Ping Gai Chicken - Laotian "Grilled Chicken Chicken"

Even though I only do it once every few years or so, making salmon gravlax at home is a fun weekend project, and with very little effort, you can produce some very impressive results. I’ve always done this with the traditional fresh dill sprigs, but after enjoying a beet-stained version at Plaj, I decided to try my hand. And, also stain my hand.

If you’re just doing a small tail piece like I did, these times and measurements should get you close to what you see here, but if you're feeling adventurous, and want to do something larger, then you may have to do some research for techniques that work better when doing a thicker piece of fish.

Those slightly more complicated methods involve turning, draining, and basting, to account for a longer curing time. So what I’m trying to say is, you can avoid all that by just doing a smaller piece, which, unless you’re hosting a large party, should be plenty. Speaking of large parties, and the litigious people that sometime attend them, please be sure to get your salmon from a reliable source.

I think a brick works great for a press, but anything that weighs a few pounds would be fine, as long as it’s large, and flat enough to distribute the weight evenly. A book with a few cans of soup on it would do the trick. Regardless of how you press yours, once unwrapped, sliced, and served on a toasted bagel, I think you’ll agree it was worth the wait. So, I really do hope you give this gravlax technique a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 to 10 ounces of Gravlax:

8 to 12 ounce tail section of fresh salmon with skin on (scaled)

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup white sugar

cayenne and/or freshly ground black pepper to taste

enough grated beet and/or fresh dill springs to thickly cover fish

- Press with something heavy, and let cure in fridge for 1 1/2 days, or until salmon is firm, and translucent when sliced. You can carefully unwrap, and poke to test, and then rewrap, and let cure longer if need be.