I had a few blunders in the kitchen last week, so much so that when I was hosting a dinner party at my apartment, I decided to forego new recipes and serve a tried-and-true quick and easy, tasty dish: Salmon Fillet Wrapped in Phyllo Pastry. Despite sounding incredibly French, I actually got the recipe from a wonderful Japanese cookbook, The Japanese Kitchen by Kimiko Barber. Barber explains that the phyllo dough is a substitute for yuba sheets, which can be hard to find in North America.
The trick for this kind of dish is to use thick pieces of salmon so that the fish cooks the same length of time it takes to bake the phyllo dough.
This salmon is incredibly tasty and great for a spiffy meal on a weekday as it bakes up quickly. I figured working with phyllo could be pretty fool-proof, but as I learned, not when you forget to thaw it beforehand. We had the phyllo overtop the oven, hoping to thaw it faster, and still had to deal with holes as we were incredibly inpatient and ripped it apart. The holes can be easily hidden, though. We ended up eating dessert first (Cranberry Buckle with Vanilla Crumb), which stole the show, in my opinion.
Salmon Fillet Wrapped in Phyllo Pastry
12 sheets phyllo pastry
1 egg white, beaten to soft-peak stage
2 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 salmon fillets, 4 oz each
4 tbsp sake (I used white wine)
4 cilantro leaves (I used garlic leek, super tasty)
1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Put a sheet of phyllo on an oiled baking sheet.
3. Mix the beaten egg white with the melted butter and brush over pastry. Do this with 2 more sheets of pastry, then start again on a new baking sheet, repeating the process until you have 4 piles of phyllo pastry, each with 3 sheets.
4. Lay a piece of salmon n the middle of each pile. Pour a tbsp of sake over each salmon fillet, season with salt and pepper, and place a cilantro leaf on top. Wrap the salmon up in the pastry, seal, and brush the surface with the egg and butter mixture. Bake the 4 parcels for 10-20 mins until the pastry is crisp. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
the taste space 
This sounds great – as you said: simple but impressive. Would it work with other fish you think?
It would definitely work with other types of fish. Halibut, comes to mind, but I am sure black cod and other fish work work equally well.
This is such a beautiful dish! I would’ve never thought of baking salmon inside Phyllo but it sounds delicious! I’ll definitely have to give this a try. We’re always told to eat more fish right?
Stumbled upon your lovely website. Got attracted to it by your Cranberry Buckle with Vanilla Crumb and found the Salmon Fillet Wrapped in Phyllo Pastry. I am just curious, what is the purpose of adding the egg white with the butter for brushing over the pastry? Could only figure that it adds to the “cirspiness” of the pastry.
Hi Jane,
You can use either butter/oil or egg whites to get the crispy edge from phyllo. This is just a mix of the two, but you could opt for either.
How versatile is phyllo pastry! I particularly like it wrapped round a succulent piece of steak! or as my grand-daughters favourite – apple strudel (lhyllo-wise)!!
Your dinner looks delicious! I am certain the guests were very impressed with this French looking “Patisserie”. I am also a big fan of Filo pastry which in my opinion is an easy way to make a dish look incredibly complicated and elegant! Take this succulent piece of salmon stake, I rest my case. 🙂
do you cook the salmon before?
Nope, I cook it wrapped in the phyllo. it stays super moist that way!