Why it works: Salmon and sugar work together. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 931 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Clean and scale the salmon.
Cut the fish up the back and remove the roe and bone.
Rub the inside and outside with sugar, salt, and saltpetre.
Press the fish flat with a board and weights for two days.
Drain from the salt and wipe it clean.
Stretch the fish open and fasten with a pin or stick.
Smoke and serve
Hang the fish and smoke it over a wood fire for five to six days.
When ready to use, soak the slices in lukewarm water and broil for breakfast.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + sugartop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together931 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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, and its oily flesh carries the smoky, cured flavour.
- Havana sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the salt and softens the cure's harshness.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture from the flesh and preserves the fish during curing.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the cured colour and firmness of the flesh during long curing.
The step that matters
Pressing the fish flat for two days. Salt must penetrate evenly and moisture must drain out. Uneven pressing or too little time leaves wet or unevenly cured patches that can spoil or taste harsh, so the fish needs steady weight throughout.
“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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