I’ve aged twenty years during quarantine. Lo and behold, I’ve skipped over young adulthood entirely and now find fulfillment in sharing and completing recipes.

Olive oil poached salmon, cooked by my sister Krista

About

This is a recipe and method of cooking my sister taught me – a salmon lover who used to always overcook salmon – and it’s since helped me do justice to my favourite fish. Bonus points are that it’s quick to prepare and relatively easy to cook!

Prep time: 5-10 mins

Cooking time: 20-25 mins

Why It Works

Poaching in olive oil keeps the fish tender. Since the vegetables are cooked in the oil bathing the salmon, they end up being flavoured without much effort. The sourness of the lemon and tomatoes balance out the fishiness of the salmon. At the end, you could also reserve the oil and add it to other dishes that may need more umami flavour.

It’s so easy to make and once you place all the ingredients together, you can almost forget about it as it’s cooking!

Ingredients

• 4 salmon filets
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil (or enough to bathe the fish)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 lemon, sliced into wedges
• 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Steps

1. In a wide skillet, evenly lay out the tomatoes, mushrooms, lemon, and garlic. Lightly crush the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife. Dicing the cloves will cause the garlic to burn, so it’s best to keep them whole.

2. Massage the salt and pepper into the salmon filets. Cut the filets in half, or to a size of your liking. Place the salmon on top of the bed of veggies.

3. Add the olive oil and sprinkle on the parsley.

4. Turn on the stovetop, dial to low heat. Turn the fish as required. Usually it takes around 20 minutes to cook, but cooking times may vary on different factors (ex. if the salmon was frozen). I usually just cut into the centre of a filet to see if it’s cooked through. Once it is, serve and enjoy!