Clara Cooks

This recipe is from https://www.recipetineats.com/ with a few slight changes from myself.

Ingredients

• fresh dill, roughly chopped (1 big bunch)
• 250g / 8 oz rock salt 
• 250g / 8 oz gan sugar 
• 1 kg / 2 lb salmon, sashimi-grade, bones removed and skin on. Make sure you use sashimii-grade salmon. Rung ahead to your fishmonger.

Instructions

1. Combine salt, sugar and dill.
2. Place 2 large pieces of cling wrap on a work surface, slightly overlapping. Spread half the salt mixture in the shape of the salmon.
3. Place salmon on salt, skin side down. Top with remaining salt mixture.
4. Wrap with cling wrap. Place in a large dish. Top with something flat (like a small cutting board for weight) 
5. Refrigerate for 12 hours. There will be liquid in the dish. Turn salmon over (will be gloopy/wet)), then replace Weights and return to fridge. After another 12 hours, turn the salmon over again, and replace weight. After another 12 hours, remove the salmon from the fridge. 36 hours total for Medium Cure – you can do 48 hours for a stringer cure.
6. Perfect Gravlax to my taste (See Notes for description and more curing times).
7. Unwrap salmon, scrape off salt then rinse. Pat dry. If time permits, return to the fridge for 3 – 12 hours uncovered (dries surface better, lets salt “settle” and permeates through flesh more evenly).
8. Sprinkle over some dried dill- for garnish and flavour.
9. Slice thinly on an angle, do not cut through the skin (i.e. don’t eat the skin). Serve for sushi or with toasted bread, mustard and lemon wedges.

Notes

SALT TYPES & CURING TIMES

Salt roughly falls into 4 categories (smallest to largest) – table salt, kosher/coarse cooking salt, flakes and rock salt. Rock salt cures salmon more evenly from the surface to the centre.

* ROCK SALT: 36 hrs cure time per recipe = Medium Cure. 

3 days = Hard Cure

COARSE SALT / KOSHER SALT: 24 hours = Medium Cure, 36 hours will be between Medium and Hard Cure, 48 hours+ will be Hard Cure. 

CURING STRENGTH:

* Medium Cure (my preference) = surface is fairly firm and not too salty, inside is lightly cured, still moist (but not raw, it’s cured). Seasoned enough to eat slices plain.

* Hard Cure = surface is quite firm (like a soft jerky) and quite well seasoned, inside is slightly firmer and pretty well seasoned. 

Sugar, like salt, draws moisture from the flesh and cures it but makes it sweet rather than salty. Using normal sugar rather than superfine / caster sugar ensures 

The salmon does not get too sweet (i.e. caster sugar penetrates salmon quicker). The right salt and sugar combination is key to controlling the saltiness of Gravlax while still achieving the “cured” effect and without making it too sweet!

**Please ensure you use SASHIMI-GRADE salmon. I always ask, even if the sign says that! Nowadays, sashimi-grade salmon is quite common at local fishmongers. 

Skin-on salmon means that the skin side is cured slightly less, however, for me, I prefer skin-on for this exact reason plus it’s easier to carve.