Salt-cured Salmon

Salt-cured Salmon

This is the salmon I brought for trapeza on the Entry of the Theotokos. There's a link to a website below that explains all about it, but basically, this is what I did: Find a glass container large enough to hold the entire fillet, laid out flat. Cover the bottom of the dish with a layer of coarse salt (like Kosher). Rinse off the (thawed) fillet of salmon and lay it, skin-side down, on top of the salt. Cover the top and sides of the fillet with more coarse salt. (I sprinkled some lemon juice--maybe a TBS?--over it as well.) Cover with plastic wrap (or use a lidded dish) and put in the fridge. Let it sit for about 24 hours, checking now and then to make sure all the fish is covered by salt. At around 18 hours it might develop a brine--this is fine--just spoon it back over the fillet. After 24 hours or so (taste a bit to see if it's "done"), brush off the salt and rinse the fish under cold running water (if you're afraid it'll be too salty, you can soak it in cold water for a bit). Thinly slice, and eat! It was so, so good.

I think my fillet was about 1.5 pounds, and I used about 1.5 cups of salt. 

Please read the blog post below for more information!

http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2012/09/salmon-cured-at-home-with-ease.html

Vietmanese Clear Fish Soup

This soup has a very light, delicate flavor and is extremely quick and easy. It's a great way to make a pound of fish go farther. I like to serve this with Cilantro Lime Rice and Asian Carrot Salad.

Vietmanese Clear Fish Soup (ca nau ngot)

6 cups broth or water
1 lb firm-fleshed fish, cut in bite-sized chunks (ie-catfish, tilapia, salmon)
6 plum tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped.
1 TBS fish sauce
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
3 TBS thinly sliced green onion
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh dill, cilantro, or basil
optional: fresh lime or lemon juice

Bring the broth to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the fish to the saucepan, lower the heat, and cook the fish in the gently boiling broth until done, 2-5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, fish sauce, salt, pepper, green onion, and herbs, and then quickly remove the soup from the heat. Serve hot. If desired, add a squeeze of lime juice before you eat.

6-8 servings

(adapted from Quick and Easy Vietnamese, Nancie McDermott)