Gravlax is easier to make than smoked salmon, and especially when used with the freshest of fish, salmon gravlax tastes cleaner and livelier than smoked salmon.
I love smoked salmon as much as the next fisherman, but it’s a shame that more anglers don’t experiment with other forms of cured salmon. Gravlax is a great place to start, because it’s easier than making smoked salmon and the end product is entirely different. While smoked salmon can make you feel like you need to rinse with a glug of mouthwash, this gravlax tastes clean and lively. The key here is to use absolutely fresh salmon, not frozen. Pull it from the water, bleed it, put it on ice and start making gravlax.
Also Works With:
First choice would be either king salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon or Atlantic salmon – the latter only on the condition that it’s wild. Pink salmon have a different texture and don’t flake as nicely as other salmon, but you can still make a good product with a fresh pink.
- ½ cup kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 teaspoons toasted cumin seeds
- 2 serrano chiles, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
- Zest of 2 limes
- 2 bunches fresh cilantro
- (2-pound) salmon fillet, skin on, pinbones removed
- 2 tablespoons tequila
Serve With:
- Cilantro sprigs
- Crème fraîche or sour cream
- Finely chopped red onion
- Toasted rye bread or other variety
How to Prepare Salmon Gravlax
Mix together the salt, sugar, cumin seeds, chiles and lime zest. Cover a baking sheet with a few layers of plastic wrap that are twice as long as the baking sheet. Arrange one of the bunches of cilantro on the plastic in roughly the space the fillet will take up. Rub the salt cure over all the fillet, flesh and skin and place on the cilantro. Cover with the second bunch. Drizzle the tequila over the top. Fold over the plastic and tightly wrap the salmon, using more wrap if necessary. Place a casserole dish with cans (or some other weight) on top of the fish and refrigerate.
After 24 hours, remove the weight, flip the salmon and put the weight back on again. Refrigerate for another 24 hours and repeat. Refrigerate for an additional 24 hours, then remove the plastic and herbs. Gently scrape the seeds off the flesh. Thinly slice and serve. Serves 4 to 6.
Note: This salmon gravlax recipe is excerpted from Steven Rinella’s The Meateater Game and Fish Cookbook
From the host of the television series and podcast MeatEater, this long-awaited definitive guide to cooking features more than 100 new recipes for wild game, fish and waterfowl.
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