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Copper River Salmon (King)

June 6, 2011 by Jennifer Che 15 Comments

Congratulations to Erin from Long Island who won the California Giant Berry Farm Giveaway. Erin said “I love to dunk strawberries in Ulker Golden (like Nutella, but better!).” Thanks all for playing!
————————

After seven long months of waiting, fresh Copper River salmon is finally here!

What’s so special about it?
Copper river salmon come from the Copper River in Alaska, a 300 mile long 1-mile wide river in Alaska that is well known for its salmon runs. Each year 2 million salmon swim upstream (climbing over 3000 feet in elevation!) to their spawning grounds up north.

Exactly three weeks ago (on May 16, 2011 to be exact), the the 2011 Copper River Salmon season officially opened. The fisherman have been out in the city of Cordova (right near Prince William Sound on the map), catching salmon for this season’s harvest. Currently, they are catching Copper River King (or Chinook), which is seriously among the most prized salmon in the world. It’s known for its high oil content (yay omega-3!) and juicy rich flavor.


Map courtesy of Copper River Salmon Organization

Sustainability
All wild fish from Alaska is sustainably harvested. The Alaska Constitution mandates that fish “be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” 

As a result, fishing is highly regulated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Biologists collect data about the numbers of migrating fish throughout the season. This number governs the times and dates at which fisherman can actually fish.

The Copper River King season runs from mid-May to about late June, which means we’re right in the middle of it now!

I recently had a chance to try a beautiful super fresh filet (right off the boat!) of Copper River King.

Oh My Goodness.

It was seriously the best salmon I’d ever had in my entire life.

When something is intrinsically so delicious, there’s no need to add a ton of other flavors to it. I simply sprinkled on a generous amount of kosher salt and pepper.

Since my parents were in town this weekend, we ended up having a barbecue at my sister’s place. She and her husband actually have a nice deck and grill, so I was able to try my hand at grilling (something I never get to do in my tiny kitchen!).

I found great grilling instructions on Cooks Illustrated, which is what I used.

After making a nice fire with charcoal (sorry, my brother-in-law took care of this part so I don’t know more detailed instructions), wipe the grills with a canola oil-soaked paper towel. Grill the salmon filet skin side down until the skin starts to shrink and turn black, about 2-3 minutes. Flip over to the other side and grill until the fish is opaque throughout yet translucent at the very center.

Of course, if you like your salmon a bit more rare, you can dial down the grilling time accordingly. Note: if you’re salmon filet is less than 1.5 inches thick, subtract 30 seconds off of the time cooking times.

Slice and serve!

My brother-in-law grilled some delicious onions, zucchini, and asparagus to go with this fantastic meal.

And the fish?
Like I said earlier, this is definitely the best salmon I’ve ever had. It was fatty, succulent, flavorful, and grilled up beautifully. The skin was crispy and I loved the way the fat melted in a way that made the filet even better. I’ve always loved King salmon the best, but I think this particular type of King salmon blows other ones away.

After re-grilling a bit longer

Cooked Salmon taste Good?
Although I typically love salmon raw, in this case, I think Copper River King tastes just as good cooked. The fish has so much fat content that it doesn’t become dry at all even after becoming fully cooked. It’s juicy, flavorful, and simply incredible.

I absolutely loved it and am totally going to go out and look for some more!

Copper River Salmon Sleuth
I have been given the awesome yet challenging task of being a Copper River salmon sleuth this summer in partnership with the Copper River Salmon Organization. I’ll be covering the Boston area mostly. I’ll be keeping updates on a separate Copper River salmon page (click here to see the page). You can also click the “Salmon” tab at the linkbar at the top of the blog.

Feel free to check back often! I’ll also try to tweet and post updates on Facebook as I find them.

Good luck finding some!

Disclaimer:
I received the salmon filet for free from the Copper River Salmon Association.

©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Fish, Recipe, Seafood, Sponsored

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Comments

  1. MrsLavendula says

    June 6, 2011 at 7:27 am

    woot woot! that salmon looks delicious!

    Reply
  2. Peggy Labor says

    June 6, 2011 at 8:30 am

    Every time I head over to Whole Foods to see what they have… they’re always out!  It’s pretty popular here I guess – I’m going to have to camp out on their shipment days =)

    Reply
  3. Heather Smoke says

    June 6, 2011 at 11:38 am

    Wow, that looks delicious, and a very pretty presentation with the onion rings and asparagus.  I eat salmon every week, but somehow doubt I’ll see this at the local grocery store here in Colorado, where seafood is not very fresh.  Looks so good, though! 
    http://curlygirlkitchen.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  4. Alvina says

    June 6, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    I’ve been hankering salmon lately!!

    Reply
  5. 800lb says

    June 6, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    Copper River King Salmon haunts my dreams. There was one Summer when our fish monger here in Eugene, Oregon kept a stock of the stuff for about 10 weeks. An embarrassment or riches. It’s delicious raw, but if you can hit it with some tasty smoke when grilling it becomes otherworldly.

    Reply
  6. claypotclub says

    June 6, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    My goodness. I’ll have to try an get my hands on some. I’m addicted to salmon. Do I have to freeze it to kill parasites before eating it? Or has it already been frozen before it arrives at the fish market?

    Reply
  7. Kay says

    June 6, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    Hey, Jen! Great post! I had the wonderful opportunity to taste Copper River salmon.  And as you describe it, it was amazing!  Here is the blog post I did last year.  
    http://thechurchcook.blogspot.com/2010/07/grilled-king-salmon-with-avocado-salsa.html

    Reply
  8. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    June 6, 2011 at 11:00 pm

    Loved your post! I can never resist the avocado/corn combo. In our case, we also grilled corn on the side, which was absolutely fantastic!

    Reply
  9. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    June 6, 2011 at 11:01 pm

    Hmm . . . I didn’t bother freezing to kill the parasite (!). I think a lot of salmon is frozen at sea, though I don’t actually know if they all are.

    Reply
  10. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    June 6, 2011 at 11:02 pm

    Wow, 10 weeks!! What a dream! I agree – “otherworldly” is the perfect word to describe how this salmon tastes!

    Reply
  11. Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen says

    June 6, 2011 at 11:02 pm

    Bummer to hear you can’t get access. Perhaps you can try calling ahead and asking them to reserve one for you. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Marla says

    June 7, 2011 at 7:39 am

    LOVE Copper River Salmon, lucky you to get it right off the boat! 

    Reply
  13. Virginia Osborne says

    June 7, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    I was just scouring my recipe club this week for fish recipes involving a grill. Few meals make me so happy as grilled salmon. Once I got over the anxiety I had about cooking fish, I have never looked back. As I eat fish at least twice a week, this is a great suggestion – I’ll have to figure out a way to get my hands on some of these salmon from Copper River. Yum!
    Cheers! 
    Virginia O

    Reply
  14. Cimorenegal says

    June 7, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    Yum!  I scored some of this stuff at our local Wegmans last week and it was divine- I’m hoping to get some more before the season is done.

    Reply
  15. Shannon says

    June 14, 2011 at 4:20 pm

    that looks absolutely amazing.  i’ll have to keep an eye out 😉

    Reply

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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