GRAVED VEGAN SALMON
For those of you who are affronted by the topic of vegan substitute products, I might recommend skipping this post, as the main ingredient in this recipe is a store-bought fish-substitute and thus might irritate one or the other. To briefly touch on the subject of substitute products before go back to cooking and eating: at home we hardly use any substitute products in our daily life. Nevertheless, we are always curious and excited about all the new products that pop up in the supermarkets almost monthly by now. Of course, we realize that these products are neither particularly sustainable (in terms of overconsumption, waste, etc.) nor healthier than their animal counterparts (at least in most cases).
Still, it's exciting for us to try and compare these products and see which of them we would actually enjoy. Plus meat/cheese/fish/etc. substitutes also open up a whole new world of exciting recipes, that wouldn’t work without those substitutes. Lastly, it’s also important to realise that substitutes, whether they are meat, sausage, cheese, or fish, help a lot of people who want to switch to a plant-based diet or who want to consume less animal products, by simply replacing the animal product with a plant-based one. But as I said, this is our opinion and everyone is free to form their own on this subject, just don't judge anyone for their opinion. To each their own.
But now enough about that. As you might have guessed by now, today's recipe features a vegan fish substitute as the main ingredient. We will be making vegan graved salmon. The vegan salmon is rubbed with a mixture of spices, salt and herbs and stowed in the refrigerator for several hours to infuse. Traditionally, this is how fish used to be preserved (mostly in Scandinavia). The name graved salmon originally comes from the fisherman burring the salted fish in the sand in order to ferment it. Today graved refers to the fact that the fish is ‘buried’ underneath the spices and herbs.
So much for that! What do we need for our pickled vegan salmon then? Well first and foremost, of course, we need a piece of vegan salmon. We used the Zalmon from Zeastar in this recipe, because it is now available at the Supermarket where we live and there isn’t really any other vegan Salmon alternative out there as far as we know. The Zeastar Zalmon is frozen and therefore needs to be defrosted in the fridge before using it. So you have to take it out of the freezer a good 5-6 hours before using it. Best you put it on a plate and let it slowly defrost in the fridge.
For the spice mixture there are numerous variants, for example with fennel or coriander, but we decided to go with the traditional version, which consists of only 3 ingredients: coarse sea salt, sugar and black pepper corns. The spices are finely grated in a mortar and then put on the Zalmon. Then you rub the vegan salmon well on all sides with the spices.
Next you have to finely chop a bunch of dill. Spread the dill evenly on the vegan salmon until it is covered on all sides. If you like, you can now cut 1 organic lemon into thin slices and put them onto the Zalmon. Lastly you have to carefully wrap the vegan salmon tightly in cling film or place it in a freezer bag and secure with some rubber bands. Now place the Zalmon in a Tupperware container, seal it, and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to infuse.
After the resting time, you can carefully unwrap the vegan graved salmon, place it on a board and cut it into thin slices with a sharp knife. Arrange the sliced graved Zalmon on a plate, garnish with some lemon zest and carefully add some lemon juice on top. Now you’re all done and your graved vegan Zalmon can be used in any way you want. We had ours on a nice toasted slice of sourdough bread with vegan cream cheese, cucumber and horseradish. Sooo good!
For all of you who are now eager to try this somewhat different recipe here are the ingredients and instructions for you! Enjoy!
FOR THE GRAVED SALMON
Ingredients
1 pack of vegan salmon (we used @zeastar)
2 organic Lemons
1 bunch of dill
1tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
2 tbsp Sugar
2 Freezer bags/ cling foil
Instructions
1) Unpack the vegan salmon and tap dry with a paper towel and place into a container
2) Now ground the peppercorns together with the coarse sea salt in a mortar. Add in the sugar and mix.
3) Rub the vegan salmon with your seasoning mix. Also turn and rub the bottom side.
4) Finely chop the dill and evenly spread on the salmon (also on the bottom side), then cut the lemon into slices and place on top of the salmon.
5) Either put into a freezer bag and wrap with rubber bands OR wrap tightly in cling foil. Put into a container, close the lid and put into the fridge for at least 12h.
6) Carefully unwrap the salmon and cut into fine slices with a sharp knife. Now you can use it in any way you prefer. We had ours with a slice of sourdough bread, vegan cream cheese, cucumber and horseradish. Delicious!
For the reel(video) of the recipe on Instagram click here
Hi, we’re Marie and Michael, two foodies living and studying in Vienna!
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