DISH #8 SEARED, CURED SALMON

Ever since Chef Bobby cured a salmon in class back near the beginning of Level One I became fascinated with the process-- this interest in processes has led to me making my own cheeses and beer and inspired a developing interest in jarring, smoking, brewing sake and infused vodkas.

About four months ago I cured a half a salmon with citrus, salt and vodka. By letting it sit in the salt and juices for three days I probably overcured it but I couldn't tell that from the taste-- it was pretty darned good. Sliced thin and accompanied by capers, lemons, bread and various dairy spreads the cured salmon was delcisious and so buttery it wasn't to be believed. I knew I wanted to do some kind of cure for my final project and originally planned to do it as an amuse bouche, a mini-bagle with gravalax.

Then about two months ago a classmate at school, Jane, introduced me to one of her cookbooks, "Blue Ginger," by Les Huynh, and I came across a recipe for "Fried Smoked Salmon With Green Mango Salad," and my curiosity was piqued. Fried smoked salmon? I'd never thought of that. What would it taste like?

Then my own inspiration hit. Hey, wait a second, could you sear gravlaks too? Why not? It was in this way that this dish came to be. Now I've only been to Norway once, with my folks when I was about seven years old because they were considering moving there as part of my father's job (as I've described, we eventually settled in Hong Kong) and I've never been on a vorspiel or a nachspiel but I do know that both smoked and cured salmons are staple specialties in Scandinavia.

I'll admit to making a bit of a jump here in my project because I haven't been to a kafé and haven't had the cured fish prepared for me in a traditional manner. That said, I'm giving myself a break (and looking for one) because I'm going to say it's a lot easier to find something like a trattoria, dhaba, pho, taqueria, etc. or something like it in the US, specifically, New York, than a Norwegian kafé and we can all agree that cured fish is more than likely something you can find in the Norwegian equivalent of a trattoria.

That said, the first step would be to try searing smoked salmon to see what the taste and texture would be like.

Now I know I went overboard by doing seven different types of pierogi, each less than an inch in size but I'm not certifiably crazy I wasn't going to smoke my own salmon just to see how it would work when what I really wanted to do was sear a cured salmon so I went to my local supermarket and bought some smoked salmon. I patted it dry and seared it up with a little butter and oil.

I wasn't dissapointed. There was that smoky flavor, still flaky but now there was an added crispness that I found enjoyable. So now for a seared, cured salmon. Sure the texture of the fish inside would be different from a smoked salmon but the salt and citrus cure would give the fish an interesting flavor and searing it would crisp the outside and presumably the inside (which I wouldn't want to be dry) which would be cured could cook slightly through during the pan-sear. I experimented and was very pleased with the result, crispy outside and still tender and not dried out inside (though not a straight cured texture anymore) and the flakes did not fall apart but separated with ease.

Fair warning, the salmon was a little on the salty side but I like that and with the right accompaniments, I was convinced that a tasteful balance could be achieved. With the recent problems with spinach I opted for a different vegetable, a green on which to place the fish, arugula (because I like it's slight bite), and decided to braise it. I chose to flash the arugula in vegetable oil then cook it with some homemade chicken stock I'd frozen in my freezer with a little freshly grated nutmeg and pepper but underseasoned saltwise to compensate for the fish. To flesh out the dish I added a chili pepper mashed potato which echoes the chili pepper in the salmon cure and adds a subtle, slow-burn to the taste buds to accompany the fish, tamed slightly by the arugula's braising liquid. The recipes follow:

Toro's Pan-Seared Salt, Citrus and Tequila Cured Salmon
2 ?? Salmon Fillets
Salt to Cover, (about 8-10 Tablespoons)
Chopped Chili Pepper
2 Tablespoons Sugar
4 Grapefruit Slices, Thin
4 Orange Slices, Thin
4 Lemon Slices, Thin
½ Cup Tequila

Mix the salt and sugar together. Lay out plasticwrap and layer two slices of each fruit in an area the size of the fish in a baking pan or receptacle. Sprinkle some salt/sugar mixture in that same area so that there is a relatively even layer of it over the fruit slices. Place the salmon skin-side down on top of the salt/sugar mixture and fruit slices. Scatter the chopped chili pepper over the top of the fish and cover it with the remaining fruit slices. Sprinkle the remaining salt/sugar mixture over the fruit slices to completely cover the fish.

This next part, the wrapping will be a little messy so it's best to be near a sink and to have several long pieces of plasticwrap laid out and ready. Arrange the edges of the plasticwrap so that when you pour the tequila in it won't spill out and then add it. Wrap up the fish tighty in both directions, consecutively and repeatedly until you have a plastic fish-bundle which doesn't leak. Put it in a bowl in the fridge for one to two days and then remove and unwrap (the result at left).

Brush off any remaining salt and pat the fish dry. Pull off the skin and slice off any of the grey part that sticks to the fish beneath the skin. Slice the fish in the manner in which you would like to present it. Heat a pan with oil and a touch of butter and sear the sides of the fish.

Toro's Mashed Chili-Pepper Potatoes
5 Idaho Potatoes
5 Tablespoons Butter
3 to 4 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
2 Tablespoons Korean Red Chili Pepper Flakes
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Peel potatoes and slice then boil in salted water until tender then remove and mash, preferably with a pastry-scraper through a sieve. Add butter, cream and mix well until smooth and creamy. Add chili pepper flakes, salt and pepper and make sure the seasoning is well integrated.

Toro's Braised Arugula
1 Bunch of Arugula
Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Butter
½ Cup White Wine
½ Cup Chicken Stock
Freshly Ground Pepper
Freshly Ground Nutmeg
A Pinch of Salt

Cut off the ends of the arugula and wash well. Heat a pan with oil and a touch of butter and when it's hot add the arugula. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add chicken stock and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes then season, going easy on the salt if it's a sidedish to accompany the seared cured salmon (which in this case, of course, it was).

To Order: Pipe the potatoes in the back of the bowl and place the braised arugula in front of it in a circle with a little of the braising liquid but not enough to surround the mashed potatoes. Place the seared, cured salmon on top of the arugula and sprinkle some coarse salt and chopped chives on top of the fish. Stick two strands of chive in the mashed potatoes and serve.

The result is a light, flavorful dish, which is actually relatively simple, even the curing process.