Best Cured Salmon Gravlax Recipes

BEET-CURED SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Stir kosher salt, sugar, and cayenne together in a bowl.
• Line a dish with cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel. Sprinkle 1/3 of the salt-sugar mixture over the bottom. Place salmon skin side-down in the dish. Grate beet over the salmon and spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle the remaining salt-sugar mixture on top, varying the amount according to the thickness of each section.
• Fold cheesecloth over the salmon and cover the top with plastic wrap. Wrap a brick in aluminum foil and place on top of the salmon. Let cure in the refrigerator until salmon is firm to the touch and translucent when sliced, about 36 hours. You can carefully unwrap, and poke to test, and then rewrap, and let cure longer if need be.
• Transfer salmon to a paper towel-lined plate. Scrape off the grated beet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, about 18 hours more. Slice salmon thinly at a 45-degree angle, gliding knife back and forth and turning it up and away from the skin.

GIN AND JUNIPER CURED SALMON - SCANDINAVIAN GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Remove the bone from the salmon, leaving two triangular fillets with the skin intact.
• To make the curing mixture, mix together the Maldon Crystal Salt, sugar and peppercorns,juniper berries and the gin.
• Place the salmon, skin side down, on a board and place half of the curing mixture over the surface of each fillet, pressing it well into the flesh. Now cover each fillet with the chopped dill.
• Place one fillet on top of the other to make a sandwich with the dill in the centre and the skin on the outside. Wrap tightly in Clingfilm and place on a shallow dish or plate. Place a plate over the top and weight with a heavy tin. Put in the fridge for 24 - 48 hours turning the gravalax twice during the curing time.
• Unwrap the gravlax and slice thinly Serve with rye bread and a sauce made from equal quantities of mayonnaise and wholegrain mustard mixed with a little sugar and chopped dill.

TEQUILA CURED SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Put the peppercorns in a spice mill and crush to a coarse grind. In a bowl combine the pepper, sugar and salt and blend well together.
• Place the bunches of cilantro, dill, and scallions together in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped.
• Rinse some cheese cloth under cold running water. Unfold the cheese cloth and lay a large piece out on your work surface. The cloth will have to be large enough to wrap completely around the salmon several times.
• Choose the freshest salmon possible for this dish as this is a cured but not cooked dish and fresh really counts. Cut the fish fillet into two equal pieces and lay it, skin side down, in the center of the cheesecloth. Spread the sugar, salt, and pepper mixture evenly over the salmon flesh. Spread the chopped herbs in the same manner and then sprinkle the tequila over the herbs. The flesh of the salmon should be totally coated in this curing seasoning.
• Once all the tequila has been absorbed, sandwich the two fillets together, fleshtoflesh and skinsidesout. Position the fillet "sandwich" in the center of the cloth and wrap as you would a gift, pulling the cloth as tightly as possible around the fillets. Lay the package on a cake cooling rack set over a cookie sheet. The rack allows air to circulate for more efficient drying, while the cookie sheet will catch the liquid extracted during the threeday curing period. Put the weight in a second, smaller cake pan and place it on top of the fish. The weight must be properly and
• evenly distributed so as to press out the unwanted water.
• Place the entire curing setup in the bottom, the coldest area, of your refrigerator and begin the 3 day curing process. Remove the weight and flip the fish package over every 24 hours, replacing the weight each time. Drain off and discard any liquid that collects in the pan when you do this. At the end of the 72 hours the fish must be cleaned. Remove the cheesecloth and discard it. Drain any accumulated liquid, scrape off all of the used herbs and salt and pepper. Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat the fish totally dry.
• The salmon is now fully cured and as entirely edible as smoked salmon but must be kept refrigerated.
• To serve, finely chop one cup of fresh cilantro and cover the flesh side of the fish. Using a very sharp knife, slice the salmon as thinly as possible, at a 45 degree angle. Your first slices may look a bit rough, but be patient. With a little practice you'll soon be turning out elegant greenedged red ribbons of gravlax.
• Mix the mustard and confectioner's sugar and serve with pumpernickel and wedges of lime.
• Weight for weighing down the salmon as it cures, such as unopened plastic bags of dried beans, or gallon jugs of cooking oil .

GRAVLAX (SWEDISH SUGAR AND SALT CURED SALMON)

Steps:

• Remove any small bones from the fillets with a pair of tweezers or needle-nosed pliers.
• Mix the sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl.
• Cover the bottom of a baking dish with 1/3 the dill and rub half of the sugar-salt mixture into the first fillet, on both sides, and lay it skin side down on top of the dill.
• Cover with 1/3 of dill.
• Prepare the other salmon fillet in the same way, and cover with the remaining fillet, skin side up, with the remaining dill on top.
• Cover in plastic wrap, place a cutting board with some heavy weights on top and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
• Remove from plastic wrap and discard accumulated juices.
• Rewrap and refrigerate another 24- 48 hours.
• Scrape off the marinade and slice paper thin.
• Serve with Mustard Dill Sauce (Recipe #68168).

CURED SALMON GRAVLAX

Steps:

• There is a central line of small bones that extends down into salmon fillets. Run one of your fingers gently along the fleshy surface of the salmon to determine if all of these bones have been removed. If you feel any, pull them out with a small pair of pliers or a strawberry huller. Arrange the fillet skin side down on a large sheet of plastic wrap.
• Place the pepper and lemon peel in the bowl of a small food processor and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a small bowl and mix with the salt and sugar. Spread this mixture in one layer over the exposed surface of the salmon.
• Wrap the salmon tightly in plastic wrap and place it, skin side down, on a tray. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours, but preferably for 1 day. All the salt and sugar should have dissolved and most of the resulting moisture will have been absorbed by the salmon. Unwrap, pat dry and place, uncovered, on a rack in the refrigerator for at least one but preferably two days to dry.
• To serve, cut crosswise on a slant into slices as thin as possible. Sprinkle with the garnish.

GRAVLAX (SCANDINAVIAN CURED SALMON)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and allspice. Chop the stems and leaves of the dill. Lay a piece of the salmon, skin side down, on a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap both fillets. Sprinkle the fillet with half the spice mix, moisten with half of the cognac, if using, and cover with all the chopped dill. Cover the second fillet with the spice mix and cognac. Sandwich the 2 fillets together and tightly wrap in the plastic wrap. Make sure the fillets are held tightly closed with a good seal. Place the wrapped salmon on a plate and weigh it down with a 1-pound can or weight. Place in the refrigerator. Every 12 hours or so, open the package and baste the fish with the liquid that has formed around it. Let the salmon cure for at least 24 or up to 36 hours. When the salmon is ready, scrape the dill mixture off with a spoon and refrigerate the fish until ready to serve. To serve the gravlax; slice thin pieces at a 45-degree angle with a long, sharp narrow knife. Lay the gravlax out on a platter and serve it with black bread and a bit of mustard. The gravlax will stay fresh for a week wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator.

CHINESE STYLE GRAVLAX(CURED SALMON)

Steps:

• Place the salmon fillet, skin side down, on a rimmed baking sheet(if aluminum, line with plastic wrap) or large flat platter.
• Combine the sugar, pepper-salt, and black pepper, and sprinkle evenly over the fish.
• Scatter the ginger julienne and cilantro evenly on top.
• Cover with plastic wrap.
• Place another baking sheet over the salmon. weight it down with a 3-5 pound weight.
• Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or for better flavor, up to 3 days.
• Every 8-10 hours, drain off any liquid that collects in the bottom of the pan.
• To serve, discard the ginger and cilantro.
• Slice the gravlax very thinly on the diagonal with a long and thin bladed sharp knife.

GRAVLAX, SALT-CURED SALMON

Steps:

• It's best to buy two sides of the same salmon, or at least two opposites sides that are fairly close in size.
• The above ingredients are for 1lb of salmon, so adjust (presumably) upwards as required.
• Defrost salmon and pat dry with paper towels.
• Remove any bones you detect with clean pliers.
• Lay flat on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap, skin side down, so that you can easily flip one side onto the other, back the way they would be if it were a whole fish.
• Take the salt, sugar and pepper and mix thoroughly in a bowl.
• Evenly apply the salt/sugar/pepper mix onto the salmon flesh, being careful to cover every part, with a little less for the thin ends, and more on the thicker parts.
• Sprinkle the dill over the salted fish.
• Flip one side over onto the other making a sandwich.
• Place one end of a long strip of muslin underneath the fish.
• Roll the fish over toward you, and tug a little on the muslin to tighten. Repeat until out of muslin.
• You don't need to tug very hard, each time you do it the pressure increases more and more.
• Place the fish on the baking sheet to catch drips and place in the fridge.
• Turn once or twice per day for three days.
• Unwrap, and rinse off the cure mix and dill quick as you can so the salmon doesn't soak too much. Carefully pat dry with paper towels. This will keep for a week or freeze for 3 months.
• With a sharp knife carefully slice on the diagonal to get slices as thin as you can without them falling to bits, leaving the skin.
• With practice you can become pretty good at this.