Pan-fried salmon with hasselback potatoes and dill
Serves 2 · 1 hour 5 minutes · Classic frying pan
Salmon with crisp skin, fried in a carbon steel pan and finished with butter, lemon and dill. Served with golden hasselback potatoes from the oven.
Pan-fried salmon with hasselback potatoes is a Swedish dinner classic: the potatoes roast in the oven while the salmon fries skin-side down until the skin is crisp. The keys are dry skin, a hot pan and patience, as the salmon releases by itself once the skin is ready.
Ingredients
Serves 2
Hasselback potatoes
- 6 medium waxy potatoes (about 600 g)
- 25 g melted butter
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
Salmon
- 400 g skin-on salmon fillet, in one or two pieces
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 25 g butter
- ½ lemon
- 1 bunch of dill
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 225 °C. Peel the potatoes. Place one at a time in a large serving spoon and cut thin slits 2–3 mm apart, almost but not quite all the way through.
- Put the potatoes in a greased ovenproof dish, brush with the butter and oil and sprinkle with flaky salt. Roast for 45–50 minutes until golden and crisp outside and tender inside, brushing again halfway through.
- When the potatoes have about 10 minutes left, pat the salmon dry, especially the skin, and salt it. Heat the pan with the oil over a medium-high heat until the oil shimmers.
- Lay the salmon in the pan skin-side down and press lightly with the spatula for the first 20 seconds so the skin stays flat. Fry without moving for 4–5 minutes, until the skin is crisp and releases by itself and the flesh is opaque two-thirds of the way up.
- Turn the salmon, lower the heat and add the butter and a few dill sprigs. Spoon the foaming butter over the fish for 1–2 minutes, until the core temperature is 50–52 °C. Squeeze over a little lemon.
- Turn the salmon skin-side up again and add the hasselback potatoes to the pan alongside. Top with a slice of lemon and fresh dill and serve straight from the pan.
Why it works
Carbon steel takes the heat needed for crisp skin, and a well-seasoned pan lets the salmon go by itself once the skin is done. The pan can go straight to the table too, so everything is served hot.
FAQ
How do you get crispy salmon skin without it sticking?
Dry the skin thoroughly, have the pan hot and leave the fish alone. The skin releases from the pan once it has crisped.
What core temperature should salmon reach?
50–52 °C gives juicy salmon that has only just set. For firmer fish, take it out at 55 °C.
Can I prepare hasselback potatoes ahead?
Yes. Cut them a few hours ahead and keep them in cold water in the fridge. Dry them well before brushing and roasting.
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