Cured Salmon (Pinched from Rick Stein)

Chris [BEANS]

Chris [BEANS]

Chris [BEANS]

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After watching Rick Stein's Long Weekends I decided to give his 'Beetroot Cured Salmon' a bash....

I can't believe how easy it's been!!

Now, to be fair, I've only prepared it today so I cant vouch for how it tastes just yet, but for something that might impress, it's a cinch!

Recipe here...

Start with a side of salmon, around a kilo (Mine was about 900 grams), and crush all the dry ingredients together with a pestle and mortar.

Ingredients.jpg


Boil the beetroot for about half an hour, then peel.
Sling the beetroot and dry ingredients in a food processor (I used a Nutrininja, came out great).
Cut the salmon in half width-ways and apply a generous quantity of the cure mix to the fleshy side of both halves.

Cure.jpg


Sandwich them together, skin sides out, and wrap them tightly in clingfilm.

Clingfilm.jpg


Place the package on a tray and place a weighted tray on top.

Weight.jpg


Sling the whole thing in the fridge, and turn it over every twelve hours.
Ready to eat in forty eight hours.

Super simple, I really hope it's tasty!


So, now I've started, does anyone else cure fish or meat? What's good and how do you do it?
 
I've made beetroot cured Salmon at work before, but personally I think the beetroot doesn't add anything that needs to be there.

All you really need is equal parts salt (good stuff, can't emphasise this enough) and sugar, the zest of a couple of lemons, and a bunch of chopped dill. Remove the skin, cover generously, wrap tightly in clingy, and pop in the fridge overnight. Perfect.
 
I like gravlax and have made it few times myself seeing that I am from a nordic country. All you need is salt, sugar and dill and some good quality salmon.
You can freeze it as well but freeze it as a whole piece.

I personally would never ever add beetroot or lemon zest, it doesnt need it. Bit of fresh lemon juice maybe once sliced and on bread but thats it. Also no sauce because why would you want to hide the flavour of a good salmon!
 
pinkowl said:
I like gravlax and have made it few times myself seeing that I am from a nordic country. All you need is salt, sugar and dill and some good quality salmon.
You can freeze it as well but freeze it as a whole piece.

I personally would never ever add beetroot or lemon zest, it doesnt need it. Bit of fresh lemon juice maybe once sliced and on bread but thats it. Also no sauce because why would you want to hide the flavour of a good salmon!
Click to expand...

The freshness of the zest helps to cut through the oiliness of the fish. Lemon juice is all well and good, but if it's on the flesh for too long it starts to 'cook' it. So from a restaurant perspective, the only real way to do that would be to serve the lemon seperatley alongside it. If you consider the lemon to be an integral part of the dish, you can't expect a customer to know that.

Also, the oils from the zest have a more rounded flavour with a hint of bitterness, whereas the juice is pure acid, and too harsh.

Well, that's my thoughts anyway. Each to their own I guess!

Hotwired said:
Beetroot gives it a purple/pink gradient as it soaks through the salmon, maybe that is all its there for.
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I agree that it does look nice, but it's presentation for the sake of it. Personally I feel the earthiness of beetroot detracts from the flavour of the salmon.
 
The local Sainsburys had beetroot-cured salmon with beetroot chutney on sale a while back. I bought some and it was clear that it was on sale for a good reason! It's not bad, just not good.

BTW try smoked salmon or gravelax with some Dijon mustard.
 
I love the way beetroot makes cured salmon look but I tend to agree that the flavours don't really work with it. I'd like to try curing with the "sweetfire beetroot" that Tesco sell though.
 
I'm with random on this - beetroot and salmon is a match made in culinary heaven as far as I am concerned. Has to be wild salmon though; I find most generic farmed is usually too mild in flavour to carry the beetroot off properly.

Salmon, beetroot, goats cheese, horseradish... flavours I'll never tire of and experiment with until I stop cooking.
 
glitch said:
I'm with random on this - beetroot and salmon is a match made in culinary heaven as far as I am concerned. Has to be wild salmon though; I find most generic farmed is usually too mild in flavour to carry the beetroot off properly.
Click to expand...

difficult to find wild-salmon in uk and when I do (used to have a hybrid 'organic' salmon in France, not fed on ground up, & tastier, mackarel )
will typically grill, cook it simply, to do it justice, imhop.

['they' should address the wasted resources of the 5kg fishmeal for 1kg of farmed salmon, but ok - not dissimilar to grain for meat production]
 
jpaul said:
difficult to find wild-salmon in uk and when I do (used to have a hybrid 'organic' salmon in France, not fed on ground up, & tastier, mackarel )
will typically grill, cook it simply, to do it justice, imhop.
Click to expand...
Difficult but not impossible, much like reading your posts. Could you try to construct a coherent sentence now and again rather than emitting a stream of consciousness?

I enjoy reading what you've got to say but it's getting harder and harder to piece it together from your text. I can't deal with all the random formatting.
 
glitch said:
Has to be wild salmon though; I find most generic farmed is usually too mild in flavour to carry the beetroot off properly.
Click to expand...
Just to backtrack slightly, I have no issue with quality farmed salmon and it is by far the best balance of affordability and taste.

But for a special dish it is worth seeking out wild salmon... you just need to know where to look and be prepared to be prepared.
 
Was only OK in the end, not great..... was more sashimi than it was cured....

'After' pics coming later...

Agree with most of the above, the 'earthy' beetroot is actually a bit odd with the salmon.
I went lighter than the recipe suggested with the caraway seeds and I'm glad I did. Not sure they suit salmon particularly well either....
 
glitch said:
Difficult but not impossible, much like reading your posts. Could you try to construct a coherent sentence now and again rather than emitting a stream of consciousness?

I enjoy reading what you've got to say but it's getting harder and harder to piece it together from your text. I can't deal with all the random formatting.
Click to expand...

Must try harder - I blame the ExistenZ style umbycord/bioport peripheral OC sold me :)
 
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