Tea Smoked Salmon
I like to smoke fish using lapsang souchong or caravan tealeaves because of their smoky flavour, but you could use English breakfast tea or even untreated sawdust instead.
- Prep time:
- 15 mins + standing
- Cook time:
- 20 mins + standing
- Serves:
- 6-8
- 2 tbsp scotch whisky or water
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 side of salmon or trout, skin on
To smoke:
- 3 tsp tealeaves or 2 tbsp untreated sawdust
- 1 tsp sugar
To serve:
- 1 cup horseradish cream
- 1 crusty flat bread
Mix scotch, whisky or water with sugar and salt. Rub over the flesh side of the fish and leave to stand for 10 minutes before smoking (or up to 2 hours in the fridge, flesh side down in the whisky mixture).
Line a wok or roasting dish with enough foil to reach 3-4 cm above the rim, flattening the foil firmly on the base and sides. Sprinkle the tealeaves or sawdust and sugar in the base. Position an oiled rack above the tealeaves and place the fish skin side down on the rack. Make sure there is enough room above the fish for the air to circulate and smoke the fish thoroughly.
Cover the wok or roasting dish tightly with a lid and fold the overhanging foil in and around the edge of the lid to seal. Place wok or roasting dish on the stove top over a high heat for 4-6 minutes (by this stage the mixture should be smoking vigorously), then reduce to a low heat and cook for a further 12 minutes. Turn off the heat but keep the lid closed for another 15 minutes so the fish absorbs the smoky flavours while it cools.
Before serving, remove the pin bones from the cooked fish with a clean pair of tweezers or small pliers. Grasp one bone at a time and pull out in the direction the bone is lying.
Transfer fish to a serving platter and serve with horseradish cream and crusty flat bread.
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