Cooking Lab - Pimms Cured Salmon (自製皮姆酒醃漬鮮鮭魚)

Made from Scratch....
Why do I want to cure my own salmon? I seriously don't know why!

Ok... curing my own salmon sounds like a lot of work....but it is surprising quite simple.

It all started when we received an extremely large beautiful salmon fillet .. but large nevertheless. So I had an outrageous idea of curing my fish. Is it doable? 

My inner experimental nature challenges me. What the heck? The worst scenario is wasting 1/2 piece of a good salmon fillet. 

When you are cooking something new for the first time, one would usually follow a recipe to the dot. A slight change of plan..(in this case, recipe) when I am involved. Why just cured in salt? If cafe can offer vodka-cured salmon, surely Pimm's would work just as well. 

The fact that you can actually read this post means the experiment went well. The cured salmon actually turned out extremely good! Beginners' luck but I am quite happy!  

(c) GMV - Got My Vote!

Salmon tastes so much better when cured with a hint of Pimms No.1.

To be honest, I always marveled the delicacy of salmon gravlax and they are quite expensive ... fetching up to $79.99/kg at the local deli. 

This is one of those dishes that are impressive and so so easy to make. It takes at least 3 days to prepare, but you don't have to do much. The fish will do all the work. 

The best thing about curing is you don't have to lift too much. Put away the saucers and pans;  all you need is cling wrap, crystal salt and sugar, strong liqueur, and 3 days' worth of patience.

Ingredients:

- 350g fresh salmon fillet 
- 160g coarse crystal salt 
- 160g caster sugar 
- 80ml Pimm's No 1 
- 1 lemon 
- 5g fresh black pepper 

Instructions:

1. Wash the pat dry the salmon fillet. Check for fine bones.

2. Place a large cling wrap inside a deep glass dish.

3. Place salt crystal, sugar in a medium bowl and mix until evenly combined.

4. Pat and rub the salt/sugar mixture all over the salmon fillet.

5. Place the salmon fillet in midst of the cling wrap.

6. Add Pimm's No 1 to the salmon fillet.

7. Add some black pepper.

8.Cover with cling wrap.

9. Wrap tightly together.

10. Weight the salmon by placing another plates (or anything heavy) on top of the first baking dish.

11. Chill in the fridge for 3 days.

12. Unwrap the fish and wash off the salt/sugar mixture.

13. It is now ready to be served.

14. Finely grated zest of a lemon on top.

15. Serve it by itself as canapé appetizer.

有時候，我真覺得我自找麻煩。去餐廳吃就有了，何必自己動手。又加上從來沒做過; 又不乖乖照食譜做...還自作聰明加入皮姆酒和香橙，可怕的是還真的給我做出來了....

原來創作就是這麼一回事!

LOOK! LOOK! You can not say this is not delicious as it is!!!

Oohhhh... I am superlative proud of myself

看了就超想吃！大成功。高興級了！

Isn't this the most beautiful sight? A large slab of cured salmon with all the side garnishes.

This is such a great Nordic experience - curing a fish, that is. 

It is so much fun un-burying the fish and fish out a beautiful silky and subtly liqueur perfumed appetizer. It is very much like a "Begger's Chicken' - but not soil is involved.  

Now I de-mystified the process, I will not fork out $79.99/kg at the deli anymore.

Seriously, it tastes better than store-bought gravlax. Of course, I was so liberal with the Pimm's.

You can get so creative with this. Watch me!!  YAY!!

The best thing is you don't need to lift a finger, just patience, Dear.