Two years ago our younger daughter gifted us a box of fish from Sitka Salmon Shares for Christmas. Because of that experience, I now receive auto shipments from the company. I hadn’t heard of Sitka Salmon Shares before then, but they support sustainable fishing and ship seasonally. I love salmon so much that it’s all I get for my auto shipments these days.

One can order a sample box, like my first gift box was, similar to the one shown below, or sign up for a subscription to Sitka. They offer many varieties of fish and seafood, besides salmon, delivered to your door. And it’s really fresh! You can even look up what fishermen caught your fish.

In my last delivery I was gifted a package of salmon burger. I kept it frozen because I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Of course salmon burgers came to mind. I’ve had salmon burgers made with canned salmon and man, I’d have to be starving to eat another one of those.

What I created isn’t terribly different from burgers, really, or sliders, or sticks, but these I’m calling salmon “bites,” served with a dipping sauce. No buns!

I baked these, but also tried one salmon bite using a skillet and a little olive oil. The results were better that way. Next time I’ll use my air fryer!

Salmon Bites

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 egg, beaten
Splash of sriracha (optional)
Chopped herbs, like chives, parsley and dill, about a heaping tablespoon each
1/2 teaspoon salt
18 ounces ground or finely chopped salmon
1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs, finely ground
Panko breadcrumbs
Dipping sauce

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, and egg. Add the sriracha if using.

Add the chopped herbs and salt.

Gently mix the ground salmon into the mixture until well combined.

Stir in the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate the mixture for a few hours or overnight. Before baking, leave the mixture out at room temperature for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Use a scoop so that the bites are the same size; mine was 1.5 ounces. Have a bowl of panko by the jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Scoop out some of the burger, and place in the Panko. Roll with your hands and make sure the bites are completely covered in panko, then place on the pan and flatten slightly. Repeat.

Bake on one side for 7 minutes, then flip and bake for 7 minutes more.

For the dip, I simply combined mayonnaise with sour cream, and stirred in some capers. I mashed the capers a bit! Sort of a simplified tartar sauce.

You can go so many different directions with a dipping sauce. You can make your own aioli and add whatever flavor you want, like sriracha, Truff, paprika creme, curry powder, or yuzu. Or you can mix up an Asian-style dipping sauce with sweet chili sauce, ground chile peppers, and soy sauce. It all depends on what you like.

The mixture made 13 – 1.5 ounce bites. I baked 12 of them, then fried the 13th in a skillet with a little oil. I cooked it on medium-high heat on one side for 3 minutes, then turned it over, lowered the heat to low, and cooked for another 2 minutes. It’s definitely browner and crispier than the ones I baked.

The insides were similar. Below shows the fried on the left, the baked in comparison on the right.

These were good. The salmon was a perfect texture, and the herbs were a nice addition.

As I mentioned above, I preferred the salmon bite fried in a little oil. I didn’t know how these would turn out since I didn’t use a recipe. If I knew they’d remain fairly sturdy, I would have used the air fryer! Next time.