Cooking and Eating Delicious Atlantic Salmon

Nearly all of farm raised salmon is Atlantic Salmon. Only two species of Pacific salmon are farmed, Coho and Chinook.  New Zealand does farm raise Chinook salmon in net pens and Coho salmon is farmed throughout the world.  However, Atlantic salmon is the favored salmon for farming.  It is a hardy, fast growing fish, and it can spawn several times before it will die, unlike pacific salmon.

Atlantic salmon is marbled with fat, good fat, Omega 3’s. It is very thick, like Chinook.  I personally think the flavor is almost comparable to Chinook salmon, almost.  The price difference, however, makes is as good as chinook, about half the price. 

You just need to know what to look for.  COOL law, country of origin labeling law, requires all fresh seafood be labeled at the point of sale with the country of origin and whether it is wild caught or farmed.  Farmed Salmon is generally from Norway, Iceland, Scotland, Chili, Canada and recently USA.   Your best resource for choosing sustainable farmed salmon is the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. I personally will choose farms from Norway and Iceland. The ice-cold waters alone give the salmon a comparable to nature home. However, the retail price on these will be higher.  https://www.seafoodwatch.org/

The farms in Chili and Canada will use antibiotics if there is a disease in the pen, among other issues.  There are concerns about using antibiotics in fish and the effect on eating salmon treated with them. Most of the farms Chili and Canada are rated Red (avoid) by the Seafood watch program.  Other countries do have red but are only from certain areas.

Another issue is the “color added” you may see on farmed salmon signs.  This is NOT a dye added to the salmon, it is actually a nutrient, Astaxanthin. It provides color to both wild and farmed salmon flesh, but it is also an important nutrient for the salmon,  Wild salmon get this nutrient from their diet, but farm salmons diet doesn’t contain this necessary nutrient and must be added to their feed.  It is not harmful to human consumption, it is actually good for us.    https://marine-aquaculture.extension.org/what-does-color-added-mean-on-a-label-for-salmon-at-the-grocery-store/  

So how do you tell which farmed salmon is good to eat?  Monterey Bay’s Seafood watch program is the best way.  Shop for your seafood at a full-service counter, where a sign displaying country of origin is visible at the point of sale.  The more information on the sign the better.  Also, ask questions of the person behind the counter.  They can always contact their seafood supplier if they don’t have the answers to your questions.  Here in the Portland OR area we have a fantastic seafood program at our New Seasons Markets.  The signs not only have the country of origan and wild/farmed as required by law, but also the MBA seafood watch rating, (Green/best choice, yellow/good alternative, or Red/avoid) and the catch method used, lower right hand corner. Catch method can be signifigant in the sustainabilty of a fish and will be discussed in a future blog.

Recipes

I like cooking Atlantic salmon.  The fillets are thicker than most of the pacific wild salmon, other than King salmon. The flavor is mild, and the fat marbling keeps the salmon moist, as long as it is not over cooked.  My personal rule of thumb for cooking any fish is if you think it is almost done, it is done!  Another standard is 10 minutes for every inch of thickness, baking it at 400 degrees.  I usually opt for 375 degrees, I do hate overcooked fish.  Grilling fillets wrapped in foil is good, and now air frying is very popular, I have had great success with that. 

I do like to spread a bit of olive oil on my salmon fillet, then season with dill weed and lemon.  Here are a couple of other popular recipes.

Teriyaki Salmon Fillet

Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ Cup Teriyaki sauce

2 tbsp. of brown sugar

¼ Cup apple juice

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

¼ tsp cracked pepper

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp green onion 

2 6 oz Atlantic salmon fillet

Mix all ingredients except salmon in a bowl, mix well. Put Salmon fillets in a small baking dish and cover with marinade.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.  Wrap the salmon in foil and place on grill for 5 minutes each side.  If you would like to place salmon fillet skin side up for the first 5 minutes, then place on foil.  It is done when salmon flakes easily.  Put marinade in a saucepan, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer while the salmon fillets are on the grill.  Serve fillets with marinade drizzled over the top. Garnish lightly with sesame seeds and green onion.

Lemony Pesto Salmon

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 6 oz Atlantic Salmon fillet

Salt and ground pepper to taset

4 tbsp of pesto sauce

1 tsp olive oil

Lemon wedges for serving

Preheat oven 375 degrees.  In a small baking dish add olive oil, then place fillets skin side down.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread pesto sauce over the top of each fillet.  Bake in oven about 20 minutes, temperature at 140 degrees, and fish will flake.  Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

Parmesan Dill Weed Air Fried Salmon

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 6oz Atlantic Salmon Fillet

Butter flavored cooking spray

¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp dill weed

Lemon wedges

Preheat air fryer at 375. Spray air fryer with cooking spray.  Spray top of salmon fillets with  cooking spray.  Cover tops of fillets with parmesan cheese, then the dill weed.  Cook fillets skin side down for  8 to 10 minutes.  Let set a couple of minutes before serving.

Please feel free to share your special recipe with me in the comments below, love to hear from you!