Why it works: Salmon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,675 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Pickled Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the salmon
Wipe the salmon well on the scaly side and remove the gills.
Cut off a piece of the tail, about 6 to 8 inches long.
Split the salmon open from the head to the belly, making two sides.
Remove the liver and clean the inside with a cloth.
Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the fish and let it sit for 3 hours.
Let the tail piece sit in salt for an additional 2 hours.
Rinse the fish in fresh water and dry it well.
Cut the fish into pieces, leaving a handsome head or jowl.
Poach and pickle
Place the pieces in a fish kettle, just covered with water.
Add ½ pint of vinegar to the water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes until the fish easily leaves the bone.
Remove the fish and let it cool slightly before placing it in a deep dish.
Skim off excess liquid and tie the liver in a piece of linen rag.
Simmer the liver with black peppercorns in the remaining liquid for 30 minutes.
Pour the lukewarm liquid over the fish, ensuring it is covered.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Salmon + vinegartop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,675 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming firm and flaky when cooked.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and firms the flesh, seasoning it during the cure.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the pickled fish.
The step that matters
Simmering the fish in vinegar water. Simmering only until the fish easily leaves the bone keeps it tender; boiling hard can break up the flesh and make it dry and ragged.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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