Recipes

Hot-Smoked Salmon with Yuzu–Honey Mustard

Shin Tsujimura

Nobu 57, NYC

When preparing this dish, our recipe tester built a makeshift smoker at home, using this video from Chow as a guide. If you’re in an ambitious mood, give it a try. (Just to sure to remove the batteries from your smoke detector.)

Ingredients

  • One 10-ounce salmon fillet
  • 1 cup wood chips
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, lightly crushed
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon white peppercorns, lightly crushed
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons yuzu juice

Method

Sprinkle the salmon fillet with salt and let stand at room temperature for an hour.

To construct a smoker, line the entire inside of a wok or stockpot with 2 large, criss-crossing pieces of foil; the pieces must be long enough to leave at least a foot of overhang around the entire rim of your vessel. Place the wood chips in the bottom of the pot. Make a foil dish a little smaller than the bottom of the pot and use it to cover the wood chips. (It will collect grease as it drips from the fish.) Place a round cake rack on top of the foil dish. Make a small foil tray large enough to hold the salmon and rest it on the cake rack.

Mix together the black peppercorns, paprika, brown sugar, garlic, white peppercorns, coriander seeds, and mustard seeds to make a spice rub. Coat the salmon with the rub.

Place the salmon on the foil tray that’s resting on the rack. Use additional foil to make a tent over the pot, leaving lots of room for smoke to circulate. Tightly seal the foil around the edge of the pot. Place the pot over high heat on the stove. When you start to smell smoke, turn the heat to medium-low and leave the salmon for 12 to 15 minutes. Take the pot outside or near a window and carefully remove the top layer of foil to let the smoke escape. Transfer the fish to a foil-lined baking sheet and set aside.

Make a sauce by whisking together the honey, mustard, and yuzu juice. Cut the salmon into 4 equal portions and drizzle with the sauce.

Yield

4 servings