Stephen King Is Doubling Down On His Controversial Salmon Recipe

When last we saw master horror writer Stephen King, he was being schooled by award-winning chef and humanitarian José Andrés for a proposed method for cooking salmon, which involved slathering olive oil and lemon juice on what he called a "nice salmon fillet" before wrapping it in damp paper towels and "nuke[ing] it in the microwave for 3 minutes or so," via Twitter. 

But no amount of chiding and ribbing could convince the acclaimed novelist that, at least this time, he might have been in the wrong because he returned to Twitter to say, "I have one thing to say to people slagging on my salmon recipe: DON'T KNOCK OT IF YOU HAVEN'T TRIED IT," accompanied by a big-grinned emoji. 

Despite his rather questionable way with salmon, it appears Stephen King's defense of his own cooking resonated with more than a few as it drew more than 18,500 likes — but those who did decide to try it came back with mixed reviews, particularly since most people believe fish and microwave ovens don't mix. 

One Twitter user indicated there was an attempt to recreate Stephen King's cooking suggestion, saying, "Okay I tried this recipe and the salmon EXPLODED! FYI the paper towels don't keep it from flopping around no matter how tightly you roll it up. I went with zip ties to keep the sliced lemon in place because I didn't have any butcher's twine and buttered fish are slippery," which prompted another user to comment, "You should kill it first. I've never seen any food "flop around" in a microwave. He also called for a fillet. You didn't use a whole fish did you?"

A third proposed this might be a good plot for an upcoming Stephen King thriller. "King is working on a new book where a seemingly random group of people are murdered, and its eventually discovered that the one thing all of these people had in common was negative responses to the author's salmon tweet," they wrote.

And yet among the naysayers, there was one fan that took King's side. "I can vouch for Stephen King's Salmon Recipe for the microwave boys and girls ... it's delicious ... I have been microwaving Salmon for years with different spices and then placed over Jasmine Rice," this Twitter user said.