Rips Lax -- at long last!
I have mentoined my pal Age Jorgensen on these pages before. He is a plant biologist who grows amazing fruit in the greenhouses at the Rogaland Landbrukspark, where my office is also located. This began with discussions we had in September or so, as Age had a lot of "rips" (red currants) still at the end of the season. Rips, rips, so many rips. What to do?
One of the things we came up with is 'Rips Lax'. That is, salmon ('lax') cured with Red Currants. Just like Gravadlax, but using rips instead. Seemed like a n-obrainer! The rips will provide the sour/acid which cures the fish, along with salt and other flavours. And it was....
It just took four tries to get a recipe which worked!
One of the things we came up with is 'Rips Lax'. That is, salmon ('lax') cured with Red Currants. Just like Gravadlax, but using rips instead. Seemed like a n-obrainer! The rips will provide the sour/acid which cures the fish, along with salt and other flavours. And it was....
It just took four tries to get a recipe which worked!
Here's me nicking some of Age's rasp plants to make raspberry shoots.
Recipe for Rips Lax
1 side of salmon, skin on, pin bones removed
3 Cups Rips berries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup sea salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
That's all folks!
Take your rips and blend them into a paste. They are quite dry so i ended up using the food processor rather than the blender - they clogged up the blender.
Mix the salt and the sugar with the ground berries.
Take your fish and place it in a container that is not reactive -- i.e. no aluminium. Plastic or crockery or stainless all work. Try and choose a container only a bit bigger than the fish. It should be a snug but not crowded fit to get the benefit of all of that rips cure. I cut my side in half to be practical and get it in the containers i have.
Layer some of the rips mix on the bottom of the container. Place half of the fish, skin side down, on the rips and cover with more rips. Place the other half flesh side down on top of the first and cover with rips.
Cover the salmon with a generous amount of cling flim, leaving room for it to sink into the container on top of the fish. Place another smaller container/plate/etc. on top of the salmon and weigh it down with tins/jars of water, etc.
Refrigerate for two to three days. Check it each day for doneness. The salt causes the fish to lose water, which turns the rips paste into a brine. You want to dry the fish out a certain amount, but not too much or you will lose texture. Two to three days....
When you think it is ready, take it out of the fridge and remove from the brine. Rinse the fillets in water and dry with paper towels. Leave the fish out for one or two hours to form the essential 'pellicule' which is the texture on the surface of the fish -- it should glaze ever so slightly (think of gravadlax you have had).
And that's it! Just slice the fillets horizontally with a very sharp knife, against the grain, and serve!
1 side of salmon, skin on, pin bones removed
3 Cups Rips berries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup sea salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
That's all folks!
Take your rips and blend them into a paste. They are quite dry so i ended up using the food processor rather than the blender - they clogged up the blender.
Mix the salt and the sugar with the ground berries.
Take your fish and place it in a container that is not reactive -- i.e. no aluminium. Plastic or crockery or stainless all work. Try and choose a container only a bit bigger than the fish. It should be a snug but not crowded fit to get the benefit of all of that rips cure. I cut my side in half to be practical and get it in the containers i have.
Layer some of the rips mix on the bottom of the container. Place half of the fish, skin side down, on the rips and cover with more rips. Place the other half flesh side down on top of the first and cover with rips.
Cover the salmon with a generous amount of cling flim, leaving room for it to sink into the container on top of the fish. Place another smaller container/plate/etc. on top of the salmon and weigh it down with tins/jars of water, etc.
Refrigerate for two to three days. Check it each day for doneness. The salt causes the fish to lose water, which turns the rips paste into a brine. You want to dry the fish out a certain amount, but not too much or you will lose texture. Two to three days....
When you think it is ready, take it out of the fridge and remove from the brine. Rinse the fillets in water and dry with paper towels. Leave the fish out for one or two hours to form the essential 'pellicule' which is the texture on the surface of the fish -- it should glaze ever so slightly (think of gravadlax you have had).
And that's it! Just slice the fillets horizontally with a very sharp knife, against the grain, and serve!
The first three times i made this i put too much salt in it. The proportions in this recipe are about right. It probably doesn't preserve it for long -- treat this like fresh fish -- but it sure tastes damn good! I made some for my birthday party and placed it out with a lot of other charcuterie. It was the first to disappear!
enjoy
enjoy