Overcooking is one of the most common fears when preparing fish. Starting with a rich, fatty fillet of salmon can help, but for extra assurance and control, steaming is the best cooking method. The gentle, moist heat lets you slowly approach the final temperature without drying out the fish. And as a bonus, you can add other ingredients like tender vegetables to the culinary sauna to make a complete meal without dirtying any extra dishes.

Gentle, moist heat gives the home cook greater control

Two factors make fish easy to overcook: Its delicate protein structure and unsaturated fat. Unlike saturated fat molecules which are rigid, straight and stackable, unsaturated fat molecules are bent, with kinks and curves. They don’t stack as easily as saturated fats, which keeps them fluid and moving at colder temperatures—think olive oil versus butter. If fish were filled with butter-like saturated fats, they would be rigid and unable to swim in cold waters.

Fish aren’t particularly fatty to begin with, especially when compared to land animals, and the little fat they do have needs very little heat, which is why fish is so prone to overcooking. Steam can only get so hot—212℉ to be precise—making it the perfect environment for delicate, fairly lean fish. Unlike boiling, the fish never makes contact with the hot water, so you don’t lose any flavor to the cooking liquid. We prefer salmon cooked to medium doneness—that is, until only the center is translucent and reaches a temperature of 115°F to 120°F, but steaming allows you to cook it to medium-well without drying it out.

Steam salmon on top of delicate vegetables for a complete meal

Delicate vegetables also benefit from a bit of steam, and you can use this to your advantage to make an elegant one-pot meal. In our Fennel-Steamed Salmon with Warm Olive and Caper Vinaigrette, we steam the fish atop a bed of sliced fennel to add sweet, licorice-like perfume; after cooking, the tender-crisp slices make a delicious accompaniment. A few sprigs of fresh dill add a warm, herbal note to the aroma. Once you’ve tried the fennel, play around with other delicate vegetables, like asparagus, green beans, and tender young carrots.

Finish with something punchy

An assertive finishing touch like our warm olive and caper vinaigrette will help you appreciate the restrained elegance of the steamed salmon and fennel. Salmon isn’t a Mediterranean fish, but high-impact Provençal ingredients are an ideal match for the rich, meaty fillets. We use an umami-packed combination of briny capers and buttery, pimento-stuffed green olives, sizzling them with pepper flakes to bring out a fruity, complex heat. The super savory mixture is brightened and balanced with lemon juice, then drizzled while still warm over the headily perfumed salmon and fennel. It’s the perfect balance of bold and understated flavors, with a juicy, rich texture that’s harder to achieve with more aggressive cooking methods.

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