It’s salmon recipe time again, and this one is a dandy!
Over the years working at Alaska West, Chris Price has experimented with a few salmon sashimi brines.
His first sashimi brine was kind of an oriental style, using orange juice and teriyaki. It was delicious, but the orange flavor and the sweetness of the teriyaki were a little overpowering.
After further thought, Chris has come up with a new combination of ingredients that gives just a hint of flavors. Over the past two seasons this sashimi has been added to the appetizer menu, and due to popular demand…here is the recipe!
Salmon Sashimi
Ingredients
- 2 – 3 medium salmon fillets (Jack King or Coho are ideal)
- ½ gallon apple juice
- ¼ cup lemon pepper
- ¼ cup salt
- 2 Tbsp dry dill weed
- Honey
- Cracked black pepper
Brine method
- Skin and debone salmon fillets. You may cut them in half if you desire.
- Combine apple juice, lemon pepper, salt, dill weed and mix well.
- Put fillets in a flat container such as a casserole pan – glass is best. (Chris puts his fillets inside a clear plastic bag and then lays the bag in a casserole pan or on a baking sheet.)
- Pour liquid over the fillets. If in a bag, squeeze out excess air and tie off the bag.
- Let fillets brine 48 hours, flipping the fillets after 24 hours.
- After brining, pull fillets out of brine, rinsing off excess dill weed with the brine itself. Do not rinse with water.
- Pat dry the fillets with paper towel.
- Drizzle the fillets with honey and rub in. At first the honey will not want to stick, but keep rubbing and it will soon coat the fillet.
- Sprinkle the fillets with cracked black pepper to your liking.
- Vacuum the fillets and freeze solid.
Serving
- Take fillet out of freezer and let thaw slightly.
- Thinly slice the fillet at a bias angle for the best presentation. It is important to slice the fillet while frozen.
Serve with wasabi, soy sauce, capers, red onion, cream cheese and bagels or whatever you like. Enjoy!
hello. I am preparing a seafest menu for a holiday gathering. I would love to prepare some salmon sashimi and am excited to experiment with your method. I have a couple questions if you have time:
1. If buying from a market should I still freeze the salmon after brining? My concern here is I might be freezing it twice since the fish at the market could have possibly been flash frozen. I live in Portland, OR so hopefully finding truly fresh salmon should come a bit easier.
2. Freezing…is it just too difficult to achieve precise slices when its not frozen first? I worry I might ruin the delicate nature of the sashimi by doing so.
3. Does this brine “cook” the fish at all similar to ceveche?
thank you for your time…happy holidays!