the filet with flat tongs and quickly turn it over. Leaving no hands for a picture. Turn off the stove.
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Using a pastry brush, quickly coat the top and sides of the fish with the glaze. Be generous with it. Then place the pan in the oven for 3 minutes to cook the fish through and warm the glaze on the skin. Remove from oven.
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Serve with hot rice and some bright greens or a salad. Then sit back and bask in the adulation. Okay, okay – I’ll stop with my goddess-complex now!
Recipe Note
Enjoy!
Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen Hot Chilli Sambal is available on my website.
As well as at:
Sahadi’s, 189 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
market, 1211 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn
And coming in early November to The Fresh Market, Woodbury, Long Island.
