Any sort of cured meat is almost guaranteed to be on my list of favorites.
The unfortunate part about this is that those also tend to be very expensive. For a good prosciutto, it’s not unrealistic to pay $3-$5/ounce which can add up fast if you shovel it in your craw like I do.
Over the years, I’ve always threatened to dive into the world of charcuterie, but it’s a pretty intimidating project. For a lot of recipes you have to dedicate a lot of time and in some cases you need specialized equipment.
Plus there’s always that lurking (but small) chance that you might accidentally poison yourself.
This Bourbon Cured Salmon recipe requires none of that business. It’s really simple and pretty hard to screw up. After all, people have been curing fish like this for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.
If you’re a fan of cured salmon, you have to try this out.
Bourbon Cured Salmon
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds salmon, skin on, no bones
- ¼ cup bourbon or whiskey
- 1½ cups coarse sea salt
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 1 fennel bulb, dice tops and slice bulb
- ¼ cup fennel seeds, toasted
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
Toppings:
- Crackers
- Sour cream
- Red onion, diced
- Chives, minced
- Creme Fraiche
- Capers
- Cucumbers
Instructions
- Combine salt and sugar in a medium bowl with diced fennel tops (fronds/leaves) and lemon zest. Combine well.
- Toast fennel seeds for a few minutes in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Combine with black pepper and sliced fennel bulbs in a small bowl.
- Lay out salmon filet with skin side down and baste liberally with bourbon.
- Lay out two layers of plastic wrap and put down half of the salt cure on the plastic.
- Lay the salmon on the cure and cover with the other half of the cure. Then top with fennel mixture.
- Cover with another layer of plastic wrap and wrap tightly and store in a large plastic or glass container. It will leak a lot of liquid as it cures so be sure there are no holes in whatever you store it in.
- Store in the fridge for 3 days, turning once halfway through.
- When salmon is done, rinse very well with cold water.
- Use a sharp knife to cut off skin and then slice salmon very thinly.
- Serve with crackers, sour cream, red onions, capers, chives, etc.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Bourbon Cured Salmon
The Cure
This article is a pretty good intro to how curing works, but basically the salt pulls out a lot of the liquid in the meat you are curing and makes it fairly impervious to bacteria and rot. Cured fish, if done correctly, can keep for months and months.
The key part about this recipe is you want to make sure to use a very coarse salt. Table salt will not work. Your final product will be WAY too salty. So pick up some coarse sea salt and use that.
Mix it with some brown sugar and lemon zest.
Anise (or fennel) goes great with the salmon, but I thought that it gave the fish a very subtle flavor. It’s a nice touch, but if you don’t want to go through the trouble, you can skip the fennel ingredients and just cure it with the salt and sugar and lemon zest.
If you are using fennel though, chop up the tops of the fennel and add it in with your sugar/salt mixture.
Meanwhile, add some fennel seeds to a large skillet and toast them over medium heat until they are very fragrant.
It should only take a few minutes. Again, this did give the salmon some flavor but it was super-subtle. It can be optional.
Add the fennel seeds to a bowl with some slivered fennel bulb and coarse ground black pepper.
Starting the Cure
Obviously, you’ll need some salmon for this Bourbon Cured Salmon recipe. The final product will only be as good as the salmon that you use.
Try to find a whole side of wild-caught salmon and be sure that the skin is one and the pin bones are removed. Mine was about 1.5 pounds which is a perfect size for this recipe. Theoretically you can use any size although I’m not sure it makes sense to do a small piece of salmon.
Before you pack on the cure, baste the fish really well with bourbon or whiskey.
The liquid will actually help speed up the curing process and obviously give the fish some flavor.
Once your fish is basted, lay out a double layer of plastic wrap and spread out half of your salt cure. Then add your fish to the cure and top it with the rest of the cure mixture.
The cure should completely cover the fish.
Then cover the salmon with another double layer of plastic wrap and wrap the fish very tightly in the plastic wrap.
This guy is ready to CURE.
Set this whole thing in a large plastic or glass container. Make sure there are no holes in whatever you use because a lot of liquid will be pulled out of the fish and you do NOT want to clean this liquid out of the bottom of your fridge.
I used a glass container.
Cure the fish in the fridge for three full days and give it a turn halfway through.
A lot of liquid will be in your container when you pull the fish out. This means the cure is doing its job!
After three days, unwrap the fish and rinse it very well with cold water. You’ll notice that the color will have changed slightly and it will also be very firm.
I had to slice into it immediately!
Storing the Fish
Once your cured fish is rinsed, you can wrap it lightly in plastic and store it in the fridge for weeks. There’s no way it will last that long. We ate all of this in two days with the help of some friends (Thanks Sean and Maeve for the help and also for the recipe tip off).
Serving the Bourbon Cured Salmon
When you want to serve some of the fish, use a really sharp knife to slice off the skin and then slice it into very thin slivers. I actually tried a piece with the skin on (it’s totally edible) and it was okay. It was just chewy. If that doesn’t bother you then you can leave the skin on.
You could put this on a bagel, but I like to serve it as an appetizer with lots of crackers, slices of cucumber, sour cream, red onion, and chives.
Sooo good!
For my first cured recipes, this Bourbon Cured Salmon came out better than expected.
With the help of two friends, we literally ate all of this in one sitting with lots of crackers and toppings and beers.
It felt completely decadent because that much cured salmon would have cost $100 in the store.
Besides how amazing it was, I was also shocked by how little time this recipe actually took. I think I spent maybe 20 minutes actively working on it.
It was super-simple.
Neal
I’ll be the first to say that I want this in my belly.
Your cured salmon looks beautiful! And so simple, I’m almost kicking myself for not having tried this sooner.
Thanks, Nick!
September
I’ve never tried this but your post is making me want to try! Since moving from NYC area to Dallas I’ve been missing bagels & lox–I may just have to try to put together some homemade bagels to go with this!
Subliminal
This looks really good! I want to try it but I’m curious, does the liquid have to be poured out at the halfway mark, when you flip the fish? Also, does it make the fridge smell?
Nick
I did pour mine out halfway through, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
It didn’t make my fridge stink at all, but if you don’t have an airtight container, then I imagine that it would. Put it in an airtight bag or container though and you should be all set.
Subliminal
Oh! It never even occurred to me the container should have a lid on it! Thanks for the advice :)
Brent
I have used a semi-similar cure prior to smoking salmon and dan’t recall it smelling, though it was not in the fridge that long.
Is there any reason to leave the skin on during the cure vs skinning before?
Nick
I think maybe that it would get too salty without the skin on. That’s just my guess though because with the skin on it was still pretty salty.
Bill
I really like your website, and this is one of my favorite / most intriguing post so far.
I’ll be trying this soon. I love salty, snacky foods like this. Keep em coming!
Hope the knee feels better.
– bill
Christine
I love your website! You have many wonderful ideas.
What kind of salmon did you use? I eat only wild, but was it coho, sockeye etc.?
Thanks
Nick
Ha Christine… I actually forgot. I know it was wild caught, but I can’t remember what kind it is. It shouldn’t matter for the curing. Any salmon would work great.
Lianne
Hi Nick! What do you do with the fennel seeds and chopped fennel bulb? Do they get added to the cure mixture? Thanks!
Jennifer Salvaggio
I cannot tell you how many times I have made this. Yesterday was the third Easter I have served it to much joy from my family! I am here on this post because my brother-in-law requested the recipe. I do change it up a bit sometimes, a bit of a nod to Tom Douglas and his famous salmon rub: I leave out the fennel completely and instead add 2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika and 2 Tbsp dried or fresh thyme. And I use Jack Daniel’s Honey whiskey instead of bourbon.
Nick
Those are great change ups jennifer! Yea… once you get the basic idea down this recipe is pretty flexible really. Thanks for the comment!
Martin
This works really well. I’m not a great fan of fennel. Made it a few weeks ago and it was eaten within a day of the cure being finished! Christmas batch has just gone into the fridge now. Thanks.
Jennifer Somogy Salvaggio
Yeah! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the reminder – thinking I may whip up a batch for New Years Day brunch…
Oscar
It’s been almost 24 hours and I don’t see any liquid drained. Is this normal or did I go wrong somewhere?
Nick
Hey Oscar, that’s normal if I recall. It really takes a full 3 days for the salt to penetrate and start pulling out a noticeable amount of liquid. I wouldn’t worry about it after just 24 hours. Keep me posted though! Hope it turns out okay!
Esther Eve
This sounds absolutely delicious, this is the first time I’ve heard of bourbon cured salmon! I’ve had a recipe for the very traditional vodka cured salmon sitting around for months, but I think I’ll try this first as it’s more our preferred tastes. Can I ask, did you freeze the salmon before curing it, or have any thoughts on that? I’ve read a lot of recipes that suggest to always freeze it, like flash frozen sushi grade fish. Thank you!
Nick
Hey Esther! I’ve used both fresh and frozen salmon for this sort of thing. It really doesn’t matter, but the fish should be thawed when you start the cure. Otherwise it will essentially have to thaw and cure. Hope that makes sense! Good luck!