How To Enhance The Smokiness Of Salmon To Give Your Breakfast Bolder Flavors

Smoked salmon is an iconic classic, and, when paired with your breakfast of choice, you have a delicious protein-packed way to start the day. If you want to get as much of that smoky flavor into your breakfast as possible, try sauteing the salmon with sliced onions first.

Thanks to the curing process, smoked salmon is usually safe to eat as-is, but by adding heat, you can enhance the taste. Tossing the salmon into a hot skillet liquefies the fat molecules that store the flavor compounds. In a liquid state, the fat can more easily coat the taste buds, enhancing the flavor. In this case, you're also allowing the onions to cook with the salmon's oil, further enhancing the smoky taste.

To try this for yourself, start by heating butter in a skillet and adding finely chopped or sliced onion. Once the onions are slightly translucent, add the smoked salmon and saute on medium heat until you get everything to your preferred doneness. Just note that the longer you cook the two together, the greater the smoky taste will be.

This technique works best for adding into a hot dish like an omelet or scrambled eggs where the flavor will further spread. But you could also use the salmon onion saute as a stand-alone topping for something like British bistro smoked salmon avocado toast.

Sauteing your salmon will, of course, change the texture. So, if you want to avoid cooking it to keep the crunch, there are a few different methods you can try, depending on what you're making.

For a smokier loaded lox bagel, chop up the smoked salmon and mix it through cream cheese before you do any spreading. Cutting food into smaller pieces creates more surface area, and therefore greater contact with your taste buds. By mixing the salmon with the cream cheese first, you're also allowing the fats and flavor to incorporate the base for more smokiness in every bite.

If you're serious about smoky, you can try pairing smoked salmon with other smoked foods. Each ingredient will bring its own unique flavor and level of smokiness, so consider carefully to avoid overwhelming your dish. For example, some smoked olives diced up and mixed into your salmon cream cheese mix adds bite, umami, and extra smokiness.

Smoked paprika has a taste that ventures towards barbecue and works well with baked eggs or a breakfast hash. Chipotle powder could be used in the same dishes but is the best choice when you want an additional kick of heat. For a finishing touch to your salmon breakfast, you could also top it with a little smoked olive oil or smoked salt on something like tomato toast.