5 Best Ways to Season Salmon

Salmon is a beloved fish, especially among Canadians. Its natural richness pairs perfectly with everything from simple seasonings to complex marinades. Spice blends can enhance the fish’s flavours, whereas citrus and acidic ingredients tone down salmon’s inherent “fishiness.”

This type is an incredibly versatile fish that people can cook in various ways across international cuisines. It’s all about how you season it!

Season Salmon with Standard Spices

Seasoning salmon doesn’t have to be complicated. At Hela Spice, we understand that infusing a fresh catch with mouth-watering flavours is done simply with high-quality spice blends. You can use standard spices to bring out salmon’s incredible flavours.

Salt and pepper are all you need to transform fresh salmon into an incredible meal. This simple seasoning combination enhances the flavours of the fish instead of overwhelming it with heavy spices.

When you sprinkle salt over salmon before cooking, the salt slightly cures the fish. As the flesh absorbs the salt, it becomes firm and flavourful. Use a teaspoon of salt per every pound of salmon.

A light dusting of ground pepper adds a slight bite to the finished fish.

However, you can add other common spices to the seasoning mix. There is plenty of room for customization. With the perfect blend of seasonings and spices, salmon can shine in tantalizing and unique ways.

Consider incorporating the following spices: paprika, chilli powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, onion powder, and ground ginger.

Season Salmon with a Spice Rub

Spice rubs are rich mixtures of ground spices for raw salmon before cooking. They’re loaded with powerful aromas, flavours, and even textures.

Whereas salmon seasoning is increasingly salt-forward, spice rubs include dynamic combinations of various spices and herbs. Consequently, a spice rub is a great way to give salmon a more robust flavour profile than what a simple salt-pepper variety can provide.

As with seasoning, there are abundant customization options for spice rubs. Seafood producers and spice blend sellers can easily create distinctive, delicious new flavour profiles with the help of the experts at Hela Spice.

Here are a few winning spice rub blends:

• Combine paprika, garlic powder, ground cumin, allspice, and thyme to create a smoky and rich taste.
• For salmon with a Cajun flair, blend coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne, dried thyme, salt, and pepper.
• Try something unique by infusing salmon with Indian spices like garam masala, ground ginger, cumin, and curry powder.

Season Salmon with Marinades

Marinades are the secret to moist and flavourful salmon. Most marinades have an acidic base, like lemon or vinegar, that tenderizes the flesh and adds a delectable tanginess.

Citrus juice or zest also helps to tame salmon’s richness and “fishiness.” Consequently, an acidic (or spicy) marinade masks the overly “fishy” taste of some fillets, especially those that are not perfectly fresh.

Generally, salmon is marinated for up to an hour. However, if the marinade is highly acidic, it can firm and dry the fish before cooking.

Infuse salmon with extra moisture and flavour starts with a great marinade, like one of the following recipes:

• Brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, and garlic combine to create a slightly sweetly flavoured salmon.
• Lemon, garlic, and herbs create a savoury, bright marinade for fish.
• A Mediterranean marinade made from oregano, garlic, Aleppo pepper, dried dill, honey, and lemon pairs beautifully with salmon.

Season Salmon with a Glaze

Coating salmon with a thin layer of glaze before cooking suffuses the fish with flavour while also locking in moisture. The glaze becomes a deliciously sticky and slightly sweet coating on the flesh’s surface as it cooks. It imparts a beautiful colour and shine, a feast for the eyes as much as for the stomach.

Glazes can incorporate a creative play of flavours, making them easily customizable. At Hela Spice, we produce glazes with hints of sweetness, tangy zings, or savoury kicks. Every glaze uses high-quality ingredients to impart fantastic flavours to the salmon.

Most glazes include spreadable fat or sticky ingredients to help them stick to the fish. People also commonly use honey, mayonnaise, and maple syrup. A favourite choice for seasoning salmon is a honey-soy glaze with lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and garlic.

Season Salmon with a Sauce

You can add your sauce to the salmon before or after cooking. Whereas cooking salmon in a sauce helps to keep the fish moist and tender, adding a sauce after brings moisture back into the dish. Creamy sauces complement the natural fattiness of the fish.

Sauces are a great way to add some versatility to salmon dishes. Using a sauce can give the salmon exciting and distinct flavours that would be otherwise unimaginable with simple seasoning.

The flavour options are nearly endless with sauces. They can be sweet, savoury, spicy, tangy, zesty, or any combination. Here are a few examples:

• Lemon, butter, broth, and garlic sauce.
• Creamy dill sauce with lemon juice, salt, fresh dill, and chives.
• Teriyaki sauce with garlic, ginger, sesame oil, sugar, and soy sauce.

Best Spices for Seasoning Salmon

Salt, peppercorns, paprika, chilli powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, onion powder, ground ginger, and dried mustard powder.

Best Herbs for Seasoning Salmon

Cilantro, basil, chives, rosemary, parsley, tarragon, thyme, dill, sage, fennel, and basil.

Hela Spice: Seafood Ingredients Supplier

Hela Spice is at the forefront of specialized seafood processing, transforming fresh catch into incredible flavoured products.

We lead the way in product innovation using the finest ingredients and processing techniques.

Whether you’re looking to create a customized salmon spice blend or a new food product featuring salmon, Hela Spice can help. Enhancing the natural flavours of salmon is easy with spice rubs, marinades, glazes, and sauces from Hela Spice.

To learn more about seafood processing and ingredients manufacturing from Hela Spice, visit us at www.helaspice.com or contact us here.