Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Smoked Red Salmon Bellies

Every summer my husband commercial fishes Red Sockeye Salmon and brings some home for us to enjoy. Before filleting the fish he slices off the bellies and we smoke the bellies. The belly of the salmon is the fattiest part of the fish and is so, so delicious smoked or not.
The Brine:
2 qts of water
1c sugar
1c Salt
1/2c brown sugar
A sprinkle or two of Liquid SmokeBellies in the brine. Place a plate on top of the bellies to help them stay in the brine. Place a lid on the bowl and put it in the fridge for 1 hour or more. Depending on how stong you want the flavor to be. I put our fish in no longer than 2 hours because we like a mild flavor.

After 2 hours I took the fish out of the fridge, rinsed off each belly and placed them on the smoker racks and pat them dry with a paper towel. I let them sit for one hour.

It doesn't take that long to smoke. In 1 hour, on a low-high, they are cooked. If you like a dryer smoked salmon let it smoke longer. We like it moist so 1 maybe 2 hours at most. King salmon bellies take a little longer than 1 hour.


Smoked Sockeye Bellies are done. A couple get eaten right away and the rest get vacuumed packed and placed in the freezer. In our family, everyone but James will eat smoked salmon. He's out numbered, he might as well change his mind.