A few weeks ago we’ve been on holiday in Denmark. We’ve been in the south at the Baltic Sea and we spent a few days in Copenhagen. I love strolling the streets of Copenhagen, discovering nice little shops and of course finding lovely restaurants with typical nordic cuisine. And of course we also ate one of the most typical dishes in Scandinavia, graved salmon. Back home I had this beautiful gin cured salmon with summer greens and wasabi cream on my mind. Here it is, more beautiful and clearly easier to make than I imagined.
It is really simple to make! Just make sure you use good quality salmon and of course the most beautiful edible greens and flowers of your garden. I used Hendrick’s Gin to cure the salmon because it has a wonderful rose and cucumber flavour which pairs perfectly with the salmon. Cure the salmon over night and surprise your family and friends with this lovely nordic garden on a plate!
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A nordic summer nights dream, gin cured salmon with edible summer greens and wasabi cream
In a small pan roast the pepper corns, juniper berries and coriander seeds. This takes only a few minutes and they are ready as soon as you start smelling the wonderful flavour of juniper and coriander. Put the seeds and berries in a mortar and slightly crush it.
In a bowl mix together gin, salt, grape sugar, lime zest and the crushed juniper mix.
Wash and pad dry the salmon. I usually wrap the salmon in clingfilm and put it in a tupperware box to cure . So, prepare a clingfilm square big enough to wrap around the salmon. Now the salmon skin-side down on it. Put the gin mix on your salmon and quickly wrap it in clingfilm. Put it in a tupperware box, close the lid and let it cure over night in your fridge. Turn the fish after 12 hours.
Wash and peel your cucumber. Cut it in half and remove the cucumber seed with a spoon or melon baller and cut in 2 cm slices. In a small pot bring salted water to a boil and quickly blanch the cucumber slices. Drain under ice water and set aside in a little bowl.
Wash and trim the radishes. Cut them in slices or if they are small enough leave them whole. Wash and trim all your other herbs and leaves so they are ready to arrange on the plate.
In a bowl mix wasabi paste and cream and whip up with a mixer. Also, in a little glass mix together olive oil and lime juice.
Take your cured salmon out of the fridge. Unwrap the salmon and reserve some of the liquid. Add some some of the liquid to your blanched cucumbers and let them marinade for 30 minutes. Meanwhile very thinly slice salmon on the diagonal, discarding skin and arrange on a serving platter.
Scatter with cucumber, mint leaves, edible flowers and herbs. Add little dots of wasabi cream with a decoration tube. Drizzle with olive oil & lime mix and serve with fresh bread and butter. Enjoy!
