Salmon Chraimeh

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I found this recipe for Salmon Chraimeh in Milk Street Tuesday Nights by Christopher Kimball. This cookbook is quickly becoming my go-to, no fail source for unique, often ethnic, food.

I was looking for a salmon dish to bring to my neighbor’s Shabbat dinner and this one turned out to be Sephardic (Jews originally from Spain). Go figure! The name comes from the word for “thief” and refers to the way the spice sneaks up on the diner. In case you are unfamiliar with Shabbat, my basic interpretation is that Shabbat is the end of the Jewish week. Sundown on Friday night until sundown on Saturday night is a time of prayer and reflection in observing Jewish households. The Friday night (Shabbat) dinner, signifies the beginning of this 24-hour period and brings the family (and lucky friends) around the table to connect. There are prayers said during the lighting of the candles, the passing of the Challah bread and the blessing of the wine–all of the elements of a beautiful meal. Our next door neighbors, and dear friends, used to hold space for Shabbat every Friday night and my family were frequent guests, but then life got in the way. With kids home from college and summer travel winding down it was extremely special to share this particular Shabbat dinner and catch up over the traditional meal.

Now in context it is easier to understand why I was so excited to stumble upon this Sephardic recipe that just so happened to look incredibly delicious. To simplify things, I prepped all of my ingredients before lighting the fire under my pan. This certainly adds to the simplicity of the recipe. If serving for guests, do as I did which was to make the braising sauce slightly ahead time, leaving it off the heat in a covered pan, and bringing it back to simmer before adding the salmon fillets. From that point you’ll need just 10 unattended minutes to get the fish from the pan to the serving platter. As other note, this recipe can easily be scaled up by increasing the amount of sauce (I cooked 5 pieces of fish with just slightly more tomatoes), you just may need to cook your fish in batches if it doesn’t fit comfortably in your pan. And finally, Salmon Chraimeh can be served warm or at room temperature and it is absolutely perfect to serve alongside your brisket and kugel for the approaching Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Enjoy!

Salmon Chraimeh
Print Recipe

Salmon Chraimeh

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 scallion, thinly sliced dark green parts reserved
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 jalapeno chili, stemmed, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 4 6-oz skin-on, center-cut salmon fillets 1-1 1/2″ thick
  • 2 Tbls finely chopped fresh mint
  • 1/4 c lightly packed fresh cilantro, chopped
  • lemon wedges to serve

Instructions

  • In a 10-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the white and light green scallion parts, garlic and jalapeño. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in the coriander, cumin and paprika, then cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Stir in tomatoes, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to a simmer. If you would like to stop here and finish closer to serving, turn off the heat, cover pan and set aside. Bring sauce back up to a simmer when resuming.
  • Season the salmon fillets on both sides with salt and pepper. Nestle the fillets, skin side up, in the sauce. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the ticket parts reach 115F to 120F.*
  • Using tongs, carefully peel off and discard the skin from each fillet (skin will lift off easily), then use a spatula to transfer to a serving platter, flesh side up. If the sauce is watery (mine wasn’t), continue to simmer over medium-high until slightly thickened (almost chutney like), 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Off the heat, stir in the mint and cilantro. Spoon the sauce over the salmon, sprinkle with scallion greens and serve with lemon wedges.

Notes

*Salmon cooked to 115F to 120F will be slightly translucent at the thickest part. If you like it more thoroughly cooked, after simmering remove the skillet from the heat and leave the fillets in the covered pan until cooked to desired doneness.
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