Cumin and achiote are very important spices in Colombian cuisine. Achiote is also known as annatto seed and is used to give a yellowish color to food. Some people use it instead of saffron as a food coloring. Achiote can be found in Latin supermarkets and in some American grocery stores. I love these two ingredients and use them in a variety of different dishes.
Baked Salmon with Cumin and Achiote
Ingredients
- 4 6-ounce portions skinless and boneless salmon fillets
- 1 teaspoon ground achiote
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the achiote, cumin, black pepper, salt, garlic and onion powder. Season each piece of fish with the rub.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place salmon, skin side down, on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake until salmon is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.
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This time I made a simple Salmon with Cumin and Achiote in the oven, which resulted in a delicious, fresh, and light dinner, perfect for a summer week night!
Buen provecho!
Devon
Thanks for the anchiote lesson. Does it actually have a flavor or is it a food coloring exclusively?
Erica Dinho
It's primarily use as a food colorant, but it has an earthy flavor!
Alan Bowman
Hi Erica from Spain.
How do you put something skin-side down when it is skinless? Only teasing you.
When buying salmon, one must always look for fish that has a minimum of interstitial fat since this is most likely to give the fish a rancid taste even if it is fairly fresh
Alan.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
Not sure I can find anchiote here, but I can always use saffron instead. This looks very delicious. On the 2nd photo, what's that yellow side dish?
Erica Dinho
Yuca Sudada (Stewed Yuca). Here is the recipe: https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/stewed-cassava-or-yuca-yuca-sudada/
maryhelen
Saffron is very very expensive!
ela@GrayApron
It looks perfect! Firm just enough to my liking...
ela h.
Juliana
I have never heard of anchiote...the salmon looks delicious Erica.
Enjoy the rest of your week 😀
Amira
I've never heard of Achiote spice before, I should start looking for it but my hubby like cumin so much in almost everything . I like how simple this salmon is.
Laura
I've been curious about something for awhile, so I was happy to see a post that used achiote today. My husband is Colombian, and when his mom visits and cooks, she always asks if I have "color". And I've noticed in some recipes you refer to "color" (like your Pusandao de Pescado recipe, where you call for 1/2 tsp achiote or color) . Is achiote what people (like my mother in law) mean when they say "color", or are there other things used as well? In the Pusandao de Pescado recipe, what do you mean by "color"? If there is more than one thing used for color, do they have different flavors that I should be considering when I choose one? Sorry, I know this is a long question, but I've been dying to ask and you're the only Colombian cook I have access to. Thanks so much!!
Back when we got married you couldn't find Colombian recipes anywhere, so it took years of trial and error for me to figure out how to make just a few things. Since I found your website a year ago, my husband has been in heaven - we eat Colombian food several nights each week! And he has loved introducing our kids to the foods he loves. Thanks for all of your hard work - your recipes are fantastic!
Erica Dinho
Hi Laura,
I usually use seasoning with color, because my mom and grandmother always added to their dishes.In Colombia some cooks add achiote powder for color or triguisar a very popular store bought powdered seasoning. To this point, the closest seasoning to this one, that I found here in the USA, is Sazon Goya with Azafran. But I decided to make my own powdered seasoning about 6 months ago and here is the recipe: https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/homemade-powdered-seasoning./