trout
Arctic Char
Brook trout and lake trout are also chars. Almost nothing in this family is named after what it is.
Arctic char is Salvelinus alpinus, a salmonid sitting between trout and salmon in fat, colour and flavour. The flesh runs light pink to deep orange and the skin is thin enough to crisp hard. Fillets are thinner than salmon's, so the same recipe finishes several minutes sooner.
In one line
A char, not a trout and not a salmon — and it cooks faster than either.
Buy it if
You like salmon but find it heavy, or you want crisp skin off a fillet that is done before the side dish is.
It is a char. Salvelinus alpinus, in the same genus as brook trout and lake trout — both of which are also chars, despite their names. Salmon and trout proper sit in neighbouring genera. This corner of the family is a tangle of borrowed names, and char is the one that lost.
The northernmost freshwater fish there is. Arctic char rings the top of the world, in high-latitude lakes and coastal waters where little else survives. Some populations are landlocked; others run to sea and back the way salmon do. Unlike Pacific salmon, they live through spawning and return to do it again, over decades.
It sits between trout and salmon, and that is the useful part. More fat and more colour than a rainbow trout, less of both than a king salmon. The flake is finer than salmon's and softer, so it eats lighter, and the flavour is cleaner and less oily. If salmon is too much fish, this is the one.
Thin fillet, short clock. The single mistake with char is cooking it on salmon's timing. Sides are smaller and fillets thinner, so the middle is done while you are still waiting for it to look the way salmon looks. Sear it skin-down and take it off early.
Where it comes from on the animal
| Species | trout |
|---|---|
| Subprimal | skin-on fillet and side |
What else it’s called
How to cook Arctic Char
| Best methods | Pan sear Oven roast Grill Smoke Cure Poach Raw |
|---|---|
| Skip | Deep fry Braise Stew |
| Cook to | Take it off while the centre still looks slightly translucent. The fillet is thinner than a salmon's, so it gets there sooner than you expect. |
Arctic Char vs Salmon
They look alike on ice and cook alike in a pan. The difference that matters is thickness — a char fillet is thinner, so a recipe written for salmon overcooks it.
| Arctic Char | Salmon | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Char (Salvelinus) | Salmon (Salmo / Oncorhynchus) |
| Fat | Moderate | Rich |
| Flake | Fine and soft | Larger and firmer |
| Fillet | Thin — cooks fast | Thick — cooks slower |
If Arctic Char is sold out
Cooks like
Trout
The closest thing there is: same family, same thin skin-on fillet, a little leaner.
Common questions
Is arctic char the same as salmon?
No. It is a char, a separate genus in the same family. It looks like salmon — orange flesh, a salmonid's shape — and it cooks the same way, but the fillet is thinner, the flake finer and the flavour less oily.
What does arctic char taste like?
Between trout and salmon. Cleaner and milder than salmon, richer and more substantial than rainbow trout. People who find salmon overpowering usually get on with char.
What temperature should arctic char be cooked to?
The FDA's blanket figure for fish is 145°F, which is well past where most cooks want an oily salmonid. Pull it while the centre still looks slightly translucent and let residual heat finish it. Because the fillet is thin, that moment arrives sooner than you expect.
Is arctic char farmed or wild?
Almost all of what reaches a US counter is farmed, mostly in Iceland and Canada. Char does well in land-based and contained systems, which is why it is one of the more consistently available salmonids and one of the less contentious ones.
Can you eat the skin?
Yes, and it is the best part. Char skin is noticeably thinner than salmon's and crisps faster — dry it, salt it, and give it a hot pan skin-down.
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