Salmon recipes are one of the healthiest and most popular of fish, as well as a desirable sport fish. Fresh salmon is full of protein and omega-3 fatty acids and can be prepared by most any method of cooking, or even served raw.
Cooking Salmon Recipes -- Or Not Cooking It
One of the best ways to get the full flavor of this fish is to cut filets in small one-by-two inch strips and serve raw with soy sauce and wasabi for dipping. This is sashimi, the Japanese raw fish treat (sushi is similar, but the strip of fish is laid atop a bullet-shaped slug of sticky rice - fish and rice are together dipped into the sauce before eating). Note, however, that even the reasonable (read: not hysterical) health experts recommend strongly that one should only eat raw salmon recipes that have been flash frozen -- commercially, as home freezers can't do it. This is to avoid the fairly small but very real possibility that these luscious fish, who spend portions of their lives in fresh water, can transmit parasites.
Smoked salmon is also called lox and is a kosher treat. Eat lox on a toasted bagel with a schmear of cream cheese.
Cooking salmon recipes (or any fish) on a wooden plank, usually a cedar shake shingle, is called 'planked salmon' or 'planked fish'. This technique comes from the Pacific northwest and can be duplicated in your oven or on the grill. The fish absorbs some of the piney flavor of the plank and the smoky flavor of the grill.
Salmon is even good canned - something that's not true for everything - although the canned version is as different from fresh as ... well, canned spinach is from fresh. Keep a few cans of salmon in your cupboard for emergencies - you will always be ready to make salmon recipes such as a loaf, a delicious and nutritious pasta salad, or other quick brunch or lunch treats.
