Copper River Salmon

I apologize for my lack of blog posting recently.  I write up most of my posts on the weekends and set them to post for the upcoming week usually, but we've had a few busy weekends in a row with weddings and what not, so the post writing has suffered.  We have lots of photos on our computer and camera of things we've created over the last few weeks so we aren't hurting for material to write about and I will need to clear out the backlog of posts over the next few weeks.

However clearing out the backlog will have to wait at least another day because of the timeliness of this subject.  Copper River salmon are only in season for about a month each year in late spring or early summer.  Copper River salmon is often considered the worlds finest salmon and in the Pacific Northwest the arrival of the fish from Alaska is treated with a fair amount of fan fare (pictures of the salmon being unloaded from the planes is not uncommon to see in major newspapers).

LJ and I knew nothing of this just a few weeks ago when we wandered in to a pretty stellar fish market after perusing the downtown farmers market on Saturday morning.  I'm a little intimidated when it comes to cooking seafood but with such an abundance of local options it is something I'm planning on conquering.

I had no idea what to order out of the massive butchers case so I did what most people would do.  I ordered what seemed to be on sale and had lots of advertising around it.  Ordering at a fish market can be a little overwhelming with all the varieties of fish and tanks of live crabs but thankfully the fish mongers are extremely helpful and patient.  The most difficult question they asked me was if I'd prefer the head or tail end of the fish (I'm not sure if there is a correct answer but I feel like the tail ends are easier to work with when cooking because they cook more evenly).

When we got home from the market I realized I had this gorgeous piece of fish and no idea how I was going to prepare it.  Growing up my parents always baked salmon in the oven which seemed like a reasonable approach for a whole side of salmon but since I was just making two small portions I knew I would have more options.  Googling Copper River salmon recipes gives a tremendous amount of options but many of them seemed too fancy and didn't focus and letting the flavor of the salmon come through.

Often times the first time I'm working with an ingredient I want to prepare it as simply as possible so that I can taste it for what it is.  With the salmon I decided sprinkling it with coarse sea salt and pan frying it would be the way to go.

I cooked the salmon for 4-5 minutes on each side over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil.  I broke the fish apart with a fork to sneak a peak inside to check for doneness (much easier than cooking a steak in that way).

The pan frying created a crispness and texture that can't be achieved from baking in the oven and both LJ and I really thought it was nice. We enjoyed it so much that we've already picked up Copper River salmon from the fish market two times since our initial attempt.  It can be a little spendy but we have to take advantage while it is in season!