Smoking is Delicious

Smoked Salmon on a Charcoal Grill

I love shellfish. Growing up in Maryland, I looked forward to crab season every year. If I make it back east anywhere close to the season, I almost always have some fresh Chesapeake bay crabs. I will sit at a newspaper-covered table with my mallet and knife and crack open blue crabs until the cows come home. I never get full from eating fresh crabs. It’s always the accompanying beer that does me in.

But with the exception of shellfish (and fish tacos), I’m not much of a seafood lover. For me, the least appetizing item on a menu is almost always the fish, particularly if the word “baked” is in front of it. Baked fish doesn’t conjure up any appetizing images for me. The only things that should be baked are desserts.

When I was in college, I developed a taste for lox. For the uninitiated (i.e., goyim and non-Nordic peoples), lox is thin-sliced, cold-smoked salmon. I love lox on a toasted bagel with cream cheese. Especially if it’s topped with a slice of ripe tomato, a little fresh onion, some capers, and a squeeze of lemon. But I digress…

Regular salmon never appealed to me unless it was covered in Hollandaise. Anything tastes good covered in Hollandaise. It’s kind of like deep frying, melted cheese, or chocolate. It doesn’t really matter what’s underneath or inside. It’s the not-so-secret secret behind the popularity of county fairs.

Then one day, I ordered smoked salmon at a restaurant – it was probably on a plank – and I fell in love. It was moist, smoky, and slightly sweet. Where had you been all my life? When I tried to recreate it at home, I was happy to discover that it is actually very easy to make.

A few thoughts about smoking food:

• I use my old fashioned, charcoal-powered, Weber kettle grill. I’ve used gas grills and dedicated smokers but I always come back to the Weber. Maybe you have something else that you like better and that’s fine. But I am able to control the heat and smoke on a Weber better than anything else.
• I usually use hickory chips for the smoke because they carry them in my local Vons. Depending on the food, cherry, apple, oak, and other hard woods work nicely, too. You want to be careful with mesquite, though, because it can overpower your food.
• Soak the wood chips or chunks in water for about an hour before throwing them on the hot coals otherwise they’ll burn right up. A water-soaked wood chunk will smoke for a pretty long time and not go up in flames.
• You don’t want billows of thick smoke coming out of your smoker. That will leave your food with bitter flavors. A thin stream of smoke coming out of the vent is perfect.

INGREDIENTS:

• Whole salmon fillet (I like the ones from Costco)
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup brown sugar (this may seem like a lot but it isn’t – some people use twice as much)
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Dash of Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Light your coals.
• Soak your wood chips or chunks in cold water.
• Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, Sriracha, relish, and some black pepper in a small bowl until you have a nice sauce. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Rinse fillet in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Rub the fillet lightly with olive oil.
• Season both sides of fillet with salt and pepper.
• When the coals stop flaming and ash over, they’re ready.
• Use tongs or your indestructible bionic arm to move all the coals to one side of the grill.
• Put the grate over the goals and close the lid.
• After 2 minutes, open the lid and use a grill brush to scrape the grate clean.
• Sprinkle half the brown sugar on the fillet and gently rub it into the fish.
• Turn the fillet over and repeat with the other side.
• Pour a little vegetable oil over some wadded up paper towels and wipe down the grate.
• Gently lay the fillet on the cooler side of the grill (away from the coals).
• Toss some wood chips or chunks on the coals and put the top back on the grill.
• Make sure the vent is open and try to position it over the fillet so the smoke can draw across the fish.
• If the smoke stops coming out, toss some more wood chips on the hot coals.
• After 10 minutes, use a large spatula to carefully flip the fillet over.
• Replace the lid and smoke for another 10 minutes.
• Carefully remove the fillet from the grill and place onto serving platter.
• Serve with sauce on the side.