Pan Fried Salmon

Pan fried salmon is one of my favorite weekend dinners because it takes no time to put together, tastes delicious, and is so healthy! 

Salmon is not a traditional ingredient in Chinese cooking. However, it has been gaining popularity for a long time and you will see it show up on restaurant menus quite often these days. Sometimes the dish is presented like Western-style pan fried salmon – a whole piece of salmon filet fried in butter with simple salt and pepper seasonings. But a lot of times, the chef will prepare it in a way that also uses Chinese cooking techniques and ingredients. I can’t wait to share one of my favorite versions with you!

Pan fried salmon ingredients

To make very flavorful salmon bites, I like to cut them into large bite size pieces and marinate them with wine, salt and pepper. It creates crispy salmon pieces with a very tender and juicy texture.

The sauce is made with a few simple ingredients – soy sauce, rice vinegar and a touch of sugar. It is spiced up with plenty of ginger, garlic and green onion, creating a very balanced brown sauce that goes great with the salmon.

NOTE: I did not use cornstarch in the sauce, so the sauce is on the thin, runny side. If you prefer a thicker glossier sauce, you can always make one by adding 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water, then mixing it thoroughly to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the slurry to the sauce at the end, and stir it to thicken it up.

Mise en place

When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:

• Chopped ginger, garlic, green onion
• Marinated salmon pieces
• Mixed sauce
• Chopped baby bok choy

How to cook pan fried salmon

What frying pan to use

I highly recommend using a nonstick skillet for this dish. You can get away with using much less oil if you do, and the salmon will not fall apart due to sticking. 

Cooking process

1. Steam the baby bok choy with a bit of water in the pan
2. Pan fry the salmon 
3. Transfer the salmon to a plate as soon as it’s cooked through
4. Saute the aromatics
5. Add the sauce and cook until it thickens
6. Drizzle the sauce over the salmon and the baby bok choy

The dish is great served by itself as a main dish, but I also like to top the salmon on a small bowl of steamed rice.

If you have any leftovers, note that the salmon may toughen up as you reheat it in the microwave. I would heat the dish as little as possible, so the salmon is just warmed through. This helps to preserve the texture. 

More easy dinner recipes

• Crispy Peanut Butter Chicken
• Rice Cake Stir Fry (炒年糕, Chao Nian Gao)
• Pork Chop Suey
• Singapore Noodles (星洲炒米粉, Singapore Mei Fun)
• Yang Zhou Fried Rice (扬州炒饭)

Pan Fried Salmon (香煎三文鱼)

By Maggie Zhu

4.84 from 6 votes

Prep Time: 12 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

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These pan fried salmon bites are crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. They are served with a gingery, garlicky savory sauce and steamed bok choy. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}

Ingredients 

Salmon

• 1 lb (450 g) salmon , diced into 1” (2 cm) pieces
• 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sauce

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Stir fry

• 1/4 cup water (or chicken broth) (*Footnote)
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 1/2 thumb ginger , minced (and extra sliced for garnish, optional)
• 2 green onions , sliced
• 4 heads baby bok choy , halved (quartered if using larger heads)

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Instructions

• Combine the salmon and Shaoxing wine in a medium sized bowl. Mix well and marinate for 10 minutes while preparing the other ingredients. Once done, drain off any excess liquid. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and mix well.
• Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
• Add 1/4 cup water (or chicken broth) to a large nonstick pan and heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Add the baby bok choy, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and cover the pan. Cook for 1 minute or until the bok choy has softened to your desired texture. Transfer the bok choy to a large plate and wipe any residual water using a paper towel.
• Add 1/2 tablespoon of oil into the same skillet and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Spread out the salmon without overlapping. Let cook, flipping occasionally, until both sides have become golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.(*Footnote 2) Transfer to the same plate with the baby bok choy.
• Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil (if the salmon is fatty and releases a lot of oil, skip the additional oil), garlic, ginger, and green onion. Stir a few times to release the fragrance.
• Pour in the sauce and turn to medium heat. Stir and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, 1 minute or so. Pour the sauce with aromatics over the salmon and bok choy. Garnish with sliced ginger, if using. Serve hot as a main dish.

Video

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. You can use water to steam the bok choy. Sometimes I like to use a splash of chicken broth to further add flavor.
2. Sometimes for a more buttery texture, I leave the center of the salmon a bit undercooked. You can watch the sides of the salmon pieces, and make sure the center has not turned entirely pale pink. The salmon will be great either way, but leaving it a bit medium creates a very tender and juicy texture.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 260kcal, Carbohydrates: 21.4g, Protein: 28.6g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 1.5g, Cholesterol: 35mg, Sodium: 921mg, Potassium: 2463mg, Fiber: 8.7g, Sugar: 11.7g, Calcium: 920mg, Iron: 8mg

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