Appetizer/Smoky Tea-Cured Salmon with Ginger Butter

By latin1

Ingredients

• 1 cup Lapsang souchong tea leaves (2 oz)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Kosher salt
• two 1# pieces of salmon filet, with skin
• 1 stick butter at room temperature
• 3 tbsp minced, peeled ginger
• 1 tbsp minced chives
• 1 loaf pumpernickel bread

Details

Servings 10

Preparation

Step 1

1.Line a large glass baking dish with a double layer of plastic wrap, leaving 4 inches of overhang all around. In a small bowl, toss the tea with the sugar and 1/2 cup of Kosher salt. Spread half of the curing mixture in the prepared dish. Spread the remaining mixture over fish. Set the salmon, skin side down, in the dish. Spread the remaining mixture over the fish and cover tightly with the overhanging plastic. Set a plate on the salmon and top with a heavt can. Refrigerate for two days.
2.In a medium bowl, blend the butter with ginger and chives and season with salt. Spread a thin layer of the ginger butter on each slice of bread, then cut the slices on the diagonal.
3.Rinse the salmon, removing as much of the curing mixture as possible; pat dry. Using a thin sharp knife, cut salmon crosswise into very thin slices. Place a small slice of salmon on each bread triangle and serve.
The rinsed and dried tea-cured salmon can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerate for one week.