VanFoodies.com

This holiday season we’ve had a few home-cooked meals, and we took the opportunity to make some new dishes. One of which we made, and we fell in love with, was cured salmon.

We followed a recipe from Emeril Lagasse on the Food Network website. The preparation is essentially the same but we modified the list of ingredients based on our size of fillet and what we had in our pantry. The result was amazing.

Ingredients

• 300g salmon fillet, with skin
• 2 tablespoons sea salt (we used the President’s Choice Memories Of Sicilia Fine Sea Salts)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• A pinch of dried dill
• 3 tablespoons vodka (we used Finlandia Vodka)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 tangerine

Preparation

1. Remove any tiny pin bones from the salmon. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry.
2. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl.
3. Line your sheet pan with multiple layers of plastic wrap (because this is a wet marinate, it’s important to line your sheet pan well so the liquid wouldn’t seep through). Place salmon, skin side down.
   
   
4. Spread the mixture evenly over the flesh side of the fish, pressing it into the flesh. Wrap the salmon tightly in the plastic wrap and keep it skin side down.
5. Place an extra sheet of plastic wrap on top of the salmon. Put some weight on the fish with several heavy cans or a brick (perfect time to utilize those heavy cookbooks – OK, we’re kidding! We used our big chopping block). Refrigerate for 24-48 hours.
   
6. Unwrap the salmon and rinse the cure off under cold, running water. Pat dry.
   
7. Slice diagonally into paper-thin slices, off the skin.
   

Tips

• We took the fish out after 24 hours of refrigeration. The flavour was there but rather on the light side, so we definitely recommend leaving it in the fridge for closer to 48 hours.
• Salmon and cream cheese is a classic combo. When we served the fish, we actually served it with soft goat cheese on crostini and it was a great pairing. If you like goat cheese, give it a try!
• Need a wine suggestion? We really enjoyed the salmon with the Pinot Gris from Nichol Vineyard.

This Vodka Citrus Cured Salmon was very easy to make and it tasted really nice. We wondered why we didn’t figure it out sooner! Perfect for entertaining guests or satisfying your regular lox cravings.