【Fall Camping】 DIY Smoked Salmon & Preparing for Fall with Whiskey! Cold Smoking Cooking Edition for Beginners

It seems like the hot season will continue, but once September arrives, autumn will be just around the corner. So, with the theme of men's autumn camping, I want to make homemade smoked salmon and enjoy it with whiskey! First, this is a simple smoking cooking edition that can be done at home.

How to make smoked salmon that goes well with whiskey

To roughly explain how to make smoked salmon, it involves the process of "dehydrating" and "drying" the sashimi-cut salmon, followed by "smoking" it with smoking chips. In fact, this is the first time the author is making it.

【Ingredients】
Sashimi-grade salmon (200g)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pepper to taste

Spread half of the mixed seasoning on a plate, then place the salmon fillets on top. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning over it, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit in the refrigerator for about half a day to dehydrate.

Once moisture is released and it has some elasticity, the dehydration is complete. Rinse off the surface seasoning, then soak it in water for 1 hour to remove excess salt.

Pat dry, and then let it dry in the refrigerator without covering it for more than 3 hours, and it will be ready for smoking. The actual preparation time is about 20 minutes, but the waiting time is very long.

Necessary simple items and smoking methods for smoking

There are various methods for smoking, but this time we will use two 21 cm bowls from Daiso and a 15 cm grill. Place the grid on the edge of the bowl, and stack another bowl on top to use as a smoker.

The crucial smoke wood is a type that has been compacted like a firestarter, designed to continuously produce smoke when lit directly. Among the various types of smoking wood with different aromas, I chose apple, which is said to be beginner-friendly and has no strong flavor.

Next, place the smoke wood under the grill, light it, and cover it with a lid to complete the setup. The approximate time seems to be around 30 minutes to 1 hour. At this time, when I sealed the bowl used as a lid, the fire went out, so it seems to be just right to leave it slightly open for the smoke to escape.

It took 2 days to complete the smoked salmon.

After leaving it for about an hour, the smoking is complete. The heat was more intense than I expected, and it didn't turn out as moist as I had imagined. It seems that to achieve a rare finish, it was necessary to use a method called cold smoking, which involves cooling the temperature of the smoke.

However, the aroma is quite nice, so it's good enough for this time. After this, I will cover it with wrap and let it rest overnight to settle the aroma. In the end, it took nearly two days to complete.

I will taste it before taking it to the camp. When I cut it, the flesh crumbled as soon as the knife touched it, making it difficult to slice thinly. The side close to the smoke wood was quite cooked, but the other side looked very good.

The taste is strongly smoky, with just the right amount of salt, and it's more delicious than store-bought products! Pairing this with whiskey at the campsite will surely lead to an amazing time!

By the way, the smoke wood was broken into about 2 cm pieces, and it might have been too much, so I think one piece would be enough to smoke an entire salmon with some left over. Using the leftover smoke wood to have a smoking party on another day could also be a good idea. Next time, there will be a tasting report from a renowned whiskey region.

Interview and text by Kazuma Tanaka

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