Salmon is one of my favourite proteins. It’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids, easy to cook, and delicious with a variety of sides. I love pairing my salmon with rice or potatoes with a zingy sauce or with a summery salad. However, cooking salmon can be challenging, especially if you’re not the most confident cook.
Many experts recommend pan-frying salmon for the best results, but I find this method messy and more difficult. Whenever I’ve attempted to pan-fry salmon, the skin has always ended up sticking to the bottom of the pan, which then causes it to tear.
To avoid this problem, I either cook my salmon in the air fryer or the oven. The easiest method is to oven-cook the salmon fillets, which involves the least mess to clean up afterwards.
To achieve a crisp skin and succulent flesh, I always do two simple tasks before putting the salmon in the oven: drying off the skin with kitchen towel and brushing it with olive oil.
Patting salmon skin dry with a kitchen towel is essential for evenly crispy skin. It helps remove excess moisture, encouraging the skin to brown and crisp up.
Dabbing the salmon skin in this way also helps the fat to render, resulting in a delicious, crispy texture which I often call ‘crackling of the sea’.
How to make salmon with crispy skin in the oven
You’ll need:
An oven tray
Kitchen towel
Pastry brush
Ingredients:
Four salmon fillets (you can cook fewer if you need to)
Two teaspoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C and brush your oven tray with olive oil. This will stop the salmon from sticking to the oven tray.
2. Next, season the flesh of your salmon fillets before placing them on the oven tray skin side up.
3. Take a piece of kitchen towel and pat the skin until it’s dry. You may need to do this a few times to remove the moisture.
4. Once the salmon skin is dry, brush a small amount of the leftover olive oil onto the skin. You can use what’s left on the brush.
5. Season the salmon skin to your taste before putting it in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. I usually leave mine in for around 18 minutes to make sure the skin is extra crispy and the flesh is firm.
Serve with your choice of accompaniments.