Chef Thomas Keller’s Sautéed Salmon Recipe With Fresh Spinach
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Jul 19, 2024 • 3 min read
“One of the things that I encourage you all to do is to create relationships with a fishmonger in your local area. Work with them on the fish that they feel is the most sustainable and, of course, the freshest for that time of year.” - Chef Thomas Keller, of Napa Valley’s Yountville restaurants Bouchon, Ad Hoc, and The French Laundry, and New York’s Per Se.
This is a perfect weeknight dish or dinner party entrée that Chef Keller prepares for himself two to three times a week. It requires only one pan, even for 4 servings for a main course.
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His salmon of choice is Ora King salmon from a farm in New Zealand that has earned awards for its quality of products and sustainable practices. The fillet includes the top sirloin and the belly. The belly is beautifully fatty, but as Chef Keller explains, it can be more difficult to cook because its skin is thicker. If you cannot find King salmon, use the best-quality fresh salmon at your disposal.
Chef Keller preps the fish by trimming it and removing the pin bones. Because salmon bones are oily, Chef Keller does not use them for stock, as he does with the bones of milder whitefish. Prior to sautéing, Chef Keller squeegees the salmon skin by running his knife along it to remove the moisture, a step that helps the skin get crispy. He also tempers the fish, bringing it to room temperature, which allows it to cook more evenly and helps prevent the skin from sticking to the pan.
Chef Keller’s recipe calls for cooking the salmon almost entirely skin side down, “kissing” the flesh side briefly to the pan, before serving the salmon medium rare to medium, or what the French call “au point.” After removing the pan-seared salmon and draining the oil, he sautés the spinach in the same pan, with minced shallots, and plates the greens and fish with a chow-chow vinaigrette made with a pickled vegetable medley. (Chef Keller teaches you how to make chow-chow in his second MasterClass.) Canola oil is the optimal oil since it has a higher smoke point than extra-virgin olive oil. He encourages you to try marrying the salmon with other ingredients and flavor combinations that appeal to you (though Chef Keller advises against incorporating black pepper since pepper alters while salt enhances).
That sort of experimentation is what cooking is all about—and this easy salmon recipe is the perfect canvas for culinary explorations.
Chef Thomas Keller’s Best Salmon With Spinach Recipe
makes
prep time
15 mintotal time
35 mincook time
20 minIngredients
Equipment:
- 1
Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Pour in enough canola oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is shimmering, lay the salmon into the pan skin side down, with the short edge of the salmon piece closest to you going down first (to prevent being splashed by the hot oil).
- 2
Cook salmon. When the edges of the salmon begin to brown, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the salmon has become opaque about 1⁄3 of the way up the sides, 3 to 4 minutes. Use a spoon to continuously baste the salmon with the hot oil to help cook it through, about 2 minutes.
- 3
Using a spoon or a long, flexible palette knife, flip the salmon and cook just long enough to kiss the flesh side to the pan, about 30 seconds, basting a few times.
- 4
Turn off the heat and transfer the salmon to a sheet pan lined with paper towels to drain. Pour off the oil from the pan into a heat- safe bowl.
- 5
Grate the lemon zest over the spinach leaves and gently mix to distribute the zest in the spinach. Set the sauté pan over high heat. Add 1⁄3 of the spinach, season with a pinch of salt and 1⁄3 of the minced shallots; then layer another 1⁄3 of the spinach, 1⁄3 of the minced shallots, and another pinch of salt. Finish with a final layer of spinach, minced shallots, and salt, and stir with a spoon for 30 seconds. Turn the heat down to medium and continue stirring just until the spinach is wilted, not overcooked. Drain the spinach on a paper towel–lined plate.
- 6
Divide the spinach among 4 plates and top with a salmon fillet, skin side up. Spoon the pickled chow-chow vinaigrette around the fish and finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice over the salmon.
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