Ingredients
- 500g skin on salmon, in 1 or 2 pieces
- zest of 1 orange, plus some of the orange juice to serve
- 2 earl grey tea bags
- 2 tbsp flaky sea salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- handful dill
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
Method
3 days from when you want to serve your gravlax, make the curing mixture: Split open the tea bags and check the tea is very fine (if not, pound in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder/high-speed blender until a dusty consistency). Mix the tea with the salt, sugar and zest of the orange. Do not add the juice at this stage as citrus fruit can “cook” fish.
Rub the mixture all over the fish on all sides. Place in a bowl skin side down and cover with cling film and store in the fridge. In 24 hours, turn over the salmon again, flesh side down. Leave to cure for the remainder of the time.
Before serving, take the salmon out, discard the liquid that has formed and gently pat the excess liquid off.
Finely chop the dill (reserve a tablespoon for the sauce) and use the rest to cover the salmon fillets. Pat down so it sticks to the salmon.
To make the sauce: Mix together the mustard, honey and red wine vinegar in a bowl. Add a few drops of water to loosen the consistency. Add the dill and stir.
Place the salmon skin side down on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut the salmon away from the skin into very fine slices and arrange on a pretty plate. Add a few twists of cracked black pepper and squeeze a little juice from the orange over the top.
Serve with the bowl of mustard sauce. Serve with pumpernickel or rye toast and crispbread.
