Pan fried salmon is one of my favorite weekend dinners because it takes no time to put together, tastes delicious, and is so healthy! Salmon is not a traditional ingredient in Chinese cooking. However, it has been gaining popularity for a long time and you will see it show up on restaurant menus quite often these days. Sometimes the dish is presented like Western-style pan fried salmon – a whole piece of salmon filet fried in butter with simple salt and pepper seasonings. But a lot of times, the chef will prepare it in a way that also uses Chinese cooking techniques and ingredients. I can’t wait to share one of my favorite versions with you!
Pan fried salmon ingredients
To make very flavorful salmon bites, I like to cut them into large bite size pieces and marinate them with wine, salt and pepper. It creates crispy salmon pieces with a very tender and juicy texture. The sauce is made with a few simple ingredients – soy sauce, rice vinegar and a touch of sugar. It is spiced up with plenty of ginger, garlic and green onion, creating a very balanced brown sauce that goes great with the salmon. NOTE: I did not use cornstarch in the sauce, so the sauce is on the thin, runny side. If you prefer a thicker glossier sauce, you can always make one by adding 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water, then mixing it thoroughly to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the slurry to the sauce at the end, and stir it to thicken it up.
Mise en place
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
Chopped ginger, garlic, green onionMarinated salmon piecesMixed sauceChopped baby bok choy
How to cook pan fried salmon
What frying pan to use
I highly recommend using a nonstick skillet for this dish. You can get away with using much less oil if you do, and the salmon will not fall apart due to sticking.
Cooking process
The dish is great served by itself as a main dish, but I also like to top the salmon on a small bowl of steamed rice. If you have any leftovers, note that the salmon may toughen up as you reheat it in the microwave. I would heat the dish as little as possible, so the salmon is just warmed through. This helps to preserve the texture.
More easy dinner recipes
Crispy Peanut Butter ChickenRice Cake Stir Fry (炒年糕, Chao Nian Gao)Pork Chop SueySingapore Noodles (星洲炒米粉, Singapore Mei Fun)Yang Zhou Fried Rice (扬州炒饭)
