Mexican Style Baked Salmon

This is my favorite way to make fish.   Its fast and easy and requires only a single cast-iron pan that goes from stove top to oven. The cast iron crisps the fish beautifully. Also, the prep is versatile and a gazillion combination of spices are possible (some are suggested below).  Here I made it with Mexican-ish spices to go with the patatas bravas posted in last week.  So here goes.

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

2 tsp oil
1 tbs oregano, crushed between your fingers
Juice of 1/2  large lemon or to taste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp. Hungarian sweet  paprika (or 1/2 tsp cayenne if you like the heat)

Salt to taste

For the fish:

2 tbs. vegetable oil for frying the fish

3  1/3 salmon fillets, skin on the bottom (I used wild-caught sockeye)

Whisk all the ingredients for the marinade in a shallow bowl.  Add the fillets and coat completely.  Marinade for a couple hours in the fridge (at least 30 minutes).  15 minutes before you are ready to make the fish, preheat oven to 350˚F.  When ready,  heat 2 tbs. of oil in a cast-iron pan, until  the oil is nice and hot.  Place the fish, skin side down in the pan, sear for 2 min, then flip the fish and sear the other side  for 2 min as well.  The fish is now skin side down in the pan.  Remove the cast-iron pan to the oven (middle rack) and cook the fish for ~ 15 min (this will depend on the thickness of the fillet and the type of pan you are using).  The fish is ready when it flakes easily and no longer translucent.  Serve with a side of potatoes or vegetables and bread.

Variations:  1) Substitute the oregano with any other Italian herb(s).  2) Marinade the fish with lemon, turmeric, salt and oil. Heat oil in the cast iron pan,  temper the fish with cumin  or carom (ajwain) seeds, ginger and garlic- 2 min, sear the fish, then bake as usual.  You get the idea.

Fish with carom/ajwain seeds and panko

I first read about Amritsari fish, a tangy fried street food sold in Punjab, India in Madhur Jaffrey’s awesome book, Flavors of India. It required a marinade using ground carom (ajwain) seeds, a spice rarely used in any cuisine, followed by deep frying in a chickpea flour batter. Carom seeds have a unique flavor (a cross between caraway and thyme) and I wanted to make it, although I wont deep fry anything. So this is what I came up with. Marinade the fish as suggested, pan fry and wrap in panko crumbs toasted in butter. It turned out to have a lovely flavor and the panko (Japanese bread crumbs) provided the crunch deep frying would have.

Fish with carom/ajwain seeds and Panko (adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavors of India)

For the first marinade:

1 lb fish fillet (I used cod, but salmon or any firm fleshed fish would do)
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 tablespoon salt (MJ’s rerecipe calls for 1 tbs).

For the second marinade:
1 tsp. Hungarian sweet paprika/kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp. Turmeric:
1 1/2 tbs. ajwain/carom seeds ground (seeds available at any Indian grocery store, picture follows)
½ tsp salt (MJs recipe calls for 1 tsp)
1 tbs. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. garlic (4 cloves)
1 1/2 tsp. ginger (omit if you don’t like its pungency)
¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper

½ cup panko.
A pinch of salt (less than 1/8 tsp.)
1 tablespoon butter.

1 lb cod
1 tbs. oil for frying.

Cut fish crosswise into 1-2″ pieces and marinade in vinegar and salt for 30 min. Drain the vinegar, pat fish dry. Mix all the dry spices and oil in the second marinade and rub the paste over the fish sticks. Marinade another 30 min.

In a 12″ skillet, toast the panko on medium heat in butter, till it turns a pale brown- this takes only a few minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside. Wipe the skillet, add the oil, and cook the fish for about 3 min/side or till it loses its translucency and turns opaque (this will depend on the size of the pieces and the type of fish). Sprinkle the panko on top, roll or fold the fish into the panko crumbs, depending upon your dexterity. Serve immediately.