In this edition of Epicurious 101, professional chef and chef instructor Frank Proto demonstrates how to cook the best pan-seared salmon fillet you've ever made at home.
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00:00 Hi, I'm Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor.
00:03 And today, I'm going to show you how to make the best pan-seared salmon.
00:06 We'll be going over the techniques to make your pan-seared salmon have
00:09 crispy skin and a soft, juicy interior.
00:12 This is Salmon 101.
00:17 Before we get into cooking our salmon, I
00:19 want to talk about how to select it when you're in the store.
00:22 On a day-to-day, I prefer farm-raised salmon.
00:25 Has a little more fat to it than the wild-caught salmon.
00:28 If you tend to overcook it a little, all that fat helps that.
00:30 It doesn't dry out.
00:31 The farm-raised tends to be a little bit better when it comes
00:34 to being forgiving in the pan.
00:36 The first thing I always do is visually inspect it.
00:39 I'm looking at the color first.
00:41 Is it appealing?
00:42 Does it have a nice pink, rosy color?
00:44 If it's starting to get a little gray, don't buy it.
00:46 Another thing that the fishmonger at the store might not want you to do,
00:49 but I think you should every time-- and if they don't let you do it,
00:52 don't buy the fish-- is pick it up, put it close to your face, take a whiff.
00:57 It should be a light ocean breeze.
00:59 It should not be fishy.
01:01 A last thing is I'd like to touch the salmon.
01:03 You notice how my fingers aren't sticking.
01:06 It's nice and smooth.
01:07 It's not sticky.
01:08 It's not giving me any residue.
01:09 And that means that there's no slime on it.
01:12 And the fish is really nice.
01:13 So if any of those factors don't work for you, don't buy the salmon.
01:17 Find another store.
01:18 So it's time to cook the fish.
01:22 I'm going to turn my pan on.
01:24 I'm going to go to a medium-high heat.
01:26 I'm putting enough oil in there so that it
01:29 coats the whole bottom of the pan.
01:31 We're not deep frying here, but I do want the oil to make one level
01:35 so that I get really nice browning and even cooking.
01:38 So while that heats up, I'm going to season my fillets.
01:41 A little bit of black pepper, a little bit of salt.
01:45 Now, one of the most important things right now
01:48 is to make sure that the skin and the salmon is dry.
01:51 I have a paper towel.
01:52 I'm just going to dab it.
01:54 I like to do it after I season because salt draws out moisture.
01:57 If we put salmon in the pan and it's wet,
02:01 not only is it going to stick, we're not
02:02 going to get a nice crispy skin.
02:04 You can see that my oil is starting to get a little shimmery.
02:07 There should be a light amount of smoke before it goes in.
02:10 I have two tools here.
02:11 I have a pair of tongs and a fish spatula.
02:14 Fish spatula has these wide openings and a very thin and bendy blade,
02:19 which is great.
02:20 The only problem with this is that everyone's always
02:22 trying to force their way under the salmon,
02:24 and usually they tear the skin.
02:26 What's cool about salmon is that it will tell you
02:28 when it's ready to be turned, right?
02:30 That's why I use tongs.
02:32 The tongs will let me gently turn the salmon without ripping any skin
02:36 or tearing any flesh.
02:37 So you can see that my oil is getting nice and shimmery.
02:40 One last time with the paper towel before we go in.
02:43 The skin side is my presentation side.
02:46 I always put my presentation side in the pan first.
02:49 Not only that, I'm going to drop it in the pan away from me
02:52 so that when it splashes, oil will splash that way and not on me.
02:56 Now what we want to do is leave it alone.
02:58 I'm going to lower my heat just a little because it
03:00 looks like it's a little hot.
03:01 A lot of times what people are going to do
03:03 is they're going to start fussing with this.
03:05 And once you start fussing with it, that's
03:07 when things get ripped and the skin falls off.
03:10 It starts to break.
03:11 It's a little sticky.
03:12 That's OK.
03:13 Leave it alone.
03:14 We're going to let the salmon tell us when it's ready.
03:16 Let the salmon kind of brown.
03:18 Let the skin start to get crispy.
03:20 We're going to cook it most of the way on the skin side.
03:23 Main point is leave it alone.
03:25 Let it cook.
03:26 Trust the process.
03:29 Trust Chef Frank.
03:30 These are ready to turn.
03:33 Look how they free themselves up.
03:35 We're going to turn it over.
03:36 And we have some nice crispy skin.
03:39 Crispy, crunchy, delicious.
03:42 Part of the reason why you probably don't like fish skin
03:44 is because it's not crispy.
03:46 I'm going to lower my heat now.
03:47 And we're just going to let them finish
03:49 cooking on the flesh side.
03:51 I want it nice and rosy pink in the center, not raw.
03:55 Just rosy pink and still nice and juicy,
03:58 just for a few minutes.
03:59 We're not going to go crazy on the flesh side
04:01 because that's when you start seeing the salmon drying out
04:03 and stuff like that.
04:04 And at this point, the fish will separate itself from the pan.
04:09 And now we're just going to let it cook on low
04:10 until it's cooked through.
04:12 At this point, you might be wondering, hey,
04:14 I'm going to cook the sides.
04:15 You can cook the sides if you want.
04:17 It's totally up to you.
04:18 I just like to leave it on the skin or the bottom side.
04:22 I like to see that rosy pink.
04:23 I don't need that to be brown.
04:25 I think we're good.
04:26 I can take my salmon out and let it rest.
04:28 It's still very pink in the center, which is fine.
04:31 Let the temperature equalize.
04:33 If it gets cold on the resting rack, that's fine.
04:35 We can always reheat it in the oven or in the pan.
04:37 But I'm going to let it rest on a rack.
04:40 I don't want to put its skin side down on the rack.
04:42 We've done a lot of work to get this skin super crispy.
04:46 If you put its skin side down on the rack,
04:48 what's going to happen?
04:49 Anyone?
04:49 Anyone?
04:50 It's going to get soggy.
04:51 We're not going to have crispy skin anymore.
04:53 So put it on a rack or a tray or a plate, skin side up.
04:57 The skin will stay crispy.
04:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:01 Now it's time to plate.
05:02 My salmon is rested.
05:03 It should be nice and juicy.
05:05 I want to get one more view of this skin.
05:07 Listen.
05:08 [CRUNCHING]
05:10 Crispy skin.
05:12 I have a little bit of salad here.
05:14 It's dressed with some lemon juice and olive oil.
05:16 I'm going to put a salmon on this,
05:18 and it's not going to wilt immediately.
05:20 Just a little bit of lemon on the side
05:21 in case someone wants to squeeze it.
05:23 And that's my plate.
05:24 Perfectly cooked pan-seared salmon.
05:26 But let's see my inside here.
05:28 Oh, look at that.
05:29 Still pink.
05:31 Still nice and juicy.
05:32 You see how it flakes when I cut it?
05:35 That means it's cooked and not raw.
05:36 Let me give it a taste.
05:39 Perfectly moist and pink on the inside.
05:41 Seasoning is great.
05:42 Flavor's great.
05:43 And there you have it, folks.
05:44 Pan-seared salmon, crispy skin, juicy interior
05:48 every single time.