Stove-Top Smoked Salmon
How to make a stove-top smoker and two recipes to try it out
SMOKED SALMON, CITRUS, AND FAVA BEAN SALAD
Serves 4
This is a great dish for spring or early summer when favas, fennel, and citrus are at their best. Salmon season usually begins in late spring, too. All the vegetables requiring blanching could be done a day ahead and stored refrigerated. The recipe includes directions for smoking your own salmon, however good store-bought hot smoked salmon can be substituted.
Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Four 5-ounce (140-g) skin-on salmon fillets, preferably wild, pin bones removed
1 heaping tablespoon hardwood chips such as alder or apple
1 pound fava beans in the pod, shelled
1 small head fennel, trimmed (fronds reserved for garnish)
2 to 3 cups young arugula leaves, lightly packed
1 large grapefruit, cut into segments
2 large navel oranges, cut into segments
1 large lemon, cut into segments
To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, shallots, and cayenne pepper. Whisk in the oil and season to taste with salt. To store, cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Brush the salmon with 1/4 cup vinaigrette and set aside for up to 30 minutes. Hot smoke the salmon according to the directions below.
In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, blanch the favas for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and plunge them into ice water. Drain and pop the skins off the beans.
Cut the fennel into paper-thin slices, preferably with a mandoline. You should have about 2 cups.
In a large bowl, toss the fennel, favas, and arugula with 1/3 cup of the vinaigrette and mound attractively on plates. Arrange the citrus segments around the salad. Arrange the salmon on top. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, garnish with the fennel fronds, and serve.
STOVE-TOP SMOKED SALMON
Stove-top smoking produces much of the same flavor and aroma that you can get with a grill. Stove-top smokers are available commercially, or you can make your own by using a wok or a Dutch oven. As with the grilling method, this method works well for other types of fish such as sablefish (black cod), trout, char, or with scallops or shrimp.
To make your own stove-top smoker
Cover the bottom of large Dutch oven or wok with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Allow for a 4-inch (10-cm) overhang so that you can seal the foil around the edges. Sprinkle 1/3 cup unsoaked wood chips on the center of the foil. I like fruit woods such as apple or cherry, which have a delicate, almost sweet flavor that is good with fish.
Place a disposable aluminum pie plate on the chips to act as a drip pan and top with a metal steamer basket. The pie plate needs to be at least ½ inch smaller than the Dutch oven or wok to allow for smoke to circulate.
Brush skin-on salmon fillets (the skin adds flavor) with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the pot or wok over high heat until the chips begin to smoke, about 5 minutes. Make sure you have kitchen fan running on high. Place the salmon in the steamer basket in a single layer.
Place the lid on the Dutch oven or wok and crimp the edges with the foil overhang. If your wok doesn’t have a lid, tent it tightly with foil, crimping the edges as much as you can.
Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the salmon is cooked to the correct degree of doneness, 7 to 10 minutes. This will of course depend on the thickness of the fish (or if cooking other fish or shellfish).
Off heat and in well-ventilated area, transfer the salmon to a serving platter. If you want a smokier flavor, leave in the covered smoker or wok for an additional few minutes.
Note: Instead of using wood chips, you can also tea-smoke the food. This is an old Chinese technique that adds interesting flavors. See the recipe for Tea-Smoked Salmon below.
TEA SMOKED SALMON WITH CUCUMBER SALAD
Serves 4
Tea smoking lends itself to all kinds of foods and is best known for the famous Chinese dish, Tea Smoked Duck.
4 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets, cut thickly
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/3 cup mirin
2/3 cup water
2-inch piece of ginger, chopped
Tea smoking mixture (recipe follows)
2 cups or so young tender frisée leaves or finely sliced fennel
Cucumber salad (recipe follows)
To brine the salmon, combine sugar, salt, mirin, water and ginger in a bowl and stir until sugar and salt have dissolved. Place salmon in a single layer in a bowl and pour brine over, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
Line a wok with foil fitting it tightly on the interior. Add the tea smoking mixture. Remove the salmon from the brine and place in a bamboo steamer basket or a wire rack large enough to hold the salmon at least 2 inches above the tea mixture. Heat the wok over moderate heat until the mixture begins to smoke. Cover and reduce heat to low and smoke salmon for 10 - 12 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to smoke for another 6 – 8 minutes. Salmon should be done medium rare at this point.
To serve: Arrange frisée or fennel on a plate and top with cucumber salad. Place smoked salmon on top.
Tea smoking mixture
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white rice
1/4 cup black or oolong tea leaves
2 whole star anise
Cucumber Salad
Since cucumbers are mostly water, the salting and draining of the cucumbers adds to their crunch.
1 pound English, Kirby or Armenian cucumbers
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Pinch cayenne
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 small red onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
Toasted sesame seeds
Peel, halve and scoop seeds out of cucumbers. Slice thickly (1/4 inch) diagonally and toss with salt in a large strainer set over a bowl. Gently weight (a one-gallon zip lock plastic bag filled with water works well) and drain for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
Whisk rice vinegar, lime juice and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Whisk in cayenne and sesame oil. Adjust sweet/sour/hot/salt elements to your taste. Add cucumber and onion and toss to coat. Garnish with sesame seeds.
John Ash 2025
PRINT RECIPES
