Salmon Tails with Yoghurt Sauce

These salmon tails with yoghurt sauce are as easy and delicious as dinner gets. Salmon tail is a tasty and great value alternative to thicker pieces of fillet and, like all fish, is best cooked with the skin on, even if you don’t plan to eat it. As well as releasing tasty – and healthy – Omega 3 oils into the flesh, the skin helps protect it from the heat of the pan, and you can always remove it before eating. Cook fish fillets for as long as possible on the skin side, getting it nice and crisp and well-coloured, and only turn them over for the last minute or so of cooking. If using thick pieces of fillet, instead of the thinner salmon tail, you may need to cook the flesh side for a couple of extra minutes; if the pieces are very thick, sear each side for a few seconds too.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 x 180g (6½oz) pieces salmon tail, skin on, pin-boned
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (60ml)
1 red onion, cut into thin slivers
¼ cup plain flour (35g/1¼oz)
½ teaspoon salt flakes, crushed
1 teaspoon Lebanese 7 Spice (baharat)
About 1 cup (250ml) Lebanese Yoghurt Sauce with herb mixture separate (see video below)

Method

Check salmon tails for any remaining scales or bones.
Set aside for 30–60 minutes to come to room temperature.
Place a frying pan, large enough to hold the fish in a single layer, over medium heat.
Add oil, onion and a good pinch of salt. Stir well, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.
Meanwhile, place flour in a plastic bag with salt and 7 Spice.
Uncover onion, increase heat to medium–high and cook for a further 5 minutes or so, stirring frequently, until well-coloured all over.
Remove onion from pan, leaving as much oil as possible behind, cover and set aside to keep warm.
Add salmon tails to the flour, one at a time, and shake to coat well, shaking off the excess flour.
Place the pan over medium heat and, when oil is hot, add salmon, skin side down; if it starts to curl, hold it down with a fish slice or egg lift for 10 seconds or so until it relaxes.
Cook for 6–8 minutes until skin is well-coloured and flesh has turned opaque part way up the sides of the fish.
Meanwhile, put Yoghurt Sauce in a saucepan over medium heat and stir regularly until it starts to simmer.
Taste and add more salt if needed. Stir in half the reserved herb mixture, cover and set aside to keep warm.
Turn salmon over, and cook for a further minute or so, depending on thickness and whether or not you like it rare in the centre.
Spoon some of the Yoghurt Sauce into shallow serving bowls, scatter onion around, place salmon in the middle and scatter remaining herb mixture around it (you may need to microwave it for 5 seconds if it’s come straight out of the fridge).
Serve salmon tails with Yoghurt Sauce on the side.