Gin cured salmon with rhubarb, pickled ginger and sour cream recipe
Whether you're having the family round for a feast or just want a fresh, zingy dish for a light lunch or supper, we have the perfect recipe for you. Created by Doug Crampton, head chef at James Martin Manchester, this gin-cured salmon is ideal as a starter or a meal in itself.
The recipe starts with curing your own salmon in gin, which is as delicious as it sounds – and much easier than you might think.
You'll need to prep this in advance, as the salmon needs to be refrigerated for eight hours to cure, but the taste, combined with tangy, tart rhubarb, pickled ginger and sour cream, makes it well worth a little effort.
The recipe is one of a selection designed to help people create restaurant-worthy dishes at home, developed by Doug in partnership with appliances manufacturer Hisense.
Top tips:
- You can replace the gin cured salmon with shop-bought smoked salmon and lightly dress it with gin before serving.
- If you can't source rhubarb, orange segments are a great alternative to complement this dish.
- Pressed for time? Replace the homemade pickles with shop-bought pickles. Pickled baby onions, beetroots or cornichons would all work well, too.
For US ingredients and measurements, use the drop-down menu and select 'Cups'.
Ingredients
For the pickle- 100 g rhubarb
- 1 medium cucumber
- 300 ml water
- 200 ml white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 500 g skinless salmon fillet
- 100 g rock salt
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 1 lime, juiced and zested
- 1 orange, juiced and zested
- 75 ml gin
- 1 tsp juniper berries
- 50 g shop-bought sushi ginger
- 200 ml sour cream, strained over a coffee filter overnight
- 1 small bunch of chives
- 1 small bunch of dill
- 1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley
- 25 ml vegetable oil
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Appetizers
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 20 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
For the cured salmon:
- Combine the sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl.
- To the bowl, add the zest and juice of one orange, one lemon and one lime.
- Crush the juniper berries in a pestle and mortar to release their essential oils.
- Add the gin and juniper berries to the bowl and mix to create the gin cure.
- To a shallow tray add half of the cure and place the salmon on top, then add the remaining cure.
- Cling film the tray ensuring all the cling film is tight to the salmon.
- Place in the fridge and leave for 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, remove the salmon from the cure and lightly wash off any excess cure.
- Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
For the pickle:
- Combine the water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Once boiled, remove from the heat and leave at room temperature. Divide in two.
- Ribbon the cucumber using a vegetable peeler and add to the first half of the pickle.
- Finely slice the rhubarb and add to the remaining pickle.
- Once the rhubarb and cucumber are in the pickle they can be refrigerated until ready to be used.
To finish:
Make some herb crisps:
- Remove the stalks from the parsley ensuring you are just left with the leaves.
- Take a microwaveable plate and cling film tightly.
- Lightly brush the cling filmed plate with vegetable oil.
- Place the herbs on the oiled, cling filmed plate, ensuring that they are well spaced out.
- Brush the herbs lightly with oil and cover with cling film tightly.
- Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Remove the top layer of cling film and leave to cool.
To serve:
- Finely slice your salmon and place it in the centre of your plate.
- Arrange around the salmon the cucumber ribbons, pickled rhubarb and sushi ginger.
- Pipe the sour cream into small domes around the salmon.
- Garnish with the herb crips and season the salmon with sea salt, to taste.
Recipe created by Doug Crampton in partnership with appliances manufacturer Hisense.
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Smoked salmon fish cake recipe
Lemon gin fizz cocktail recipe
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