Lightly salted salmon: homemade options - how to salt salmon fillets and bellies yourself

When purchasing lightly salted salmon in a store, we risk running into a product that is not of very high quality. Especially if the fish fillet is vacuum packed. And the price of this delicacy, frankly speaking, is outrageous. The cost of raw frozen or chilled fish is much more affordable, and the entire salting process is completely under control.

If you have never salted fish at home before, and you have a fear of “spoiling” a piece of expensive fish, then first you can get your hands on salting herring or mackerel.

Preparing the fish

Salmon is sold in stores in various cutting options and degrees of cooling.In large supermarkets you can find fresh, not frozen fish. This product is ideal for pickling, primarily because its quality can be easily assessed by appearance and smell. After all, it’s no secret that the result of salting directly depends on the degree of freshness of the fish.

Frozen salmon is sold both whole and in individual steaks. For the convenience of further cutting, it is best to choose the tail part of the carcass. It is easier to fillet, and the meat holds its shape well when cut.

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Options for home salting salmon

Basic "dry" method

The salmon is thawed and filleted, removing all small bones. Using a small knife, remove the skin from the fish. The last step is optional. Many people like to salt fish on the skin so that it holds its shape better.

Next, prepare the curing mixture. In the classic version, it is 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. The bulk products are mixed and rubbed thickly into the prepared piece of salmon.

Depending on the weight of the piece of fish and the size of the tablespoon, the amount of salting mixture can be increased or decreased, while maintaining the proportion.

The fish is transferred to a glass container or other sealed container that does not absorb odors well, closed tightly with a lid and put in the refrigerator for a day.

Excess salt, after a set time, is removed with a paper towel or washed off with cool water. The fish is dried and cut into portions.

With dill and ground pepper in a bag

The proportions of salt and sugar are similar to the previous recipe. Additionally, about 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper is added to the curing mixture.

The skin is left on a piece of salmon, and the flesh is deeply cut in several places to speed up salting. The fish is sprinkled with spices and topped with dill. To do this, a bunch of fresh dill, 4-5 sprigs, are finely chopped, removing the coarse thick parts.

The prepared fish is transferred to a clean plastic bag or tightly wrapped in cling film. The fish is kept at room temperature for two hours and then put on the refrigerator shelf. After just 6-8 hours you can start preparing sandwiches with lightly salted fish.

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Pickling with lemon

For this recipe you will need a small whole salmon fish or the tail part of a large specimen. The carcass is halved along the ridge, the spine is removed, and small bones are removed with tweezers or hands.

Salt and sugar are mixed in a 1:1 ratio (2.5 tablespoons each), black pepper is added (can be whole or ground). Rub each half of the fish tightly with the sprinkles, not forgetting the skin.

The salted layer is placed in a container, placing the salmon skin side down. Sprinkle chopped bay leaf on top and cover with lemon slices. The lemon is again sprinkled with a layer of chopped bay leaf, and then the second part of the salmon is placed.

The container with the fish sandwich is covered with a lid or sealed with cling film. In this form, the salmon is kept in the refrigerator for 30-40 hours, and then the fish layers are washed, blotted with napkins and transferred to a clean storage container.

“Smoked” salmon with “Liquid smoke”

The prepared layers of salmon are rubbed with “Liquid Smoke” and then covered with a layer of salt mixture. It is prepared according to the classic version using a 1:1 ratio of salt and sugar.For complete salting, the salmon is placed in the refrigerator for a day or two. Remove excess salt and sugar with a knife blade or paper towel before use.

In oil with garlic

The fish is cut and removed from the skin. A piece of fillet is cut into wide strips 0.5 centimeters thick.

The slices are placed in a deep, preferably glass, container in layers, sprinkling each with a small amount of chopped garlic and salt mixed with sugar (for 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar). In this case, it is best to cut the garlic into cubes or plates, rather than pass it through a press.

The top of the slices is poured with oil so that the fish is half immersed in it. After 2 hours, the salmon is stirred, and after another 4 hours, the first sample is taken from the lightly salted fish.

In saline solution

Dissolve 6 tablespoons of rock salt in a liter of cool water. Salmon fillets are cut into long bars 3-4 centimeters wide and placed in a strong saline solution for 1 hour. Then the pieces are removed, blotted with paper napkins and placed tightly in a container. After 4-5 hours the dish is ready.

By the way, if salmon is too expensive a fish for you, then you can make its lightly salted analogue from pink salmon. detailed instructions here.

Watch the video presented by the Petrovskogo channel about salting salmon in brine

How to salt salmon bellies

Frozen bellies are left for some time at room temperature so that they thaw thoroughly. If there are fins, they are cut off.

1.5 tablespoons of salt are combined with 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. A mixture of peppers and crushed bay leaves are added to taste. Pour the prepared mixture over the bellies and mix well. Salmon is salted for 6 hours. During this time, the bellies are mixed several times.

Storage periods and methods

Home-cooked lightly salted salmon can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. In this case, the container with fish should be tightly closed so that the tender red meat is not saturated with foreign odors.

If the pieces of salmon are quite large and definitely cannot be eaten within the prescribed time frame, then lightly salted fish is best frozen. To do this, the fillets are laid out in clean plastic bags or wrapped in multi-layers in cling film. The shelf life of frozen fish is 3-4 months.