Pan-fried salmon
When you mention Salmon to anyone in Singapore, there’s a very high chance that the first thing that they will think of is Salmon sashimi or sushi! Well, although these are two of the most popular ways of serving Salmon in the country, there’s definitely a lot more to this fish than just sushi or sashimi!
A Salmon is basically a migratory fish species: it is born in the rivers, swims to the oceans to do most of their feeding and growing before returning to its original habitat to mate and lay eggs. Of course, with the immense demand for Salmon in the world, wild caught Salmon only makes up about 0.5% of the supply. The rest now comes from Salmon aquaculture farms with Norway providing 33% of the total supply.
One little secret most people may not know is that farmed Salmons are actually grayish-white in colour, while wild Salmons have this vibrant orange colour from the carotenoids in krill. Farmed Salmons are fed artificial pigments in their feed to get the desired colour that we’re all familiar with. Thankfully, it’s chemically similar to the ones that wild Salmons get so it is safe for us to eat.
The other thing that Salmons are most famous is their health benefits. They have a high
amount of omega-3 fatty acids which help to reduce the level of triglycerides in the blood. This, in turn, reduces the risk of heart disease. Besides this, Salmons are also high in protein, and they provide as much protein per weight as chicken or beef. They are also high in Vitamin D to help build strong bones and prevent Osteopororsis.
Now that we’ve mentioned a few facts about Salmon, we go back to the topic of Sashimi. This dish, which was invented by the Japanese, wasn’t originally eaten raw because the fish carries a parasitic worm called Anisakis, which can cause acute abdominal pain when ingested. Later on, they found out that it can be killed by flash-freezing, and this gave rise to Raw Tuna Sashimi. Salmon is excellent as sashimi because it has no strong flavours (unlike raw meat) and it is very soft.
Besides eating it raw, Salmon is great to cook because of how simple and fast it can be done. The French do it in a very classic and showy manner, the Salmon en papillote, which I have linked here as a recipe that you can follow to impress your family or friends! Pan-frying Salmon is extremely common as well, as it makes for a tasty but easy to cook meal. This recipe over here is for a pan-fried Salmon with a crispy delicious skin every time! And finally, if you’re too lazy to cook anything complicated, there is always the homely Japanese quick meal – the ochazuke. Just grill the Salmon quickly and top it onto the ochazuke, which can be made with leftover rice.
And finally, remember that it’s pronounced sam-mon and not sal-mon. The “L” is silent!
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