Cured Salmon

Curing salmon is incredibly easy and fulfilling.  It requires only two ingredients and is very cost-efficient.

The Slavic people are notorious for having salmon appetizers at every dinner function. Be it smoked salmon on buttered baguettes.  Or salmon(ed) deviled eggs.  Or perhaps salmon and spinach rolls with cream cheese would be your choice.  And every now and then, I’ll find myself as an honored guest to a party having all of the above.  Yes, we Slavs do enjoy our salmon.

What I don’t appreciate though is the dent in the pocketbook.  At $16 per pound for wild smoked salmon (and this is at wholesale price at my local Costco).  I suppose the price is not that steep compared to the sturgeon caviar that I shelled out $50 for half a pint to surprise my husband.  But it was sturgeon caviar!  And though this doesn’t give it that “smoked” flavor, but it still delicious.

Thankfully, curing salmon is as simple as adding two ingredients together and then playing the waiting game.  It’s also considerably cheaper.  In season, wild salmon can be purchased as low as $3 per pound, but even during off season, there are plenty markets that sell wild salmon for under $10 per pound.

Curing is the process of preserving meats or seafood by adding salt and/or sugar.  And although technically speaking, the fish is in raw state, the pathogens have been destroyed by the salt used in the process.  For this reason, I always err on the side of using too much salt than not enough.  Same principle applies to culturing vegetables like sauerkraut and pickles. If too salty, you can always rinse the fish under filtered water but you want to be sure that you use enough salt to penetrate the fish.  Cured salmon is also known as lox or gravlax.

This is a very basic recipe and calls for no sugar.  Just salt and salmon.  You start by washing the salmon fillets.  Pat them dry with a paper towel and remove the skin with a sharp knife by making a cut between the skin and the flesh.

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Dredge the fish with fine sea salt (I use this one) , making sure that all of the fish is fully covered with the salt, including the sides.

Spread the fillets in a flat dish, cover it with a board or lid and place some weight on it. I used my fermentation rock. A canned food item will work, just something that will help release the juices.

Set aside at room temperature for 12-18 hours. Ideally, you would do this in the evening, so the curing process will occur overnight when the temperature will not get too warm.

After salmon cures, remove from dish, rinse in filtered water and pat dry. Cured salmon is ready to be enjoyed.  Store in glass dish in your refrigerator.  Lox also freezes well, I usually wrap individual fillets in parchment paper and tossed in ziplock bags.  After trying out this recipe, you will no longer be throwing that package of Smoked Salmon in your cart.

 

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