What is it that makes smoked salmon feel so luxurious? Could it be its deeply savoury, moreish flavour, or the way it falls neatly into paper-thin slices? Or is it that it usually costs a small fortune at the supermarket? We'll let you in on a secret: if you're feeling a bit cheffy, you can make it yourself easily enough. Here's a recipe for home-smoked salmon from Jun Tanaka, chef-patron of The Ninth, who pairs it with home-pickled vegetables. Enjoy.
The Ninth's Jun Tanaka shares his recipe for home-smoked salmon with pickled vegetables
With its intense, deeply savoury flavour and fragile, paper-thin slices, smoked salmon always feels like a luxury. We'll let you in on a secret: you can make it at home
Makes 1
Preparation time 25 mins
Cooking time 480 mins
Ingredients
- 1 side of salmon
For the cure:
- 500g Wet Sel de Guerande
- 250g sugar
- Zest of 2 oranges
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 90g orange juice
- 25g lemon juice
- 2 bunches dill, chopped
- 100g smoking chips
For the pickled vegetables:
- 200g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and cut into slices
- 200g button onions, peeled
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
- 200g cauliflower florets
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 150ml olive oil
- 150ml water, infused with a pinch of saffron
- 100ml white wine vinegar
Method
- To pickle the vegetables, pour the olive oil into a pan. Add the button onions and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the artichokes, cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the cauliflower, carrots, coriander, thyme, garlic. Season and cook for 2mins.
- Add the saffron water and vinegar, and cook on a gentle simmer for 15mins. Leave to cool.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the cure.
- Remove the skin and cover the salmon with a layer of the salt mix.
- Cover the salmon with cling film, pierce the cling film and press for 7 hours. Wash off and pat dry.
- Place a frying pan of smoking chips under the grill and once it starts to smoke, put it in an unlit oven.
- Place the salmon fillet on a tray above the smoking chips, close the oven door and leave for 30mins.
- Wrap the salmon fillet in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge.
- To serve, slice the salmon and serve with the pickled vegetables.
