Pastrami Salmon–I didn’t know such a thing existed until I had it at 2nd Avenue Deli (here!) a few months ago in NYC. It was absolutely incredible. Back when I ate meat, aside from seafood, I adored pastrami and was amazed I could enjoy the spicy and sweet flavor I loved so much without breaking my food rules.
Ingredients
Curing
1 side of salmon, remove skin and all bones! (I used Scottish Salmon)
1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley
2 medium shallots
Glaze
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp cayenne pepper
4 dried bay leaves
Spice Rub
3 tbsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp ground coriander seed
3 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Directions (follow the grid!)
1. Rinse salmon and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Mix sugar and salt together and coat salmon with mixture on both side on a baking tray.
3. In a food processor, puree shallots and parsley together and rub on top of salt & sugar mixture on salmon. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 days.
4. Blend spice rub ingredients together.
5. Unwrap salmon and scrape off curing mixture.
6. In a small saucepan bring molasses, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper to a boil over medium heat. Once a boil is reached, turn off immediately.
7. Brush cured salmon on both sides with molasses mixture.
8. Press spice rub mixture into salmon, on top of molasses on both sides. Re-wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
9. Enjoy! Slice thinly and nosh.
The salmon lasts about a week in the fridge. I recommend making the slices fresh each time you eat. Also, you must try this salmon with those fresh bagels I showed you how to make a few weeks back!