When it comes to choosing a versatile and healthy fish, salmon takes the cake over and over again. Especially your classic, go-to, good old-fashioned salmon fillets. There are multiple ways to cook salmon fillets. Whether you prefer your dish more on the crispy or moist end, or with fresh flavors instead of a super spicy aftertaste. But if you’re looking for something a bit unique, let us indulge you. Have you considered poaching your salmon fillets? Yes, poaching fish, as in simmering it in water or any other aromatic liquid. Poaching fish is in fact a thing and a delicious one at that!
Poached salmon is super easy and convenient to prepare. Not to mention absolutely delicious and a total showstopper for any dinner party. With only about 10 minutes of poaching, this method will ensure a quick meal whenever you need it. If you cook salmon this way, you’ll find your fish with almost all of its natural moisture and nutrients. It’s extra healthy, too! You are skipping any kind of oil or heavy fats in the cooking process by using water instead. Sounds like a deal to me!
Now, you might be wondering how to cook poached salmon filets. Don’t worry, here you’ll learn exactly how to do so! Today we’re sharing all our knowledge on poaching salmon without taking away its delicious flavor.
How To Cook Poached Salmon Fillets
Step 1: Prepare your salmon for poaching
Make sure you choose a sustainable, ocean-raised ocean-loved salmon fillet. These salmon filets are perfect for poaching salmon. It’s up to you whether to leave the skin or peel it off. 170 grams is a solid individual portion, this size will allow for the fish to poach properly while retaining flavor.
Step 2: Pick your poaching liquid and measure it well
A classic, seriously delicious combination is simply white wine and water. If you want to skip the alcohol, you can swap it for white vinegar. You can also use vegetable stock if you want a more complex flavor, but the salmon itself is enough for a really tasty meal. How much liquid should you use? Approximately 230/250 ml or 2 ¼ a cup per salmon fillet. So, a liter if you are poaching four fillets at the same time and so on.
Step 3: Add aromatics and/or spices to your meal
Ultimately, the choice is entirely up to you, but let me give you a couple of suggestions to get you on board with this step. If using water (or white wine and water) you could go for some fresh herbs like dill, rosemary, basil, parsley, and thyme, along with a bit of lime or lemon juice. With vegetable stocks, you can pick bolder flavors such as cumin, lemongrass, ginger, or coriander. If you enjoy Asian flavors, tamari soy sauce and mirin go really well with poached salmon. To simmer, cover the pan or bowl with the liquid and leave to settle for 5 minutes. You can also find all our favorite ways spices for salmon HERE.
Step 4: Heat the poaching liquid alongside the aromatics and spices
5 minutes of simmering the poaching liquid with the aromatics to fully infuse the water with flavor! While simmering, every particular flavor will get infused into the liquid and then absorbed by the salmon, ending up in a magically tasty poached salmon for your meal. If you are using a whole fish, you can skip this step.
Step 5: Add your salmon fillets to the poaching liquid
In a large skillet, place the poaching liquid mixed with the aromatics and spices. Then, add the salmon to the skillet and immerse it in the liquid. You want to make sure to keep the temperature just below boiling at all times.
Step 6: Poach your salmon
For stovetop poaching, cover and cook the salmon fillets for 8 to 10 minutes. Remember to keep the temperature just below boiling. If you are using an oven to poach your salmon instead, preheat it at 390 degrees and poach for approximately 15 minutes.
Step 7: Remove your freshly poached salmon and get ready to plate:
Be careful not to break the fillet apart when removing it from the skillet. You don’t want to mess up your plating skills! Serve your poached salmon with any healthy side dish of your preference!
Will you be poaching your salmon fillets this week?
We hope this post has inspired you to try poaching your salmon fillets! It’s easy, affordable, and delicious! Poaching is definitely the perfect trick for using for a big dinner party when you find yourself busier than usual. You can make tons of healthy fish recipes using this method, just try it! If poaching does not sound like the most appealing way to cook salmon fillets for you right now, you can always check our post on 8 Ways To Cook Salmon Fillets for further inspiration. Good luck poaching salmon!
