Gravad Lax

/ September 15, 2015

When I was making ceviche the other week it clearly marked the beginning of a new phase in my life: the raw fish period, as posterity will clearly call it. Fresh fish has such a wonderful texture that to cook it often comes close to a crime. The only way to keep it that way is by finding alternatives such as the curing of the fillets with salt.Gravad lax 3

Gravad Lax is one of Sweden’s most famous dishes, almost as internationally renowned as the ubiquitous Ikea meatballs, I suppose, but for all the right reasons. As with ceviche, you need very fresh fish, salmon to be precise, and not much else. The fillets are cured in salt, sugar, pepper and dill, giving it a wonderfully fresh aroma.

It makes sense to cure more than you need as it takes 2 to 3 days to cure and you can easily freeze the finished dish and keep it for a rainy day. Only the sauce isn’t really suitable for freezing, but it takes literally a few minutes to whip it up.

Gravad lax is healthy, delicious and beautiful, which makes it the perfect party food. And it’s so simple that you’ll have to ask yourself why you ever bothered buying that overpriced stuff in the supermarket …Gravad lax 2

Gravad Lax (serves 12 as a starter)

For the gravad lax:

  • 1 fresh salmon fillet (ca. 1 kg or 2 lb)
  • 80g salt
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 1 tbs coarsely ground black pepper
  • ½ bunch (ca. 150g) fresh dill, coarsely chopped

For the mustard sauce:

  • 3 tbs Dijon mustard, or similar
  • 2 tbs caster sugar
  • 1 tbs white wine vinegar
  • 120 ml vegetable oil
  • 50g freshly chopped dill

Wash and dry the fillet before placing it on a large piece of aluminium foil, skin down. Check for bones by running with your fingers along the length of the fillet; you might need tweezers to remove them! I ended up cutting the fillet into two pieces to make it more manageable, but as long as you have a dish large enough to hold it (a baking tray might work) and that fits in your fridge, you can keep it in one piece.Gravad lax raw fillet

In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar and pepper. Sprinkle the fillet with half the mix, gently massaging it into the fish. Gravad lax salt mix

Sprinkle half the dill on the aluminium foil right next to the fillet before turning it onto the other side, on top of the dill. Then repeat the same process with the skinny side up: first the salt and sugar mix, then the remaining dill.Gravad lax dill

If you wanted to cure two pieces, place them on top of each other, with the skins outside, like a sandwich, before carefully wrapping up the lot.

Put your fish parcel into a dish that’s large enough to hold it all in and deep enough to collect the brine: as the fish cures, it will loose quite a bit of liquid and you don’t want that to run into your fridge. On top of the parcel you need to place a weight, such as a second dish and a few jam jars or water bottles.

Put the lot into the fridge for at least 48 hours, turning it over 3 or 4 times.

For the sauce, place all the ingredients apart from the oil and the chopped dill in a blender and mix for a few seconds. When it has come together, slowly add the oil, but keep blending as you do so. You can prepare the sauce a few hours in advance, but only add the chopped dill at the end, just before serving, to keep it nice and green looking.

Gravad lax 4

Unwrap the salmon and drain off the liquid. Cut it into very fine slices at a very flat angle, scraping the flesh off the skin. Discard the skin and serve the sliced salmon with the sauce and some rye bread, or similar. And aquavit, obviously, or at least a couple of shots of vodka!Gravad lax 1

Any leftover gravad lax can be kept in the fridge for a few days (cover it with cling film or similar).

 

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29 thoughts on “Gravad Lax”

  6. It looks absolutely stunning (how did you cut it so perfectly?!). Haven’t made this for years but we can get fabulous salmon from our fishmonger, so I’m inspired. Did you wrap it in foil or cling film while you cured it?

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    • It’s the fish, really – at least for us! I froze parts of it and it works brilliantly (the trick is to freeze it flat, so you can cut the slices when it is still quite frozen. Don’t squash it into a corner of your freezer is all I can say …)

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    • You can get freshwater fish easily enough, but it’s a little bit too far away from the open seas … When I was a kid, the day to buy sea fish at our local fish monger’s, if I remember correctly, was Wednesday. It was first come first served, then you had to wait for another week …

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  12. The secret is in the sauce! … 🙂 Being Norwegian I’m very familiar with this dish – never made it myself but have had it served every Christmas and other special occasions as long as I can remember. Personally I was never really a great fan of the fish itself, but with a decent dash of the mustard sauce … mmmmm.

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  15. Your gravlax looks absolutely perfect! I was just thinking about making some the other day and realised I have never made a blog about it!
    I have some mackerel curing but it is a quick version. I wish I could grab a fork and try some as it is one of my favourite dishes and your version looks so good 🙂

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