Dry Aged Salmon Recipe

There’s nothing quite better than catch of the day fresh fish… or is there? Fish decompose at a much faster rate than red meats such as steak do. Therefore it is important to preserve the fish as fast as possible to prevent the spread of bacteria. However, although some fish are delicate in flavor when eaten fresh, there are many fish that benefit from dry aging, just like with a quality piece of beef. Dry aging fish is a great way to deepen and intensify flavors. 

So what does the process of dry aging fish actually involve you may be wondering. Well, by using a dry aging fridge that is created specifically for dry aging you should expect spoilage free results. The dry aging process helps to tenderise the fish and enhance its natural flavor. A dry age fridge preserves the meat whilst intensifying the flavor and improving the texture by providing the ideal temperature and humidity level. 

We have put together a dry aged salmon recipe to help you maximise the flavors of your fish with the minimal ingredients in just 7 days: 

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets

Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon

Garlic cloves

Asparagus 

How to cook dry aged salmon

Before we get started with the recipe, we wanted to briefly cover how we suggest dry aging your salmon as this step needs to be completed before cooking. You may or may not have heard of dry aging before, it's often associated with meats and in particular steak. The process has been around since the middle ages and originated as a method of food preservation. Now that we have fridges to preserve our food, dry aging is a process used as a way to evoke unique flavors from produce. Japanese chefs have been aging fish for centuries and it is a popular choice for sushi due to the intense flavors that dry aging creates.

Often, dry aging is only used in high end restaurants due to the time and delicacy needed to successfully complete the process. Luckily, it is now possible to buy a fridge designed to take the risk out of the process. Steak Locker is the world's first and only SMART dry age fridge company who have designed and sell their bespoke range of dry aging fridges. These fridges have temperature and humidity control and allow you to track the progress of your meat, fish or cheese with their handy app. This helps to prevent spoilage and give you the best possible results.

We recommend dry aging your salmon for around 7 days for this recipe, however for a larger fish you can dry age it for as long as 50 days if you really fancy some unique fruity flavors from your fish. 

Step 1: Remove your dry aged salmon from the refrigerator and season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Step 2: Heat some oil in a large pan, ideally non-stick, over a medium to high heat. 

Step 3: Add the salmon to the pan flesh side down. Press the salmon lightly to the surface of the pan until golden. 

Step 4: Flip the salmon over and repeat the process of step 3

Step 5: Add in butter and 3 cloves of garlic until the butter browns slightly

Step 6: Remove from the pan and plate up, we recommend serving alongside asparagus

So, there you have it. Our tips for dry aging salmon and how to cook it using an easy pan sear method. We hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading. 

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