Salmon and fish rub
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Rub
- 30 g dried dill, the lead flavour, and far more than a rub usually takes rounded
- 25 g fine salt rounded
- 20 g dried lemon zest rounded
- 12 g fennel seed, cracked, not powdered rounded
- 10 g white pepper, white rather than black, which would speckle the fillet rounded
- 8 g garlic granules rounded
- 6 g sweet paprika, a trace, for colour only rounded
Method
Method
- Crack the fennel seed rather than grinding it. Powdered fennel dominates; cracked fennel sits underneath.
- Apply lightly and only 15 minutes before cooking. Fish is thin and takes salt fast, and an hour under this rub starts curing it rather than seasoning it.
- Cook it hot and quickly, around 200°C. There is very little sugar in the jar precisely so that you can.
The same jar as a cure
Change two numbers and this becomes gravlax. For a 500 g side of salmon, mix 60 g of this rub with 60 g of coarse salt and 60 g of sugar, pack it over the fish, weigh it down and refrigerate for 48 hours, turning once a day and pouring off the liquid.
The rub is already dill, lemon and fennel led, which is exactly the classic Nordic cure. The only thing separating a seasoning from a cure is the ratio of salt to everything else, and time.
Notes
- No cayenne on purpose. Salmon is rich but delicate, and chilli heat flattens it. If you want heat, put it in a sauce alongside.
- White pepper for appearance. Black pepper works identically but leaves the fillet looking dirty.
- It is very good on prawns and on white fish, and on roast cauliflower.
- It keeps four months. Dried dill fades faster than most herbs, so make small jars.
Ingredient substitutions
- Dried dill is Dillspitzen in Germany. Fresh dill cannot be used in a dry rub; it steams rather than crisps and turns the jar mouldy.
- Fennel seed can be caraway for a more central European direction, which suits trout better than salmon.