Salmon and Kimchi Skillet

By Sarah DiGregorio

Published September 2, 2024

  • Armando Rafael for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(1,235)
Comments
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Sautéing kimchi brings out its mellower side: a delicious, cabbage-y sweetness. In Korean cuisine, stir-fried kimchi (kimchi-bokkeum) is a classic staple served with rice. In this recipe, the kimchi is cooked in a fragrant mix of butter and toasted sesame oil along with just a touch of sugar, making a four-ingredient seasoning and sauce for salmon filets. Often, jarred cabbage kimchi is already chopped into large bite-size pieces, so you can simply empty the jar into the skillet. If your kimchi has very long or unwieldy pieces of cabbage, you may want to use kitchen scissors to snip them up in the jar (or chop it on a cutting board). Serve the salmon and kimchi with rice. 

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings 

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 

  • 1 (16- ounce) jar chopped cabbage kimchi (about 2 cups)

  • ½ teaspoon sugar

  • 4 (6- to 8-ounce) salmon fillets, patted dry 

  • Salt 

  • Chopped scallions and sesame seeds, for topping (optional) 

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

6 grams carbs; 124 milligrams cholesterol; 530 calories; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 37 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 656 milligrams sodium; 42 grams protein; 3 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Melt the butter with the sesame oil in a 12-inch, oven-safe skillet over high heat.

  2. Step 2

    When the butter’s foam subsides, add the kimchi with its liquid to the skillet. Stir in the sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has bubbled away and the kimchi has softened, 3 to 5 minutes. If the liquid simmers away quickly, before the kimchi has softened, decrease the heat to medium and stir often.

  3. Step 3

    Season the salmon lightly with salt. Nestle the fillets in the skillet, skin-side down if your fillets are skin-on, spooning kimchi on top of the salmon. Roast in the oven for 6 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Turn the broiler to high. Put the skillet on a rack about 5 inches from the broiler heat source and broil, turning and checking the fish and kimchi once, until the kimchi gets very deeply browned in spots, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve topped with scallions and sesame seeds, if you like.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,235 user ratings
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Comments

Sid

I followed the instructions for cooking. Next time, I think I will try cooking the kimchi in butter and then topping it with sesame seed oil. The recipe ended up being a bit too toasty, almost like it was burnt. I believe the issue may have been that the sesame oil was already hot, and then the entire dish was heated at 450 degrees, while the heating point for sesame seed oil was 410. I served on a bed of steamed rice. Overall will cook again! 7/10

Deborah

My family (including my teenager) LOVED this- it's very quick, and very nice. I added chopped purple cabbage before the kimchee just to increase the veggies- it worked really well.

meg

Made as instructed, added gochugaru chile flakes on top at end with sesame seeds and scallions. Served with noodles and sautéed spinach. Delicious!

todd

do not salt the salmon. kimchi already has quite a lot of salt.

shae

super yum! added bok choy and mixed white rice with riced cauliflower in the base to up the fiber. the cooked butter and toasted seasame oil added a lovely toasty flavor to the kimchi, the kimchi juice soaked into the salmon and gave it a delicious flavor. end result was tasty and stewy. i only broiled for about 3 minutes to avoid bok choy getting crispy.

Erik

Add shredded purple cabbage and diced fresh pineapple, which added a fabulous citric note and more color. Flipped the salmon at the end of cooking to crisp the skin under the broiler, which also was a nice mod.

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