Salmon Gravlax II (Gravad Lax)

Salmon Gravlax II (Gravad Lax)

Simply Recipes, Elise Bauer, United States.
This is the Swedish version of Gravlax, and is salmon cured with salt, sugar, white pepper, and the herb used is just dill. This is not a cooked dish, just cured.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 minute
Passive Time 2 days
Total Time 11 minutes
Course Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine Swedish

Ingredients
  

To Prepare the Salmon

  • 1 kilo salmon fillets, see Step 1, (2 lbs)
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons crushed white pepper
  • ½ cup fresh dill, roughly chopped

For the Sauce (Gravlaxsås)

  • 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • ¾ cup neutral flavored oil, slightly less than ¾ cup is perfect
  • salt and white pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup fresh dill, finely chopped

Instructions
 

To Prepare the Salmon

  • Ideally, you would want two 500 gram (1 lb) skin on fillets from the center cut of the fillet, remove the pin bones if that is not already done. But you can use the smaller fillets from Tesco, as what is in this photo. When I make this, I will use two of these fillets on the bottom, and two on top, just reduce the salt and sugar in equal proportions.
  • Mix together the salt, sugar, and white pepper. Rub the mixture into both sides of the salmon fillets.
  • Put half of the dill between the fillets, then divide up the remaining dill between the top and bottom, place in a ziplock bag and seal after removing as much as as you can. Place the bag in a backing dish and place a smaller dish on top and weight it down with some canned goods.
  • Place in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours, flip the bag about every 12 hours.
  • Remove from the fridge and remove from the dish. Rinse the fillet very well with cold water, and use your fingers to rub off all the salt and dill. Dry the fillets with paper towels.
  • Place a fillet skin side down on your cutting board, hold your knife at a angle and slice as thin as you can down to the skin but not through the skin. Repeat with remaining fillet or fillets.

For the Sauce (Gravlaxsås)

  • Mix together the mustards and sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the vinegar.
  • Using a mixer or food processor, very slowly add the oil, continuously mixing, start with just drops at first and when it binds (like making mayo), you can increase the amount of oil you are adding at a time. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Mix in the dill.
  • Serve with the sliced salmon as an appetizer on rye bread or with boiled potatoes for a lunch or dinner.

Notes

The salmon fillets I will use will be from Tesco, 69 Baht each for 140 to 160 gram fillets, frozen, from Norway. Initial test will be 4 fillets for a total of 276 Baht, about $8.40. I don't know the number of servings as an appetizer until I make this and I will update the pricing. For now I will say High Cost per serving.
Safety Note: Most times the salmon you will buy is frozen or was previously frozen, perfectly acceptable. If wanting to make this with fresh salmon, it is highly recommended you freeze the salmon first at -17° C (0° F) or colder for at least 48 hours to kill off any parasites that may be in the fish.

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