Pan-Roasted Salmon With Jalapeño

Name: Pan-Roasted Salmon With Jalapeño
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 2 5-to-6-ounce fillets of salmon, ideally wild-caught, 1/2-to-1-inch thick; Kosher salt and ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed or canola; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced fine, approximately 2 tablespoons (or to taste); 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, mint or flat-leaf parsley, or a combination of all three

By Sam Sifton

Updated July 30, 2024

Pan-Roasted Salmon With Jalapeño — Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Hadas Smirnoff. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.

Total Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 4(1,115)
Comments: Read comments

Here is a simple, easy preparation for salmon that allows wild-caught fish, especially, to shine. The foaming butter amplifies the richness of the flesh, while the jalapeños keep it in check, as soy sauce does to the fattiest sushi. Some prefer to reverse the order of the cooking, so that the fish is served skin-side up, but I find that cooking it this way allows the butter to do its job more effectively and delivers a more beautiful plate of food as well. (Most of it is left in the pan when you’re done.) Top with chopped fresh herbs, and serve with roasted new potatoes.

Featured in: The Hard-Earned Richness of Wild-Caught Salmon

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings

25-to-6-ounce fillets of salmon, ideally wild-caught, ½-to-1-inch thick
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed or canola
2tablespoons unsalted butter
1medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced fine, approximately 2 tablespoons (or to taste)
1 to 2tablespoons chopped cilantro, mint or flat-leaf parsley, or a combination of all three

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Pat fillets dry with a paper towel. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Heat a large, heavy sauté pan or cast-iron skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil, and swirl it around. When the oil begins to shimmer, place the fillets in the pan, flesh side down, and allow to sear for about a minute, until the salmon has just started to pick up some color and releases easily from the pan.
Step 3
Use a spatula to turn the fillets onto their skin side, lower heat to medium and let them sizzle until the fish is caramelized around its bottom edges, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. (You may wish to use your spatula to press down on the fillets for the first 10 or 15 seconds to keep the skin from curling in the heat.)
Step 4
Turn heat to low, and add butter and diced jalapeño to the far side of the pan, then use the handle to tilt the pan away from you. Use a spoon to baste the fish with the sizzling butter and jalapeño. Continue basting, quickly and repeatedly, until the fish is golden all over and cooked through, 45 to 90 seconds more, depending on the thickness of the salmon. Remove fillets from the pan, leaving the bulk of the butter and oil in it, and serve immediately, garnished with the chopped fresh herbs.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,115 user ratings

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Comments

Jake7 years ago

Speaking as an Alaskan commercial fisherman: this is not so with salmon, this is true for rockfish and other fish species. Salmon skin is perfectly edible, with or without scales.

Ryan Maldonado7 years ago

Three slits to the skin side will provide for a beautiful presentation, crispy skin, and even cook.

P J7 years ago

Fabulous. To keep the recipe real - "a taste of one of our last truly wild foods" - better to avoid the contamination of "butter" - that bovine lactation product whose own story is the antithesis of the wonderful story of line-caught wild Alaskan salmon.

Heidi6 years ago

Quite tasty, but not worth the mess. Before dinner we ended up having to clean spattered oil off the kitchen floor and into the reaches of the house where I, the cook, had tracked it, and we have yet to take on the greasy mess on the stove. We will not make this again.

Doug Gann6 years ago

This is my new go to salmon plan. Added a bit of sesame oil and sesame seeds. Just perfect. Then quistuipater's advice knocks this out of the ballpark.

quistuipater6 years ago

Outstanding. Melt the butter first. A quarter teaspoon of chipotle in adobo with the chili works great. Finish with smoked salt.

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