Ingredients
- 4 (5- to 7-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets (see Tip)
- Salt
- Whatever oil you cook with
- Extra-virgin olive oil and lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Line a plate or tray large enough to hold the fillets with a double layer of paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Season each fillet all over with ½ to 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (about ¼ to ½ teaspoon table salt, or ⅓ to ⅔ teaspoon Morton kosher salt), aiming higher or lower, depending on your taste. Place the salmon fillets on the plate skin side up.
- Transfer the plate to the refrigerator (uncovered or covered loosely with foil) and let the salmon rest at least 8 hours and up to 2 days (see Tip). The salmon will feel dry after this step. Pat the fillets dry before cooking if any moisture remains.
- To cook under the broiler, skip to Step 5. To cook on the stovetop, use your hands to coat each salmon filllet with a thin film of oil on all sides. Heat a skillet large enough to hold the salmon fillets over medium-low for 2 minutes. Add fillets, skin side down, and cook, regularly pressing down on them for the first few minutes to make sure the skin stays flat and has good contact with the pan.
- Continue to cook, moving the fillets around the pan with a spatula and peeking at the skin occasionally, until the skin is brown and crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes total. (If the fillet doesn’t release, give it another 15 to 30 seconds and check again.) Flip the salmon and cook until as done as you like. (For medium-rare, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the fish should register 100 to 105 degrees when you take it out of the pan. For well done, aim for 130 to 135 degrees in the pan.) Remove fish from the pan and let rest for 5 minutes, skin side up. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a lemon wedge.
- To cook under the broiler, adjust a rack in your oven or toaster oven to about 6 inches below the broiler element. Heat the broiler to high. Rub a small amount of oil all over each salmon fillet and arrange skin side up on a rimmed baking sheet.
- For medium-rare salmon, broil until the skin is brown, crisp and charred in spots, about 4 to 5 minutes. (If you like your salmon more well done, increase the distance to the broiler element to 8 inches and cooking time to 7 to 8 minutes total.) Let salmon rest for 5 minutes, skin side up. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a lemon wedge.
Full Article
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero.
Dry-brining salmon — that is, salting it and letting it rest overnight — has a number of noticeable effects on the fish once cooked. Dry-brined salmon will have a firmer, juicier bite that doesn’t become chalky even if you accidentally overcook it. Because salt can break down some proteins in the meat, you’ll find that dry-brined salmon does not leak out white coagulated albumin as it cooks. It will make the salmon virtually nonstick (even in a bare metal pan), and the skin comes out as crisp as a kettle chip. Perhaps most important, because the salmon releases less moisture as it cooks, it greatly reduces the amount of hot oil that spatters out of the pan.