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 ↓
Dried or Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cure
Cut the fish down the back, remove the entrails and roe, and scale it.
Rub the outside and inside of the fish with common salt and hang it to drain for 24 hours.
Pound together the saltpetre, coarse sea salt, and coarse brown sugar, then rub this mixture over the salmon.
Place the salmon on a large dish for 2 days.
Rub the salmon again with common salt, and after 24 hours, it will be ready to dry.
Dry and smoke
Wipe the salmon well, stretch it open with two sticks, and hang it in a chimney with a smothered wood fire, in a smokehouse, or in a dry, cool place.
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 + 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
- The main fish, which the cure penetrates and firms as it dries.
- Common salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the fish, slowing spoilage during curing.
- Saltpetre
- A curing agent that helps preserve the fish and keeps its colour stable.
- Coarse brown sugar
- Adds mild sweetness that balances the salt and softens its sharpness.
The step that matters
Rubbing the salt cure and waiting the full curing time. Salt must fully penetrate the thick flesh before drying. Too little salt or too short a cure leaves the centre under-preserved, while too much salt makes the fish harsh and overly firm.
“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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