The short answer
- Two skin-on salmon fillets, covered completely in a salt and sugar cure with dill.
- Sealed under a gentle vacuum, 48 to 72 hours in the fridge, turned once or twice a day.
- Rinse, pat dry, slice thinly; serve with bread, cucumber salad and honey-mustard sauce.
- Keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge, and can be frozen sealed.
Buried salmon
Gravlax comes from Scandinavia; the name means buried salmon. Fishermen salted their catch and buried it in cool sand for a few days, where it lost water and kept longer. Today a vacuum bag in the fridge does the same job, cleanly: the cure stays on the fish, and the liquid it draws out stays in the bag.
Recipe (2 fillets, about 1.5kg)
The cure
Equal parts coarse salt and sugar, coarsely crushed white or black pepper and plenty of chopped dill; a little lemon zest if you like. Make enough to cover the flesh completely in an even layer.
1 · Prepare the salmon
Rinse the fillets, pat them dry and pull out the pin bones with tweezers. Trim the thin fatty edges and any fin.
2 · Cover and bag
Spread the cure over the flesh. Fold the bag opening outward, then slide the fillets in, flesh to flesh; a thin board helps, but take it out before sealing.
Helps: R-Vac bags
3 · Seal gently
Use a gentle vacuum, so the raw fish isn't crushed and no liquid reaches the seal.
Helps: Pressure control L+
4 · 48 to 72 hours in the fridge
Weigh the pack down with a board and a full milk carton, and turn it once or twice a day so the brine works evenly.
5 · Rinse and slice
Rinse the cure off under cold water, pat dry, and scatter fresh dill over the top. Slice thinly at an angle, off the skin.
Honey-mustard sauce
Whisk together
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 4 tablespoons mild oil and a handful of chopped dill; season with salt and pepper.
Keeping it
- 1
Two weeks in the fridgeRe-sealed after slicing, gravlax keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge (LAVA's figure).
- 2
Freeze in portionsSeal slices in small packs and freeze them flat: ready for a quick starter.
- 3
Trout insteadSmaller and quicker: cured trout
Gravlax is raw fish. Buy very fresh salmon you'd be happy to eat raw and keep it at 5 °C or below throughout. Pregnant women, young children, older people and anyone with a weak immune system should avoid raw and cured fish.
LAVA AustraliaOfficial LAVA distributor and vacuum-packaging specialists since 2018.
