Smokey and sweet Chinese Five Spice blackened salmon with hearty apple slaw is a healthy and delicious meal. Enjoy this for dinner and save the leftovers for lunch the next day!
This simple, healthy blackened salmon with apple slaw combines some of my all-time favorite flavors; sweet, salty, and smokey! The salmon is coated in a flavorful spice rub made up of five spice powder, paprika and a touch of sugar. Together these ingredients form a sweet and smokey crust around the salmon that goes perfectly with the creamy, crunchy apple slaw served underneath!
Five-spice is a Chinese spice blend made up of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns. You can typically find it in most grocery stores nowadays or you can order it online here.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe: For the salmon: boneless, skinless salmon filets, Chinese Five-Spice powder, smoked paprika and sugar. For the slaw: shredded cabbage, I like Napa best, red onion, apple, cilantro or parsley, mayo, apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard.
Recipe Steps:
Coat the salmon thoroughly on all sides with the five spice mixture!
Toss the cabbage, apple, onion with the slaw dressing!
FAQs and Expert Tips:
Five spice is a very popular spice blend in Chinese cooking. It combines: Chinese cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, clove and Sichuan peppercorns. Luckily it’s becoming more commonly available in American grocery stores. To make your own Chinese Five Spice from scratch check out this recipe from Woks of Life.
Tips for Perfect Blackened Salmon:
- Once you place your fish in the pan–don’t move it! Let your fish form a nice, dark crust before attempting to flip, at least three minutes on the first side.
- If you feel like your fish is getting too blackened but it’s not yet cooked through: take your filets out of the pan and place it on a baking tray and finish cooking in the oven at 350F.
- Let it rest! Rather than cooking your salmon to well done. Cook your it until its rare/medium rare in the center and then let it carry over cooking for a few minutes while resting.
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Five Spice Blackened Salmon with Apple Slaw
Ingredients
Blackened Five Spice Salmon
- 4 6 oz salmon filets skin off
- 2 tbsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
Apple Slaw
- 4 c shredded napa cabbage
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 2 apples thinly sliced
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro or parsley roughly chopped
- ½ c mayo
- ¼ c apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp sugar
- salt
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together the five spice, paprika, salt and sugar. Sprinkle mixture evenly over the salmon fillets, coating them thoroughly on all sides.
- Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the oil to the pan followed by the seasoned filets, let sear until blackened, about 3 minutes. Flip salmon to the opposite side and let cook until browned and just barely cooked through, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate to rest.
- In the meantime make the slaw dressing in a bowl; whisk together the mayo, dijon, vinegar, and sugar. Toss the cabbage, apple, cilantro and onion with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
- Divide the slaw between two plates and top each with the cooked salmon. Serve immediately!
Notes
Tips for Perfectly Blackened Salmon:
- Once you place your fish in the pan–don’t move it! Let your fish form a nice, dark crust before attempting to flip, at least three minutes on the first side.
- If you feel like your fish is getting too blackened but it’s not yet cooked through: take your filets out of the pan and place on a baking tray to finish cooking in the oven at 350F.
- Let it rest! Rather than cooking your salmon to well done. Cook it until its rare/medium rare in the center and then let it carry over cooking for a few minutes while resting.
Storing Leftovers:
- Leftover will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Jake Andrews
Great simple recipe. Thanks. Love a lot of these recipes and appreciate the site.