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Fish & seafood · Oily fish

Salmon

Rich, pink-orange oily fish sold as fillets and steaks; roasted, grilled, poached, cured or raw as sashimi.

Also called: salmon fillet, sake (salmon)

A kind of fish

11 recipes with it

What it is

Salmon is an oily fish with orange-pink flesh marbled with white fat lines. Most is farmed Atlantic salmon, which is fattier and milder than wild Pacific species such as sockeye or coho. Fillets have a thick end and a thin tail and are sold skin-on or skinless.

Salmo salar (Atlantic salmon)

How it’s used

  • Roasted or pan-fried fillets
  • Teriyaki salmon and sushi or sashimi (sushi-grade)
  • Poached for salads and sandwiches
  • Fishcakes and salmon pie
  • Cured into gravlax

Characteristics

Taste
Rich, buttery and mildly sweet.
Texture
Moist and tender with large flakes.
When cooked
Best cooked until just opaque in the centre; white albumin beads appear on the surface when overcooked. Crisp the skin by starting skin-side down.
Sold as
fresh, frozen, smoked, canned
Cooking uses
Commonly cooked, Suitable for frying, Suitable for grilling, Usually eaten raw

Kinds in our pantry

Storage

Refrigerated. Keep cold and cook within a day or two; freezes well.

Diet, allergens and safety

Contains Fish.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free
  • Contains fish, a common allergen.
  • Keep fish very cold (on ice or in the coldest part of the fridge) and cook within a day or two of buying; a strong ammonia or sour smell means it has spoiled. Cook to 63 °C (145 °F), when the flesh turns opaque and flakes.
  • Only use salmon labelled suitable for raw consumption (previously frozen) for sushi, sashimi or ceviche.

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
208 kcal
Protein
20.42 g
Carbohydrate
0 g
Fat
13.42 g
Fibre
0 g
Sugars
0 g

USDA FoodData Central: Fish, salmon, Atlantic, farmed, raw.

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Trout — 1:1; thinner fillets, cook less.

Related ingredients

Recipes with salmon

More oily fish