Stefan's Kitchen

Today, I enjoyed a beautifully simple breakfast consisting of fresh squeezed orange juice, a bagel, cream cheese and home cured gravlax. What's that? Cured raw fish. Ewe! (you can hear the kids grossing out in the other room)
Actually gravlax is a cold cured fish, similar to Lox in texture. I make mine using fresh steelhead trout but you could substitute salmon or other cold water fatty fish. At $20.00 or more per pound for commercially produced Lox, why not give it a go at home?
Here's how I make mine:

You must excersise good sanitary technique as you make this dish. Clean hands, clean utensils, fresh fish. Start with a nice slab of "skin on" red steelhead trout (AKA freshwater Salmon). It should have very little smell. If it stinks like fish, don't use it. Rinse the fish in cold water and pat dry. Lay fish, skin side down in a 13x9 glass baking dish. Mix 4 drops liquid smoke in two cups cold water. Pour over fish and cover dish with plastic wrap. Marinate in refrigerator for two hours. Remove fish from fridge. Discard marinade and pat fish dry. Rinse glass dish and dry. Place fish skin side down in glass dish. Combine 2 Tbsp kosher salt, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tsp cracked black pepper and a pinch of hot chinese mustard powder. Rub all of this dry cure mixture into the surface of the flesh. Use all of it and pack it on well. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface of the fish. Next take a smaller glass dish filled with water or a brick covered well with plastic wrap and place on top of the fish. The idea is to create a flat weight on top of fish to help the cure soak into meat and do it's thing. Next step, and this is the hardest part, put the entire assembly into the refrigerator and forget about it for the next 5 days and don't peek.
On day 5, you may enjoy the fruits of your labors. Remove fish from refrigerator and discard any liquid which has accumulated in the baking dish. The fish should not stink like old fish. If it does, don't eat it, something went wrong in your preparation. Rinse remaining cure from the surface of the fish and gently pat dry. Using a very sharp knife and very long diagonal strokes, slice extremely thin fliets from the slab. Layer the slices on a clean plate and serve with bagels and cream cheese. Gravlax also pairs well with fruits such as grapes, light wines such as pinot grigio, and makes an excellent addition to eggs benedict.
Enjoy.