Asian-spiced gravlax
Gravlax with Asian spices
Serves 6 as an appetiser
Gravlax is a Scandinavian specialty of salt-cured fish, with the curing mixture drawing liquid out of the fish, leaving it a beautiful deep orange. As the fish is not cooked over heat, make sure you use sashimi-grade salmon and spotlessly clean utensils.
This is great for an appetiser, and can be used for brunch the next day over bagels, buttered toast or with steamed potatoes.
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1 orange
1 lime
1 lemon
1 small kaffir lime (limau purut)
1 grapefruit
400g skinned, deboned sashimi-grade salmon fillet
300g sea salt
125g sugar
t hree-quarter tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp plain or citrus-flavoured vodka (optional)
½ cup loosely-packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
½ cup loosely-packed fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
First
Scrub all the citrus fruits well under running water, pat dry. With a vegetable
peeler, peel the zest from the orange, lemon, lime and kaffir lime, and half
of the grapefruit. Do not cut into the bitter white pith.
Second
Combine peeled zest, sugar, salt and peppercorns in a mini-chopper. Pulse
till zest is ground fine and mixture is moist and crumbly. Stir in vodka.
Scrape mixture into a resealable bag, and add salmon, turning to coat evenly.
Put in the fridge for 12-14 hours.
Third
To serve, rinse fish thoroughly to remove all curing mixture, then pat
dry. Roll fish in chopped herbs to coat. Slice very thinly and arrange on
a serving plate.