This garlic and honey glazed salmon may be the best salmon dish I’ve ever had. The salmon is basted in a sweet, sour, umami and slightly spicy glaze, giving the fish a crispy and flavorful crust.
If I’m being honest, I’m not the biggest fan of salmon. I love it raw in sushi (in fact it’s my favorite sushi), but the times I’ve had it cooked I’ve found it fishy, dry, or bland. But maybe I’ve just never had it prepared well. Because I completely fell in love with this garlic and honey glazed salmon. The glaze is the perfect combination of sweet, sour, umami, and just a tad spicy with its notes of lemon, garlic, honey, soy and chili. It bubbles away in the pan while the salmon cooks, reaching that perfectly sticky-thick glaze consistency. Best of all, you use the glaze the baste the salmon, giving the fish the most flavorful sticky-sweet-spicy crust. And it’s ready in just about 20 minutes, making it the perfect weeknight meal.
Salmon is not a fish that’s hard to cook, but it’s one that’s hard to cook really well. Like any seafood, it can easily be overcooked to become dry and tough, or even mushy. The key to perfectly cooking the fish in this garlic and honey glazed salmon is a screaming hot pan. Much like in my seared tuna recipe, a super hot pan ensures that the fish gets a nice crust on the outside without overcooking on the inside. The garlic and honey glaze, basted over the fish, provides an even more rich and flavorful crust. While you can cook the salmon with the skin on, I found that the glaze prevented the skin from crisping up and it was left soggy and not very appetizing. If you remove the skin first, the cooked glaze essentially becomes that crispy crust. Yum.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR THE PERFECT GARLIC AND HONEY GLAZED SALMON
- Remove the salmon skin and check for pin-bones before you start.
- Sear the salmon in a super hot, preferably cast iron, pan.
- To really build up a sear, don’t flip the salmon for a good 5-6 minutes. If it doesn’t release easily, it’s not ready to be flipped.
- Add the glaze once you flip the salmon, and spoon the bubbling glaze over the salmon to form a sticky-sweet crust.
EATING HEALTHY
I mentioned in my black garlic and sesame crusted tuna recipe that my boyfriend Gabe and I are making an effort to eat healthier and consume less meat. It’s better for our bodies, and better for the environment. I really have no problem forgoing meat in favor of beans and other plant-based high protein options, but he really is a meat eater. While this garlic and honey glazed salmon is (obviously) not plant based, salmon is a much healthier, not to mention more sustainable, option than red meat. It is a good source of lean protein and rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are incredibly good for your heart. In fact, health experts recommend eating at least two portions of omega-3 rich seafood at least twice a week. And with the ease and taste of this garlic and honey glaze salmon, you’ll have absolutely no problem reaching that goal.
THE GREAT DEBATE: FARM RAISED VS WILD CAUGHT SALMON
Farm raised salmon and wild caught salmon sit side-by-side in the supermarket, so in terms of taste, health, and sustainability, which should you choose? When it comes to taste, it’s a matter of preference. Wild caught salmon tends to have a bolder, more “salmony” flavor, while farm raised salmon are milder. Farm raised may also contain antibiotics and pesticides and much higher levels of contaminants than their wild relatives, while wild caught salmon also has more vitamins and omega-3s than farm raised. But health experts agree that while wild caught is better, it is better to eat farm raised salmon than no salmon at all.
Some species of wild salmon are endangered, and if everyone in the world ate wild salmon, the stocks would collapse. But farm raised salmon have their own environmental risks. They are fed smaller fish, some of which have depleted wild stocks. Farm raised salmon can also escape their nets and spread disease in the wild salmon population. And antibiotics and pesticides used to prevent disease in farm raised salmon can leach out into the surrounding waters. When choosing wild caught salmon, it’s best to source from Alaska, where the wild salmon population is healthy. And in terms of farm raised salmon, Atlantic salmon farmed in indoor recirculating tanks are more sustainable, with salmon from Nova Scotia and Maine also being good alternatives.
Garlic and Honey Glazed Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 6-8 oz salmon filets, skin removed
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 colves garlic, minced
- 2 lemons, 1 juiced, 1 sliced into rounds
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- olive oil
- salt
- fresh herbs, optional for garnish
Instructions
- Pat the salmon dry, and liberally salt. Heat a heavy (preferably cast iron) skillet with olive oil over medium-high heat.
- In a small bowl, mix together minced garlic, lemon juice (reserve the lemon slices,) soy sauce, chili flakes and honey.
- Sear the salmon on one side until golden brown and easily released from the pan, about 5 minutes. Add a bit more oil to the pan and flip the salmon. Add the honey-lemon-soy sauce mixture to the pan, along with the lemon slices. Baste the salmon with the sauce by spooning it over the top of the fish. Cook until the sauce is thickened, another 5-7 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon slices and serve.
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