Recipe: How to Grill a Whole Salmon

At Portland's Ox Restaurant, James Beard Award finalist chefs Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton prepare menus of meat, fish, and vegetables that highlight the live-fire cooking traditions of Argentina using the bounty of the Oregon coast. In their new book, Around the Fire, out now, the Dentons share techniques and recipes centered around the grill and the open flame, while remaining true to the locavore sensibilities of the Pacific Northwest. Here they share a recipe from the book for a whole side of salmon. Though your fishmonger can slice salmon into neat filets, cooking a whole fish is a technique every cook should know — it's easy, fast, and makes for an impressive presentation. All that's needed to complete the meal is a loaf of crusty bread and a bottle of wine.

Serving a whole side of salmon rather than individually portioned fillets has its benefits. Besides being impressive looking, this presentation allows guests to serve themselves as much or as little of the fish as they want.

We typically like to grill salmon (and most other fish) with the skin still on. Not only does the skin help seal in the fish's juices to protect it from drying it out; it is also the source of much of the fish's flavor and imparts it into the flesh as it cooks. This is especially important when grilling wild salmon, which can be milder in flavor than its farm-raised counterparts.

Oyster leaves, which you can use as a garnish here, are blue-green-colored, lightly crunchy, succulent greens that taste uncannily like oysters. If you can't find them, either substitute edible flowers or proudly serve the fish ungarnished. It is pictured here with Blistered Snap Peas (page 152).

Grilled Side of Salmon

3 pounds wild salmon fillet, skin on, scales and bones removed by your fishmonger
Kosher salt
1 to 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Oyster leaves and/or edible flowers (optional)

SERVES 6

3 pounds wild salmon fillet, skin on, scales and bones removed by your fishmonger
Kosher salt

1 to 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Oyster leaves and/or edible flowers (optional)
Prepare a grill to medium-high heat.

Place the salmon fillet, skin side up, on a cutting board, and score the fish by cutting three to four shallow slits through the skin about 1⁄8 inch deep and 3 inches long (do not pierce through the flesh). Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper, and rub it with the oil.

Be sure to carefully oil the grate, then place the fish, skin side down,
on the hot grill. (This is the only side that will come in contact with the grill.) Close the lid on the grill or cover the fish with a large metal bowl; cook, without disturbing, until the skin starts to shrink and natural juices start to bubble near the skin, 5 to 7 minutes.

Carefully remove the fillet (the very top of it will still look rare) with two metal spatulas and turn it over onto a platter, flesh-side-down. Let it rest for 3 to 5 minutes so that carryover heat can help cook the fish to the proper temperature (it should be cooked through on the thinner sections and medium-rare at its thickest parts). Garnish with oyster leaves.

Reprinted with permission from Around the Fire: Recipes for Inspired Grilling and Seasonal Feasting from Ox Restaurant by Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, with Stacy Adimando, copyright © 2016. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Photography credit: Evan Sung © 2016