Cooking Class with Chef Ivan Flowers – Lesson 62 Cured Salmon

In the last class I shared my favorite steak sandwich recipe. I hope you had lots of fun putting your spin on the recipe. This week I’m going to teach you how to make Cured Salmon. What sparked me to come up with this recipe was my own selfish desire for a proper bagel with lox like I had growing up in New York. Sunday mornings my Dad would leave the apartment early and pick up a bag of bagels, cream cheese and lox. He would spread these out on a huge platter with sliced tomatoes, red onion and capers. No matter how many bagels he bought, we always ate ALL of them!

Eating all that lox when I was younger was fine, but as I got older, the salt in this delicious fish became a problem. After years of suffering without any lox on my bagel, I decided to create my own cured salmon that had all the flavor and much less salt. This recipe first cures the salmon and then marinates it, so you have two opportunities to add flavor into the fish.

Before I get into the recipe I want to talk about curing. Curing is a type of food preservation that has been around for years. Curing can be done by using spices, smoke or even straight ahead cooking. Basically, curing draws moisture out of the food and by doing this, it makes the food less hospitable to all those nasty bacteria. The method I will be teaching you will use salt and sugar to draw out the moisture and using some herbs to add in fabulous flavor.

Next, I must talk about salmon. Please, if you can, use wild salmon for this recipe. It not only has a much better flavor than farm-raised, but it also has a much higher omega 3 oil content, so it is healthier. When buying the salmon for this recipe, have your fish monger remove the pin bones for you. These small bones run through the center of the fish and are a bear to remove. Plus, if someone accidentally eats one, it can be a huge choking hazard.

Now, let’s get cooking!

For this recipe you will need: one side of wild salmon about three pounds (skin-on, pin bones removed), one and ½ cup Kosher salt, one and ½ cup brown sugar, one cup chopped fresh dill, four cups canola oil, ½ cup low sodium soy sauce, ½ cup sweet chili, two tablespoons sesame oil, juice of two lemons, juice of one lime, two tablespoons Dijon mustard, ½ cup chopped fresh tarragon, one large baking sheet, large bowl, whisk, cutting board, sharp Chef’s knife and a large baking pan.

This salmon finishes over two days, so please keep that in mind when you start the recipe.

First thing is to put the salmon on the baking sheet skin side down. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the salt, the sugar and the dill. Using your hand, cover the salmon with the salt/sugar mixture. Use all of the mixture and after you have applied it all, press it into the salmon. Put the salmon in the fridge, uncovered for 24 hours. This is the curing part of the recipe. The salt and sugar will work to remove moisture from the salmon and the dill will flavor it. At the end of the 24 hours, the salmon will be slightly “cooked.”

The next day, remove the salmon from the fridge and wipe off the salt/sugar mixture. Then rinse the salmon under cold water and set it aside. Now it is time for the marinating portion of this recipe. This will tenderize the salmon, use some citrus juices to continue curing it and also add lots of flavor. In the large baking pan combine the canola oil, lemon juice, lime juice, sweet chili, sesame oil, soy sauce, tarragon and Dijon mustard. Place the salmon into the pan, skin side up and put into fridge uncovered for 24 hours.

The next day remove the salmon from the pan and discard the oil mixture. Wipe salmon off with a paper towel and place skin side down on a cutting board.

Before I go on, I will tell you that the salmon will still be on the rare side. Many people, me included, love to eat it this way, if you do not, stay tuned because later in this class I will let you know how you can cook this ultra-flavorful salmon.

For those who like the rarer salmon, I will now teach you how to slice it.

So the salmon is skin side down on the cutting board (salmon should be laid out lengthwise across the board) and you are ready with your very sharp knife. Starting at the front of the salmon, holding the knife at a 45 degree angle, slice a very thin piece of salmon. Repeat this, working your way back toward the tail, until you have desired amount of slices. The important thing to do while slicing is to keep the knife moving back and forth as you draw it through the fish. Wrap leftover fish in plastic, put on a plate and it will stay good in your fridge for four days.

Now besides eating this delicious fish with bagels, what can you do with it? Cook some with scrambled eggs, put some with lemon goat cheese on a crostini, wrap around grilled asparagus, top deviled eggs, add to a salad, etc.

Okay, as promised here is what you can do if you want a more cooked salmon. After you remove it from the oil and wipe it off, place skin side down on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook for eight minutes. You can then cut into filets to serve, you can also flake it and make salmon cakes, add into cream cheese for a delicious spread or really anything you like, the possibilities are endless.

There you have it, cured salmon! This really is such a nice alternative to salt-laden lox. Remember, as with any technique or recipe, the most important component is the cook’s heart. The heart is what helps you create delicious meals you’ll never forget.