Stewed Salmon

This Stewed Salmon is so damn good. I know seafood recipes are few and far between here on deepfriedhoney.com, with most of them being salmon focused, but here’s another one! My inspiration was this post from Gina Willis of What’s Gina Cooking on Instagram. Before seeing her post I don’t think I’ve ever seen or ever would have considered preparing and making salmon like this, but I’m very glad I replicated it!

It’s an extremely simple and straightforward recipe; the hardest part is building the gravy. You will need both the stovetop and the oven to follow the recipe exactly, which I found to be easiest, but alternatively, you can cook the salmon on the stovetop and then set it aside as you build the gravy in the same pan, then allow the salmon to reheat in the gravy itself. Either way, I think you’ll love it!

Stewed Salmon Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Stewed Salmon recipe:

• Fresh salmon, bacon: I used an Atlantic salmon filet, but I think canned salmon would work all right in this recipe, too. You might want to reduce the amount of seasoned salt if you try that. And make sure to come and tell me how your Stewed Salmon turned out if you try it. I used beef bacon, but you can use whatever kind you want.
• Green bell pepper, shallot: Our aromatics. If you prefer another color bell pepper, cool. If you want to do onion and garlic instead of shallot, that’s cool too. This Stewed Salmon is incredibly versatile.
• All-purpose flour, water: For building our gravy. Rice flour is a great gluten-free substitute.
• Unsalted butter, vegetable oil: For adhering the seasoning to the salmon, sauteing the aromatics, and building the gravy. I used avocado oil, but any oil you want to use is fine.
• Cajun seasoning, seasoned salt, cracked black pepper: Our seasonings! You can swap out Kosher salt for seasoned salt, and Creole seasoning for the Cajun seasoning. I added a little Carolina reaper dust too, for heat.

How to Make Stewed Salmon

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this recipe:

• Prepare for Stewed Salmon. Preheat your oven to 375°F and place your salmon filet, skin side down, in a glass baking dish. Drizzle about a teaspoon of oil over your salmon filet and use your hands or a basting brush to make sure the entire filet is coated in a light layer of oil. Sprinkle the cajun seasoning all over the salmon, making sure to season the sides and edges of the salmon, too. There’s no need to season the skin, as we’re not eating it. I mean you can if you want; I’m only here to guide you, not boss you around. 
• Bake the Salmon. When the oven has preheated go ahead and pop in the salmon and let bake for 10-13 minutes, until opaque and the white protein is starting to seep from the sides. We’re not baking it all the way through; we want it to finish cooking in the gravy.
• Saute some Aromatics. While the salmon bakes, start on the gravy. Place a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat and allow it to preheat for 2 minutes, then add your bacon. Cook until crispy, stirring occasionally, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked bacon pieces onto a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. There should be enough bacon grease to coat the entire surface of the pan; if there isn’t add in one teaspoon of vegetable oil, then add your shallot and bell pepper. Sprinkle over a pinch of kosher salt, just enough to encourage them to sweat, and stir as they saute, just until softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Check on your salmon if you haven’t already. 
• Build the Stewed Salmon Gravy. Once the shallot and bell pepper has cooked down add the butter and remaining vegetable oil to the pan. Stir the fats into the aromatics until the butter has melted, then spread everything out into a single layer.  Sprinkle the flour over it all, and use a spatula or roux whisk to stir the flour in. Stir and scrape until you have no more dry spots of flour, and all the peppers and shallot are coated in a thin, yellowish paste. Add more oil to the pan, a teaspoon at a time, if you’re struggling to soak up all the dry flour. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. I am pretty sure your salmon is ready to pull from the oven now if it wasn’t earlier. Next, pour the water into the skillet one-half cup at a time, making sure to stir until the liquid is completely incorporated before you add the next half cup. Repeat until you’ve used the full 2 1/2 cups of water. If you’d like a looser gravy, you can add another half a cup. 
• Finish the Stewed Salmon. Add your seasoned salt and cracked black pepper to the gravy. Stir in and allow to cook for 3 minutes, then stir in half of the cooked bacon bits. Use a wooden spoon to break the cooked salmon down into chunks. Not too small, like you would for salmon cakes or anything, as it will break down further as we stir it into the gravy. Transfer the cooked salmon to the pan of gravy, leaving the skin behind. Gently work the salmon into the gravy – use a folding motion rather than just stirring. Give it a taste, and add more salt if you think it needs it. Dassit! 

Obligatory Pinterest Graphic –

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