In Hong Kong we are very lucky to get excellent salmon from WildC. They import sustainably sourced fish and sell through their website and deliver to your door in Hong Kong. Well, in our case because we live 'on the other side of beyond' in Hong Kong terms, they deliver to my husband's office and then he brings them home.
We make them both very differently as wild salmon is much thinner and dryer than Atlantic salmon and therefore needs to be cooked differently.
There are 1,000's of ways to make salmon, here are two simple recipes.
Placed on a bed of lemongrass (from our garden), put some lemon juice, a bit of saffron, some pepper and mild herbs/spices on top.
Wrapped air tight in foil, if you don't want the fish to touch the foil, you can wrap in parchment paper first and then foil to make it air tight (if you are like me and never mastered origami combined with the french art of fish en papillote).
Placed in a baking pan and also filled baking pan with water for extra steam. Okay, theoretically this isn't necessary, but I am somehow convinced it helps, and at least if in worst case scenario the package leaks, the fish won't dry out.
Bake at 200 for about 20 minutes - I did it much too long (I forgot about it for 45 minutes!!) and it came out perfectly - this is the beauty of foil/paper wrapped fish - even I can't mess it up!
It comes out perfectly moist and tender and the lemongrass smell is fabulous.
You can flavor with just about anything - don't have lemongrass? No problem, put on a bed of sliced onions, rub in some garlic and fresh basil, a dash of olive oil (really just 2 or 3 dots for flavor), a bit of crushed red pepper, and you have italian style!
If you like moist fish, foil or paper wrapping is a very easy way to guarantee moistness, even when you leave it in the oven much too long!!
Very moist and soft, totally fell apart when I tried to put it on a plate, but since we will eat it the next 2-3 days, it doesn't really matter. If I had made for guests I would make it look nicer!
Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Side
This is so easy I don't really have a recipe!
Rinse the salmon with fresh water
Pat dry
Rub on some mixed no salt rub (we like the one from Costco - Organic No Salt Rub)
Grill/Broil in the oven until done - a few bits of the seasoning turn black, and it is done!
This comes out super dry and flakey and packed full of wild salmon flavor. Often the skin will be crunchy, which is a major bonus as it tastes great.
We usually eat about 2/3 for dinner and the remainder gets made into onigiri (Japanese rice balls - wrapped in seaweed is our preferred style) for the kids the next day and put into my salad for the next day.
Without a doubt this is our favorite salmon dish.
For some much more professional fish recipes, Mark Bittman is my go to:
Mark Bittman, It's Wild Salmon Season
Mark Bittman, Broiled, Sautéed, Roasted, Poached