Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon

Only 4 ingredients and less than 20 minutes to make this Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon. Quick, easy, delicious, and perfect for any day of the week.

Turmeric is a perennial plant of the ginger family native to Southeast Asia. It is has a warm pepper and ginger-like flavor and a earthy mustard-like aroma. In Malaysia, fresh and ground turmeric is easily available. It is used in curries as well as to flavor meats, seafood, vegetables, and rice.

Turmeric as the Sole Flavoring

This aromatic herb/spice is often used on its own with little else except the main ingredient. Such is the case with the following dishes.

Ayam Panggang Kunyit (Grilled Turmeric Chicken)
Nasi Kunyit (Turmeric Glutinous Rice)

Turmeric also gives the dishes a fabulous yellow color that is all natural and good for you. The health benefits of turmeric are numerous and indisputable. You can read it on the world wide web.

Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon

Apart from chicken, fish is also often marinated with turmeric. In Malaysia, Spanish and chubb mackerel are commonly used. Since both are hard to come by here, I decided to use salmon instead. One of the grocery stores here has these nicely trimmed, 5 to 6 ounce pieces which are great for making this Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon. It would have been perfect if they had removed the scales. Fortunately, it does not take long to scale two small pieces of fish. It is important to remove the scales in order for the skin to be crispy. Also, scales are not good to eat!

Tools Used in Making This Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon

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Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 10-Inch Open Skillet
Winco UT-9 Coiled Spring Heavyweight Stainless Steel Utility Tong, 9-Inch

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Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

8 mins

Total Time

18 mins

 

Only 4 ingredients and less than 20 minutes to make this Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon. Quick, easy, delicious, and perfect for any time of the week.

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Malaysian

Servings: 2

Calories: 406 kcal

Author: Linda Ooi

Ingredients

• 2 pieces salmon (about 6 oz/170g each)
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Using a knife, scrape off the scales from the skin of the fish fillets. Then rinse off the scales in the sink. Place on a plate and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Sprinkle salt and ground turmeric all over the flesh side of the salmon fillets. Using a pair of tongs, turn and rub the fillets on the plate to ensure they are evenly coated with salt and ground turmeric.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a non stick fry pan. When oil is hot, transfer the salmon fillets, flesh side down into the pan. Allow them to fry for 3 minutes.
4. Flip the salmon fillets and fry skin side down for another 3 minutes.
5. Turn fillets on their sides and fry for 1 minute. Turn onto the other side and fry for another minute.
6. Remove from pan and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions

I served this Crispy Skin Turmeric Salmon with Nasi Kerabu (Kelantan Herb Rice), coming up next on this blog. It is also delicious eaten with plain white rice or the following side dishes.

Fingerling Potato Salad
Turmeric Spiced Quinoa
Quinoa Salad with Kabocha and Roasted Garlic