Pink salmon is the smallest and most popular commercial fish sold in Russian supermarkets. Pink salmon can be used to prepare many dishes of Russian and European cuisine, but this fish is most delicious in baked form.
There are as many recipes for oven-baked pink salmon as there are chefs: the delicate taste of this fish allows you to experiment with the ingredients, time and method of baking.
It is very important to choose the right fish. Fish weighing less than 1 kg will be baked the tastiest and fastest. It is important to remember that the pink salmon meat itself is quite dry, so you should not cut out the pieces of fat that are under the fins and belly, but the fins and entrails themselves should be removed immediately so that the cooked fish does not taste bitter.
Best of all, pink salmon, like any "red fish", is combined with lemon, black peppercorns (in no case should you take allspice, as it loses the aroma of fish), coarse sea salt and rosemary. You can bake pink salmon both on the surface of a frying pan in an open form, and in foil. The first method is suitable for those who love a crispy, tasty crust, the second is ideal for lovers of juicy and tender red fish meat. There is no best side dish for baked pink salmon, you can choose it according to your taste, but the most neutral flavors that set off the taste of fish are boiled potatoes with herbs and boiled rice.
To cook whole pink salmon in the oven, you need a sheet of foil, half a lemon, black peppercorns to taste, coarse salt, dried or fresh rosemary (dried rosemary has a more pronounced taste, so you should be careful with it). If the meat seems a little dry, then you can also add a little butter (30-50 gr.).
Whole pink salmon should be thoroughly washed and cleaned of entrails. Further, the fish must be laid on a large sheet of foil, salt, put a few thinly sliced lemon slices and 4-5 black peppercorns in the cut of the belly. Fresh rosemary is best cut into small twigs and sprinkled on top of the fish in large quantities. Dried rosemary is more intense, it is better to simply sprinkle pink salmon on top of them. To add juiciness, put pieces of butter inside the fish. After that, the fish should be wrapped in foil so that the broth does not flow out, put in a frying pan or baking sheet and put in an oven heated to 170 ° C. Pink salmon does not require long baking, so 30 minutes in the oven is enough. Longer cooking times will dry out the fish and make it less tasty.
After that, you should take out the cooked pink salmon and carefully transfer it to a dish, trying not to spill the broth remaining in the foil. The fish prepared in this way goes well with fresh dill, green salad and tomatoes (other greens taste too bright and can interrupt the delicate taste of red fish). Additional sauces for baked pink salmon are not needed, since cooking in foil will make it quite juicy, but if necessary, you can pour lemon juice on top of it.
Whole oven-baked pink salmon is an excellent festive and everyday dish and goes well with white semi-sweet and dry wines.
