When Shaw's Crab House invited us by to try their new Yukon River King Salmon last week, to say we were skeptical would be an understatement. Salmon has simply stopped wowing us, mostly because the majority of salmon served in restaurants and in stores today is farm-raised. Farm-raised salmon is inferior to wild salmon in nearly every category, most notably in flavor and texture.
Still, we went to Shaw's with an open mind, interested to see what all the hype was about. Chicagoist is happy to report that Yukon River king salmon isn't hype — it is the real deal. One bite of this piece of fish, and all of our salmon preconceptions went out of the window. Where other salmon tastes overly fishy, this fish had a clean, pure salmon taste. Beautifully colored too, it had the most amazing texture of any piece of salmon we had ever tried.
The reason? These fish swim over 2000 miles to their spawning grounds, meaning they have more body fat than other salmon varieties. A lot more fat. Some tests have found the Yukon salmon to have 34% oil content; a "normal"piece of salmon has 17 %. Imagine the delectability of biting into a juicy steak, cooked medium rare. Now think of that same bliss, but put a salmon in its place. In a word, phenomenal.
You can learn a lot more about the different kinds of wild salmon and what makes one taste different from another from Gourmet Contributing Editor John Rowley. The Yukon River salmon is only available at Shaw's for a few weeks, due to its short season, so interested parties should check it out sooner rather than later.
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I don't understand the opening 'graph. Why would your skepticism be based mostly on the inferior flavor and texture of farm-raised salmon if you're going to eat a well-known and highly renowned variety of wild salmon?
There's gotta be a more descriptive way to talk about the texture of salmon than simply "most amazing," right?
Copper River salmon. The CADILLAC of salmon. Available in late June-early July probably from reputable fisheries (e.g. Dirk's) or in nice restaurants for order (e.g. Joe's Stone Crab).
Soft, smooth but still springy texture. The kind that will separate on the "grains" for lack of a better word. Nice strong salmon flavor without the fishy taste. Beautiful color, like the salmon color in a Crayola box. Best if it's served simply, so you can truly appreciate the flavors without masking it with sauces or anything. My personal preference is grilled, but a simple bake with just lemon and some butter would do nicely too. Probably have it with a Savingnon Blanc.
I disagree that Yukon River has a pure salmon taste. I think it's more like butter. If I have any complaint with this fish, it's that it tastes too rich and has nary a fish taste.