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Prep time
25 minutes
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Cook time
25 minutes
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Serves
2
Author Notes
Corn, blackberries, and shishitos may sound like odd bedfellows, but they team up to create a summery salad you’ll want to eat with everything from salmon to pork. The trick is to get the most out of each ingredient. Charring one ear of corn and leaving the other ear raw means double the corn flavor. Halving some of the blackberries and leaving others whole creates a juicy, but not too juicy, dressing. And charring the shishitos turns them slouchy and caramelized. This recipe can be easily doubled if you’re serving more people. —Emma Laperruque
Watch This Recipe
Crispy Salmon With Corn, Blackberry & Shishito Salad
Ingredients
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2
ears corn, shucked
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6 ounces
blackberries
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Kosher salt, to taste
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6 teaspoons
canola oil, divided
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4 ounces
shishito peppers
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2
(1/2-pound) salmon fillets
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Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
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2 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil
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1 tablespoon
freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
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2
lime cheeks, for serving
Directions
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Take 1 ear of corn and use a very sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cob. Add those to a bowl. Halve the larger blackberries lengthwise, but leave the smaller ones as they are. Add all the blackberries to the bowl with the corn. Season with a pinch of salt and toss.
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Heat a large cast-iron over medium heat. While that heats up, de-kernel the remaining ear of corn. When the pan is hot, add 2 teaspoons canola oil. Swirl the oil around, then add the just-cut corn (not the corn with the blackberries! We want that to stay raw). Season with a pinch of salt, stir, then leave the corn alone to cook for about 6 minutes, stirring maybe once or twice, until it’s golden-brown and starting to char. Push aside the corn-blackberry mixture so half of the bowl is empty, then dump the crispy corn there to cool.
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With the pan still over medium heat, add another 2 teaspoons canola oil, then the shishitos and another pinch of salt. Cook in the same way—mostly leaving alone—for 6 minutes, until charred and deflated. Dump onto a cutting board to cool a bit and turn off the heat.
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Wipe out the skillet. Dry the salmon all over (this will encourage better browning), then season it generously with salt and black pepper. Turn the heat under the skillet on again, this time to medium-high. When the pan is hot, add the remaining 2 teaspoons canola oil. When the oil is shimmering, carefully add the salmon, skin side-down—it should loudly sizzle. Immediately lower the heat to medium-low and press down the salmon with a fish spatula, to prevent the skin from curling. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, pressing down with the spatula occasionally, until the skin is deeply browned and crispy, and the flesh is nearly at the temperature you’d want to eat it at (I aim for 125°F for medium-rare). Flip the salmon and cook for another minute, then turn off the heat and remove it from the pan.
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While the salmon is cooking, chop the shishitos into smaller pieces (figure into thirds or fourths depending on the size of the pepper). Add these shishitos to the bowl with the corn and blackberries. Dress with the olive oil and lime juice. Toss and taste. Adjust with more olive oil, lime juice, and salt as needed.
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Serve the salmon with the salad on top or alongside, with a lime cheek to squeeze on top of the fish.
Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.
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