Two things that we really love about this area: Maple Syrup and fresh fish from Lake Superior. Sometimes the two come together. This is our smoked candied salmon recipe. They’re like little pieces of candy, and the perfect snack for out on the lake or river. The brine is simple. Salt and brown sugar. The glaze, maple syrup and garlic. Smoked for a few hours for a tasty treat.
The Smoked Candied Salmon With Maple Glaze Recipe:
This is traditionally done with salmon or trout. We usually use either coho salmon or rainbow trout (steelhead). But any salmon or trout will work.
Prep Time: 2 hrs
Cook Time: 3-4 hrs
Total Time: 5-6 hrs
Ingredients
Fresh skin-on salmon or trout pieces, cut into bite sized chunks
Kosher or pickling salt
Brown sugar
Maple syrup
Diced garlic
Instructions
Mix the salt and brown sugar together. Using a container large enough to hold the salmon, lay down a layer of the salt/sugar mixture about 1/4 inch deep. Put a layer of salmon down on this, skin side up. Cover the salmon with more salt/sugar mixture. If you need a second layer of salmon, make sure there is enough salt and sugar between them that the pieces of salmon are not touching. Bury the fish chunks in the salt and sugar mixture. Cover the container and let it cure in the fridge at least 30 minutes, and up to 3 hours. The longer you cure, the saltier it will be.
Remove the container from the fridge, rinse the meat chunks off with a blast of cold water. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel and arrange the pieces on a drying rack (we use a dehydrator tray) skin side down. Let this dry until a pellicle forms; either in the open air outside or in the fridge, uncovered, overnight. This helps it take on a rich smokey flavour. Don’t skip this step!
Put the fish into your smoker at a low temperature to begin with. Slowly raise the temperature in the smoker over the course of 3-4 hours, finishing for 15 minutes at around 200f.
Mix the maple syrup and diced garlic together for your glaze.
Every 30 minutes or so, paint some of the maple syrup and garlic mixture onto the fish chunks using a basting brush.
When the salmon looks good and sticky, typically about 3 to 4 hours, remove it to the drying racks again and paint it one last time with the maple syrup. Allow the fish to cool and enjoy!
