Cured salmon recipe
Easy cured salmon recipe, super tender with smokey flavor. Only 5 minutes of prep and 4 days of cure in the fridge. Perfect for a family festive gathering or as brunch along with some bagels or a nice toasted slice of rye bread.
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 123kcal
Equipment
- Knife
- Chopping board
- tweezers
- large baking dish
- kitchen cling film
Ingredients
- 600 gr salmon center part fresh
- 9 gr Lapsang Souchong tea leaves smoked black tea
- 990 gr coarse sea salt
- 1 orange
Instructions
Remove the salmon
- Place the salmon on a chopping board and pass the hand over the flesh of the salmon to see if there are any fish bones left. Use tweezers to remove any bones left in the flesh.
Cured the salmon
- Add a few handfuls of coarse sea salt enough to cover completely the skin of the salmon in a large baking dish.
- Lie down the salmon fillet over the coarse sea salt with the skin touching the salt. Spread evenly the leaves of the smoked tea over the flash of the salmon.
- Add the rest of the coarse sea salt over the salmon, making sure that the flesh is fully covered and there is no visible pink meat.
- Cut the orange in slices 1 cm thick and spread them over the coarse sea salt.
- Cover the salmon with the kitchen cling film and store it in the fridge for 4 days*.
- When ready* remove the salmon from the fridge, scrape off the orange slices, salt, and the tea leaves with a fork, and rinse quickly over cold water. No worries if you see water on the bottom of the baking dish, it is completely normal. Dry the fish with a paper towel.
Serve
- Place the salmon on a chopping board and, using a very sharp knife, not a dull knife or you will tear the salmon, slice diagonally the salmon and as thinly as you possibly can while holding the blade. As a consequence, you will obtain beautiful slices of cured salmon.
Notes
*4 days: the time of cure depends on the thickness and how fat is the salmon you have used. This salmon was 3 cm thick and it took 4 days to cure. I advise you to check the salmon after 3 days if it is thinner, on the other hand, let it cure for 5 days if it is thicker.
*Ready: the salmon is ready when touching the skin will feel hard and the flesh of the salmon has a beautiful evenly orange color.
Can I use another smoked tea for this cured salmon recipe?
To be fair, I never try it with different smokey tea. However, if you can't find Lapsang Souchong, I would use the smokey earl grey or any other smoked black tea. Use always loose tea leaves as the tea on teabags are often of lower quality and also crushed into something more similar to powder.
Can I use table fine sea salt instead of coarse sea salt?
No, I wouldn't swap the coarse sea salt over the table fine sea salt. Doing that will lead to a super salty gravlax salmon.
How to store the leftover?
Store the leftover in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze the cured salmon gravlax?
I don't suggest you freeze the gravlax salmon.
How much time does the salmon need to cure for?
Usually, the cured salmon will be ready in 4 days. Although, the time of cure depends on the thickness and how fat is the salmon you have used. I recommend you to check the salmon after 3 days if it is thinner, on the other hand, let it cure for 5 days if it is thicker.
Cured salmon recipe, smoked gravlax salmon