[0 - 1] - Hi, I am Frank Proto,
[1 - 2] professional chef and culinary instructor,
[2 - 4] and today I'm gonna show you
[4 - 6] how to make the best pan-seared salmon.
[6 - 8] We'll be going over the techniques
[8 - 10] to make your pan-seared salmon have crispy skin
[10 - 12] and a soft, juicy interior.
[12 - 17] This is Salmon 101. [upbeat music]
[17 - 20] Before we get into cooking our salmon, I wanna talk
[20 - 22] about how to select it when you're in the store.
[22 - 25] On a day-to-day, I prefer farm raised salmon,
[25 - 28] has a little more fat to it than the wild caught salmon.
[28 - 29] If you tend to overcook it a little,
[29 - 31] all that fat helps that it doesn't dry out.
[31 - 33] The farm raised tends to be a little bit better
[33 - 36] when it comes to being forgiving in the pan.
[36 - 39] the first thing I always do is visually inspect it.
[39 - 41] I'm looking at the color first.
[41 - 42] Is it appealing?
[42 - 44] Does it have a nice pink, rosy color?
[44 - 46] If it's starting to get a little gray, don't buy it.
[46 - 48] Another thing that the fish monger
[48 - 49] at the store might not want you to do
[49 - 51] but I think you should every time,
[51 - 52] and if they don't let you do it,
[52 - 54] don't buy the fish is pick it up,
[54 - 57] put it close to your face, take a whiff.
[57 - 59] It should be a light ocean breeze.
[59 - 61] It should not be fishy.
[61 - 63] A last thing is I'd like to touch the salmon.
[63 - 65] You notice how my fingers aren't sticking.
[65 - 67] It's nice and smooth.
[67 - 68] It's not sticky.
[68 - 69] It's not giving me any residue
[69 - 72] and that means that there's no slime on it
[72 - 73] and the fish is really nice.
[73 - 75] So if any of those factors
[75 - 77] don't work for you, don't buy the salmon,
[77 - 81] find another store. [upbeat music]
[81 - 82] So it's time to cook the fish.
[82 - 85] I'm gonna turn my pan on. [machine clicking]
[85 - 86] I'm gonna go to like a medium high heat.
[86 - 88] I'm putting enough oil in there
[88 - 91] so that it coats the whole bottom of the pan.
[91 - 92] We're not deep frying here
[92 - 95] but I do want the oil to make one level
[95 - 98] so that I get really nice browning and even cooking.
[98 - 99] So while that heats up,
[99 - 101] I'm going to season my filets,
[101 - 106] a little bit of black pepper, a little bit of salt.
[106 - 108] Now one of the most important things right now
[108 - 111] is to make sure that the skin and the salmon is dry.
[111 - 113] I have a paper towel.
[113 - 114] I'm just gonna dab it.
[114 - 115] I like to do it
[115 - 117] after I season 'cause salt draws out moisture.
[117 - 121] If we put salmon in the pan and it's wet,
[121 - 122] not only is it gonna stick,
[122 - 124] we're not gonna get a nice crispy skin.
[124 - 125] You can see that my oil
[125 - 127] is starting to get a little shimmery.
[127 - 130] There should be a light amount of smoke before it goes in.
[130 - 131] I have two tools here.
[131 - 134] I have a pair of tongues and a fist spatula.
[134 - 136] Fist spatula has these wide openings
[136 - 140] and a very thin and bendy blade, which is great.
[140 - 141] The only problem with this
[141 - 143] is that everyone's always trying to force their way
[143 - 146] under the salmon and usually they tear the skin.
[146 - 148] What's cool about salmon is that it will tell you
[148 - 150] when it's ready to be turned, right?
[150 - 152] That's why I use tongs.
[152 - 155] The tongs will let me gently turn the salmon
[155 - 157] without ripping any skin or tearing any flesh.
[157 - 159] So you can see that my oil is getting nice
[159 - 162] and shimmery, one last time with a paper towel
[162 - 164] before we go in.
[164 - 166] The skin side is my presentation side.
[166 - 169] I always put my presentation side in the pan first.
[169 - 170] Not only that, I'm gonna drop it
[170 - 174] in the pan away from me so that when it splashes,
[174 - 177] oil will splash that way and not on me.
[177 - 178] Now what we wanna do is leave it alone.
[178 - 180] I'm gonna lower my heat just a little
[180 - 182] 'cause it looks like it's a little hot.
[182 - 183] A lot of times what people are gonna do
[183 - 185] is they're gonna start fussing with this.
[185 - 187] And once you start fussing with it,
[187 - 190] that's when things get ripped and the skin falls off.
[190 - 191] It starts to break.
[191 - 193] It's a little sticky, that's okay.
[193 - 194] Leave it alone.
[194 - 196] We're gonna let the salmon tell us when it's ready.
[196 - 198] Let the salmon kind of brown.
[198 - 200] Let the skin start to get crispy.
[200 - 204] We're gonna cook it most of the way on the skin side.
[204 - 206] Main point is leave it alone.
[206 - 209] Let it cook, trust the process.
[209 - 210] Trust Chef Frank.
[210 - 213] These are ready to turn, right.
[213 - 215] Look how they free themselves up.
[215 - 219] We're gonna turn it over and we have some nice, crispy skin.
[219 - 222] Crispy, crunchy, delicious.
[222 - 224] Part of the reason why you probably don't like fish skin
[224 - 226] is 'cause it's not crispy.
[226 - 227] I'm gonna lower my heat now
[227 - 229] and we're just gonna let them finish cooking
[229 - 232] on the flesh side, I want it nice
[232 - 235] and rosy pink in the center, not raw,
[235 - 238] just rosy pink and still nice and juicy.
[238 - 239] Just for a few minutes.
[239 - 241] We're not gonna go crazy on the flesh side
[241 - 243] 'cause that's when you start seeing the salmon
[243 - 244] drying out and stuff like that.
[244 - 247] And at this point the fish will separate itself
[247 - 250] from the pan and now we're just gonna let it cook
[250 - 252] on low until it's cooked through.
[252 - 254] At this point, you might be wondering, hey,
[254 - 255] I'm gonna cook the sides.
[255 - 257] You can cook the sides if you want.
[257 - 258] It's totally up to you.
[258 - 262] I just like to leave it on the skin or the bottom side.
[262 - 264] I like to see that rosy pink.
[264 - 265] I don't need that to be brown.
[265 - 266] I think we're good.
[266 - 268] I can take my salmon out and let it rest.
[268 - 271] It's still very pink in the center, which is fine.
[271 - 272] Let the temperature equalize.
[272 - 275] If it gets cold on the resting rack, that's fine.
[275 - 277] We can always reheat it in the oven or in the pan
[277 - 280] but I'm gonna let it rest on a rack.
[280 - 282] I don't want to put its skin side down on the rack.
[282 - 286] We've done a lot of work to get this skin super crispy.
[286 - 287] If you put its skin side down
[287 - 290] on the rack, what's gonna happen? Anyone, anyone?
[290 - 291] It's gonna get soggy.
[291 - 293] We're not gonna have crispy skin anymore
[293 - 297] so put it on a rack or a tray or a plate skin side up.
[297 - 301] The skin will stay crispy. [upbeat music]
[301 - 303] Now it's time to plate, my salmon is rested.
[303 - 305] It should be nice and juicy.
[305 - 312] I want to get one more view of this skin, listen. [skin whirring] Crispy skin.
[312 - 314] I have a little bit of salad here.
[314 - 315] It's dressed with some lemon juice and olive oil.
[315 - 317] We can put a salmon on this
[317 - 319] and it's not gonna wilt immediately.
[319 - 321] Just a little bit of lemon on the side
[321 - 323] in case someone wants to squeeze it.
[323 - 324] And that's my plate.
[324 - 326] Perfectly cooked pan-seared salmon.
[326 - 328] But let's see my inside here.
[328 - 330] Ah, look at that. Still pink.
[330 - 332] Still nice and juicy.
[332 - 334] You see how it flakes when I cut it,
[334 - 336] that means it's cooked and not raw.
[336 - 337] Lemme give it a taste.
[339 - 341] Perfectly moist and pink on the inside.
[341 - 343] Seasoning is great, flavor's great.
[343 - 344] And there you have it folks.
[344 - 347] My pan seared salmon, crispy skin, juicy interior
[347 - 349] every single time.