• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
✮ The Food Dictator ✮

The Hirshon Scottish Smoked Salmon

April 23, 2016 by The Generalissimo 2 Comments

185
SHARES
FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditWhatsappYummly
Light Dark Dark Light
()
The Hirshon Scottish Smoked Salmon
Scottish Smoked Salmon Image Used Under Creative Commons License From super.priceinspector.co.uk

Citizens, there is nothing finer than a properly-smoked piece of cold-smoked salmon, with its gentle smoky flavor and translucent orange meat lavishly streaked with fat!

Yes you can buy the real deal from Scotland – but as a member of the undimmed glory that is TFD Nation, you are now capable of the ultimate: making your own, without compromise!

The most prized variety is the Atlantic salmon, of the genus salmo salar. All European versions of this fish are salmo salar, as are all eastern U.S. salmon. So, if your smoked fish is made from fish that was caught or raised in Scotland, Norway, Ireland or Maine, it’s salmo salar. It is highly prized because it is very oily and makes for a lush smoked salmon.

The other main type is the Pacific salmon, of the genus oncorhynchus, which means “hook-nose.” Generally speaking, the Pacific type has less fat than the Atlantic type—which means that smoked salmon made from the western swimmers is usually less velvety and transcendent than the eastern-based smoked salmon.

However, there are five different species within this hook-nosed genus, and some species are more desirable than others. Leading the quality list is Chinook (also known as King, or Tyee), which has the most fat of all Pacific varieties of the fish, and makes the most luscious western smoked salmon.

It is VERY important that you tell your fishmonger that you are planning to make cold-smoked salmon when you purchase your fish. You aren’t heating this fish, which means if it has parasites they will not be killed by the heat of normal cooking.

The FDA says you can kill parasites by freezing to -4°F for seven days, but no home freezer can reach that temperature. Sashimi-grade salmon has gone through this process already and is the ONLY choice for making cold-smoked salmon!

More at this link.

You can customize this recipe to your personal taste by choosing the type(s) of wood you smoke over – excellent details may be found here.

You can also add mixed ground spices of your choice to the smoking wood, if you’re so inclined. Experiment and find your ideal blend!

I add a more than a wee bit of Drambuie to my recipe, as I find its combination of Scotch whisky, honey and herbs eminently suited to this recipe! You can choose your own favorite whisky for yourself, or go with TFD‘s selection.

Citizens, fire up your low-temp smoker (I’ll show you how to do this, it’s easy!) and follow me, your Shining North Star pointing you to the true path of smoky piscine glory! You should use this fantastic cold smoker, placed on a baking sheet inside a standard BBQ grill. You’ll also need a top-quality temperature probe – I like this one: Maverick M Remote Smoker Thermometer [ET-73] – White. Lastly, you’ll need your choice of wood smoking pellets – buy them from here.

If you prefer the classic “Nova Lox” mandated in old-school Jewish cuisine, fear not – we have you covered with a recipe for that too, as well as Scandinavian Gravlax!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

The Hirshon Scottish Smoked Salmon


★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Total Time: 0 hours
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 lbs. Atlantic salmon fillet (strongly preferred) or Wild King Salmon (one large or several small), pin bones removed with needle-nosed pliers – feel along the salmon meat with your fingers to find them
  • 1/8 cup, 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons Drambuie or use your favorite whisky
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Your choice of wood smoking pellets

Instructions

  1. Mix salt, sugars and pepper in a bowl.
  2. Use a pan long enough to hold the fillet without doubling over the tail. You can cut the fillet in half if you don’t have a large enough pan.
  3. Spread half of the salf/sugar/pepper mixture on the plastic wrap in the shape of the salmon. It should be ¼” thick.
  4. Rub salmon meat with ⅛ cup Drambuie.
  5. Place salmon on top of the mixture and top with remaining mixture, which should also be ¼ inch thick. (The cure should extend ½ inch beyond the edges of the fish on each side.)
  6. If using multiple fillets, make sure every surface of fish is covered in the mixture.
  7. Tightly double wrap the salmon with plastic and foil.
  8. Cure in the refrigerator for 13 hours. Remove the fillet from the pan and wash the salt off the fillet with cold running water.
  9. Wash out the pan of salt and fill the pan ¾ of the way with fresh, cold water mixed with a generous ¼ cup of Drambuie.
  10. Place the fillet in the water and put back in the refrigerator for one hour. This controls the salinity of the salmon and it also desalts the outer surface while driving the salt through the fish to the center.
  11. Unwrap and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
  12. Pat salmon with paper towels then place in a cool, dry place (not the refrigerator) until the surface of the fish is dry and matte-like, 1 to 3 hours depending on humidity (this is called the pellicle and is an absolutely necessary step!). A fan can and should be used to speed the process.
  13. Now comes the fun part – cold smoking. Fill pellet smoker with ½ the mixed wood pellets, sprinkle on smoking spice then cover with remaining pellets. Light the pellets, close lid. Be sure you have a digital thermostat probe inside the smoker!
  14. Cold-smoke salmon at 70 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours. Do not let the temperature go above 70!
  15. Carefully remove fish and gently rub 2 tablespoons of Drambuie onto the meat. Wrap in plastic tightly and place in the fridge overnight to mellow out the smoke. Slice at an angle as thin as possible starting at the head end at about 45 degrees.
  16. Make sure you keep this always refrigerated!
  • Prep Time: 0 hours
  • Cook Time: 0 hours

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thefooddictator on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook and hashtag it #TFD

How useful was this post, Citizen?

Click to rate My Recipe, Citizen - 5 hearts are ALWAYS appreciated!

Average rating / 5. Vote count:

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

As you found this post useful...

Follow us on social media, Citizen!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

Related posts:

The Hirshon Ultimate Carrot Cake
The Hirshon “How To Do A Proper British Afternoon Tea”
The Hirshon Greek Mastic Stretchy Ice Cream - Παγωτό Καϊμάκι
The Hirshon Suriname Fried Rice - Nasi Goreng
The Hirshon Syrian Whole Chickpea Hummus, Musabaha - مسبّحة
My Grandmother's Stuffed Cabbage
The Hirshon Miso Soup - 味噌汁
The Hirshon Rosh Hashanah Round Challah - רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה‎ חַלָּה

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Appetizers, Fish

About The Generalissimo

The myth of the Generalissimo is far more interesting than the reality.

Previous Post: « The Hirshon Dai-Style Yunnan Ghost Chicken – 鬼鸡
Next Post: The Hirshon Portugeuse Clam And Pork Stew – Carne de Porco à Alentejana »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Weegi Golden

    April 24, 2016 at 5:53 AM

    Oh! Man I could so eat that up with Philly cream cheese and sweet-hot jalepenos!

    Reply
  2. Weegi Golden

    April 24, 2016 at 5:55 AM

    On a good cracker of course!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

➤ Citizens – Please Support TFD Nation!

Donate to Help TFD!

⇔ Search, And Ye Shall Assuredly Find!

✮ Citizens ✮

TFD currently has a total of 1,363 posts and 1,159,134 words written since December of 2014! Add your voice to My 50,000+ dedicated readers, comment on My recipes and thus become an active member of TFD Nation! Looking for a particular recipe? Search for it in the box above or via the category tags below - there are THOUSANDS of the finest in world and historic recipes here!

❧ TREMBLE Before Our Categoric Zeal!

Appetizers (145)Beef (143)Beverages (24)Bread (111)Cheese (64)Chicken (132)Chinese (121)Chocolate (16)Condiments (262)Dessert (166)Drinks (23)Duck (20)Egg (47)Fish (56)French (56)Game (30)Georgian (34)Indian (60)Italian (58)Jewish (84)Lamb (73)Manifestos (1)Pasta (90)Pork (147)Salad (40)Sandwich (42)Seafood (84)Shrimp (53)Soup (109)Spices (12)Tofu (7)Turkey (15)Veal (18)Vegetables (108)

✺ Click to Follow Us Across Social Media!

Facebook   

    instagram

☥ TFD SPEAKS!!!

https://www.thefooddictator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TFD-Avatar-Cold-Open-FINAL.mp4

 Enjoy TFD’s Mellifluous Podcasts, Citizen!

Listen on Apple Podcasts

© 2023 · The Food Dictator is abjectly served by WORDPRESS

✮ The Food Dictator ✮
Manage Cookie Consent
Citizens!

Be advised that as an enlightened Dictatorship here at TFD, we are indeed on the side of right when it comes to protecting the privacy of TFD Nation!

We do use technologies such as cookies to store and/or access device information, solely to improve your browsing experience and to show personalized ads.

Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions - trust us, we really ARE on your side!

YOUR LOYALTY IS NOTED! 🎖️
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
185
SHARES
FacebookTwitterPinterestRedditMailYummly