Cured Fish at Home

Curing fish is one of the easier impressive techniques to learn at home: salt and sugar draw moisture out of the flesh, firming the texture and seasoning right through. The classic ratio for a quick cure is 50:50 salt to sugar, with one part of the mix to roughly five parts fish by weight. Coat the fillet, wrap in clingfilm, weight it down in the fridge for two to four hours depending on thickness, then rinse, pat dry and slice. Aromatic ingredients pressed into the cure carry through into the flesh: lemongrass, kaffir lime and Thai basil for a Thai-leaning fish, dill and gin for a gravlax.