An RD's Go-To Recipe For Healthy Gravlax (Cured Salmon)
The first time I made gravlax, a type of cured salmon, was with one of my closest friends, Marsa, who is quite the home cook. She talked about growing up in a Finnish-Austrian home where dishes like gravlax and mustard were always made from scratch. Cooking at home was a staple in her family. This dish is surprisingly simple and quite flavorful. If you prefer a hard cure, you can leave the fish to set for 24 to 30 hours.
I recently revisited this recipe for Boxing Day brunch and cured the salmon for 24 hours and the texture was perfect. Play with the timing to get the lax to your preferred consistency.
Gravlax (Cured Salmon)
(Scandinavia)
Serves 14
Ingredients:
- 2½ cups coconut sugar
- 3¾ cups kosher salt
- ⅓ cup dried fennel
- ¼ cup whole black peppercorns
- 1 (4- to 5-pound) fillet of salmon
- 2 bunches fresh dill
- 2 bunches fresh tarragon
- Fresh peels from 1 lemon
Ingredient highlights
Tarragon in large quantities on a regular basis helps the body to sensitize insulin, especially for people who are experiencing impaired glucose tolerance. It also helps to increase HDL-C, the cardio-protective form of cholesterol.
Method:
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, salt, fennel, and peppercorns. Sprinkle about a third of the mixture at the bottom of a parchment-lined baking pan.
- Place salmon fillet, skin-side down, on top of the mixture. Top it with the dill, tarragon, and lemon peels.
- Wrap the salmon tightly with parchment paper, cover the dish, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Check the salmon at the halfway mark and drain and discard any liquid that may have accumulated.
- To serve, thinly slice the gravlax on an angle with a very sharp knife, taking care not to cut the skin.
- Cover any part of the remaining gravlax with the excess skin and store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Recipe from EATING FROM OUR ROOTS. Copyright © 2023 by Maya Feller. Photography copyright © 2023 by Christine Han. Published by goop Press/Rodale Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Reprinted with permission.
Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN is the founder of Maya Feller Nutrition, a private practice that specializes in nutrition for chronic disease prevention. Maya shares her approachable, food-based solutions with millions of people through regular speaking engagements and as a nutrition expert on Good Morning America.
Maya believes in providing nutrition education from an anti-bias patient-centered, culturally sensitive approach to help people make informed food choices. In her practice, Maya and her team provide medical nutrition therapy nutrition and nutrition coaching for the management of and risk reduction of non-communicable diseases from a lens of cultural humility. She is the author of Eating from Our Roots: 80 Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites from Cultures Around the World (goop Press), (January 24, 2023).
Maya lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two children, two cats, and two dogs!