Thinking outside the box is the best way to come up with new and exciting ways to cook fish. Many of us get stuck preparing our prized catch the same way, meal after meal. This is especially true for anglers going home with a lot of coho salmon after fishing with us at Becharof Lodge on The Egegik River in Alaska.
It’s understandable that you may not want to risk using unfamiliar ingredients on silver salmon you worked so hard to attain, but think of what you might be missing out on. The beauty of taking home so much prime silver salmon meat, is you have a lot to work with and experiment on.
The great thing about catching a big fish, like a coho salmon, is that it can be divided up and seasoned in many different ways; in other words, you don’t have to cook a whole salmon fillet at once. If there are a few recipes that sound intriguing, try cutting the fillets in half, thirds, even in quarters, and try the new recipe on smaller portions of fish. Label the recipes you try and invite your friends and family to taste-test.
Keep your salmon recipe simple. Try to stay away from recipes that have a lot of ingredients you don’t have on-hand or won’t use again. If you haven’t tried miso before, it’s an amazing ingredient to keep in your refrigerator for all sorts of cooking options. Miso is fermented, so it will last a long time. A tablespoon or two of miso will make a quick, broth-like, soup or it can be used in stews, salad dressings, sauces, or marinades as a salty/umami element.
1 fillet salmon
1 tablespoon miso
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 sheet roasted seaweed or 1 5-gram snack pack
Spicy Mayo
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, optional
Rinse salmon fillet in cold water and pat dry. Place salmon fillet in an ovenproof dish or foil pouch. In a small bowl, combine miso, butter, rice vinegar and honey. Spread miso mixture evenly over salmon fillet. Crush or tear seaweed into tiny pieces and sprinkle on top.
Bake in a preheated 350º oven 15-25 minutes or until internal temperature of the fish reaches 135º. Serve with Spicy Mayo and enjoy!
