by New Skies | Jan 5, 2017 | Off-season, River Recipes, Sockeye Salmon
If you have a stockpile of Alaskan sockeye salmon, stop hoarding it, and turn it into a culinary delight with this Scandinavian recipe for gravlax! What’s that, you say? No, not lox, as in lox and cream cheese, but similar. Gravlax is a traditional Scandinavian way to cure salmon. The name comes from the real traditional way to prepare it: burying salmon (lax) in a salty grave (grav). But we needn’t bury fish in the yard, let’s just stick to some pans and plastic wrap this time around. First, do yourself a favor and start with salmon that you know has been taken well care of and frozen as fresh as possible. There is very little processing done, so the final product is only going to be as good as the quality of fish you start with. Using frozen fish also assures that any parasites within the fish have been killed. You’ll need: a filet or two of fresh-frozen salmon, skin-on and fully thawed in the fridge (this dish is salty and very thinly sliced so a little goes a long way), lots of dill, some salt, pepper and sugar, plastic wrap and a shallow dish that the filet will fit in, plus one more to place on top. Additional spices are sometimes used, such as cloves or juniper berries, but we wanted to really taste the salmon, so just went with the plain, dill version. First, place the fish in a shallow pan (after you’ve completely thawed it in the fridge), skin side down. Mix 5-6 Tbsp salt, 1-2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp pepper and sprinkle over the fish. Pack the dill on top, completely covering the...
