My salmon burgers are bland

Question

I just tried to fry a salmon fillet and eat it as a I would a hamburger patty: with bread, cucumber and tomato. No matter my seasoning, I keep finding the taste bland.

What could I do to enhance the taste when it comes to spices and other ingredients?

Asked by Tim N

Answer

I would squeeze a lemon over the fish when it was done, and then make a sauce for it. You can do like an Aioli or flavored mayonnaise, using ingredients such as capers, dill, lemon etc.. whatever you would normally like on regular cooked salmon.

Also, you will find a difference in taste between a farm raised and wild-caught salmon. Wild caught salmon have redder flesh (although some places have started dyeing farmed salmon), and have a much stronger salmon flavor than farm raised salmon.

Answered by Manako

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Salmon patties with cream cheese?

Question

So, I have this jarred salmon here, caught up in Montana in 2010 I believe, cooked (not sure how) and sealed in a mason jar since. I opened the jar yesterday and tried a bit of the salmon on saltines. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it smelled and looked good upon opening the jar, nothing like the canned salmon you find in stores.

Anyway, there's a bunch of salmon left, and I'm not sure how long it will keep, and I don't want to eat it all on crackers. So, I figured I'd make either salmon patties or salmon dip, and, not being completely decided, I picked up ingredients for both.

When I returned home, I realized I only have one egg, not enough to make salmon patties; but now I'm leaning toward the patties, as I'm starting to get pretty hungry and the dip seems like more of a snack.

I'm wondering if there's any chance I could use the cream cheese as a substitute for the eggs, and make the patties that way, but lots of recipe searching has lead nowhere.

Will the cream cheese work as a substitute for eggs as far as doing the work of holding the patties together? Will it cook right? More importantly, will it taste good? Or should I put this idea out of my head and either go buy some more eggs or just make the dip?

Asked by Autophil

Answer

The only thing which can hold patties together is raw protein. Other things can thicken them, but they don't glue them. Egg is the easiest source of raw protein. In theory, you can also use the gluten in flour, but in practice, you will have to make a dough with just a little salmon mixed in it, not lots of salmon with a little flour sprinkled, and this would taste very weird. Cream cheese won't help at all, because all the protein in it (which isn't much) has been cooked/curdled during the process of turning milk to cheese.

But if you say that the only difference between the dip and the patties is cream cheese instead of eggs, why do you say that the dip is a snack and the patties are a full meal? The dip is likely to have more calories, by the way.

Answered by rumtscho

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What are some best practices to cook salmon on a cedar plank in an oven?

Question

I know that cedar plank cooking is normally done on a grill but I want to see what I can do with it indoors.

What are some ways to get more of the wood flavor when cooking salmon with a cedar plank in the oven?

Asked by Jeff the Bear

Answer

The big key is just to soak the plank before using it, that way it won't burn while it's in the oven. The amount of time needed to soak seems to differ among experts, but soaking for an hour should be long enough to cook the salmon without the wood burning.

Answered by MeltedPez

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What herbs and spices pair well with baked Salmon?

Question

I'm about to bake a salmon in the oven and I want to know what are some good herbs/spices that I can rub or sprinkle on the fillet.

Which herbs, spices, or other seasonings tend to pair best with a salmon fillet?

Asked by Mark Rogers

Answer

Salmon fillets are often traditionally prepared with dill. Mustard is another traditional combination. Both of these spices complement the flavors of salmon very well.

Paprika balances the smooth mouthfeel of salmon with a nice spice that isn't too hot.

You can promote a good crust on your salmon by coating it in sugar - white or brown works well. Add some other seasonings to the sugar (basic salt and pepper are fine), and you should have a tasty fillet. This coating works best done in a skillet, though, where the direct heat promotes caramelization.

Answered by justkt

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Reason(s) for not making stock with oily fish (salmon)?

Question

Making stock from oily fish is often advised against, but what is the big deal? Does it just taste really bad?

Asked by cptloop

Answer

Salmon or Tuna will make a very strong flavoured stock and will have lots of oil that coat your tongue. Not what you're looking for if you want a light brightly flavoured fish sauce.

In a traditional French kitchen you want generic stocks (fish/brown/chicken/veal) that are able to be used for a wide range of sauces/dishes so having a salmon stock around doesn't meet that criteria.

That said, I worked at a restaurant that made fish stock from salmon bones all the time as it was mainly used in a house specialty, a very robust West Coast spin on Bouillabaisse. Any true Frechman would have turned his back on us in disgust for doing what we did but damn it, it tasted great and the customers loved it! For any other fish sauces we used the traditional white fish bones.

FYI...Japanese dishes use Bonito flakes (tuna) liberally to make dashi(sp?) which is a fish flavoured broth for miso soup as well as other items.

So basically what I'm saying is if a fatty fish stock gets the job done for you and you're happy with it then go for it. Just remember that if you're trying to make a classic recipe then using a non-traditional ingredient will mess it up.

Answered by Chef Flambe

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Is there any use to salmon heads and spines?

Question

The fishmonger gave me a whole salmon rationed, and included the head and spine. I threw the head and spine away, but was wondering whether there is any culinary use for it.

Normally in a fish stock, I use white fish, not blue.

Answer

I agree that you can get some good meat from the head and could use it to flavour Bouillabaisse, i wouldn't however use it for stock as oily fish can lead to a cloudy fatty stock rather than the clearer and more flavoursome fish stock that can be derived from the off cuts and bones from white fish.

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Quality of frozen salmon (fish in general)

Question

I've bought two different sets of frozen salmon with the same result. On thawing the salmon is bland and off color (more gray than pink).

After cooking, the taste is OK, but the presentation and texture is totally off.

I've tried to defrost this fish in the fridge and submerged in milk with the same result. My guess is these two brands are no good.

So, my question is: does quality salmon exist frozen, with the 'same' texture and color as fresh salmon?

Answer

Some species of salmon are better or worse at freezing. Pacific Sockeye freezes very well and is your best bet if you're buying frozen. It's also the most expensive. Pink salmon doesn't freeze well at all (but is delicious if you can get it fresh!). Others like Chum are somewhere in the middle.

Most "cheap" salmon that you get in North American supermarkets is farmed Atlantic salmon. It holds up well to freezing, but is generally pretty gray and bland to begin with. Avoid it.

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