Salmon Mousse

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The beautiful part of buying a side of salmon is that you get to experiment with a number of different recipes.  On the same night I made Salmon En Papillote, I also made a little salmon mousse.  I was expecting something difficult to make (I think it’s the French word in the title), but it was very simple:

  • 8 oz of salmon
  • 1 lemon, juiced and zested
  • 4 tablespoons of heavy cream
  • 1 medium shallot, diced
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • endive leaves for serving
  • soy sauce (optional)
  • sriracha (optional)
  1. Season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper.  Bake the salmon in a 350 degree oven until it is cooked through.  If you are serving the mousse on a buffet or appetizer platter, it is important that the salmon is fully cooked to kill off bacteria.  Let the salmon cool or else it will affect the cream.
  2. Saute the shallots in the olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cook until they are translucent.  Let them cool or they will affect the cream.
  3. In a blender, mix the salmon, the shallots, the cream, the lemon juice, the lemon zest, another small pinch of salt and pinch of pepper in a food processor and pulse until it has reached a soft, velvety mousse consistency.  This may require more cream.  If so, add it in half tablespoon increments.  I tend to use a little more cream because I like my mousse to be very soft, almost runny.
  4. Serve the mousse on endive leaves and optionally dress with a small splash of soy sauce and top the mousse with a very tiny drop of sriracha hot sauce.

This recipe is quite simple and accentuates the taste of a good piece of salmon.  I also like the addition of the shallots as another layer of flavor.  Oftentimes in mousse, the flavor of the salmon is overpowering, but the lemon and shallots give the dish several layers of flavor and prevent salmon overload.

As a side note, the recipe calls for endive for plating, but you can serve it on brioche, puff pastry, or cucumbers if you do not like the bitter flavor of endive.  For an extra kick, consider adding Worcestershire sauce or  Tobasico sauce to mousse for a deep or spicy taste.

So if you have tried this recipe or you like salmon mousse, I am curious.  What do you serve it on?  Do you add any sauce?

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