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Salmon Tacos
Cooked salmon and fresh salsa for an easy dinner, or citrus-cured salmon with garlic and chilli when you want something sharper and considerably more interesting.
BASIC
Seasoned salmon, soft tortillas and the same chunky tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado salsa that does most of the heavy lifting.
Method
Make the salsa
Mix the tomato, cucumber, red onion and avocado together. Squeeze over the lime or lemon, add coriander if using and season with a little salt.
Season the salmon
Pat the salmon dry, then toss it with the oil, paprika, cumin, salt and black pepper.
Cook the salmon
Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the salmon and cook for a few minutes on each side until browned outside and cooked to your liking in the middle. Break it into large flakes as it finishes cooking.
Salmon dries out surprisingly quickly, so don't keep cooking it just because the clock says you should. Once it flakes easily and the middle looks how you like it, get it out of the pan.Warm the tortillas
Warm the tortillas according to the packet, or give them a few seconds per side in a dry frying pan.
Build tacos
Add the salmon to the tortillas, pile on the salsa and add sour cream, Greek yoghurt or hot sauce if you want them.
UPGRADE
Salmon briefly cured in lime and lemon with thinly sliced garlic and chilli, then loaded into warm tortillas with fresh salsa.
Method
Make the cure
Mix the lime juice, lemon juice, thinly sliced garlic, chilli, salt and sugar if using in a bowl. Taste the liquid before the salmon goes in. It should be sharp, salty and lively rather than just aggressively sour.
Add the salmon
Add the salmon pieces and toss gently so everything is coated in the citrus mixture.
Cure briefly
Refrigerate for about 10–20 minutes, stirring once or twice. The outside of the salmon should start turning opaque while the centre remains soft and fresh-looking.
The exact time depends on how large you've cut the salmon and how cured you want it. Smaller pieces change quickly. The citrus changes the proteins, but it does not make raw fish equivalent to fully cooked fish from a food-safety point of view.Make the salsa
While the salmon cures, mix the tomato, cucumber, red onion and avocado together. Add coriander if using and season lightly with salt.
Drain the ceviche
Lift the salmon out of most of the curing liquid. Let some of the sliced chilli and garlic come with it, but don't build the tacos with a puddle of citrus in the bottom.
Finish the salmon
Taste the ceviche. Add a little olive oil if using, more salt if needed, or another squeeze of lime if it somehow needs more acidity.
Warm the tortillas
Warm the tortillas according to the packet or briefly in a dry frying pan. Let them cool slightly before adding the ceviche so you're not putting cold raw salmon onto a tortilla straight off a screaming-hot pan.
Build tacos
Add the ceviche to the tortillas and pile the fresh salsa over the top. Add hot sauce if you want it. Eat immediately.
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