Sugar-Free Salmon Gravlax
Naomi Sherman- Ready in 2d
- 0.1 g net carbs
- 76 kcal
- Serves 10
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I might be risking a mass revolt here… but I don’t like smoked salmon all that much.
Yes, before you ask, I have tried it in many ways and on a number of occasions and it just doesn’t do it for me.
I’ll probably be run out of town now, as I live in an area that is famous for its salmon products, especially its smoked salmon.
I do however love this salt-cured low-carb salmon, or gravlax, or gravadlax. You can use it in all the ways that you would normally use smoked salmon (in Savory Salmon Fat Bombs, Keto Omelet Wrap with Salmon & Avocado or Keto Salmon & Cream Cheese Mug Muffin).
It’s particularly good to make up for a keto dinner party or brunch when you really want to impress.
Can you imagine casually passing around a platter of your own cured salmon? And nobody will ever know that the hardest part of the process is waiting for a couple of days before you can pop a thinly sliced morsel of it in your mouth.
You can play with the herbs and flavours as much as you like, once you get the hang of the process.
Note: nutrition facts for curing spices are included partially as most are discarded.
Step-by-step
Zest the lemon and chop the herbs.
Place lemon zest, peppercorns and Erythritol into a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until fine. Mix with rock salt and spirit to form a rough paste.
Lay cling wrap out on bench and spread a third of the cure over the centre of it. Place half of the chopped dill on top of the salt cure.
Place the salmon on top of the cure and spread the remaining dill over and around the fillet. Cover with the balance of the salt cure. You want the dill to be the closest ingredient to the salmon.
Wrap cling wrap very tightly around fish and cure and add a few more cling wrap layers. Place in a container and sit a plate on top, weighted with tin cans.
Sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours, turning every 12 hours or so. The salmon will be cured when it is firm to the touch. Wipe salt cure off.
Gently run a sharp knife under the skin to remove. Slice salmon thinly. Salmon gravlax will keep for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Recipe
Sugar-Free Salmon Gravlax
★★★★★4.7Easy and healthy way to make Scandinavian cured salmon flavored with fresh dill, lemon zest and white pepper!
- Hands on
- 10m
- Overall
- 2d
- Servings
- 10
- 0.1 g
- Net carbs
- 10.8 g
- Protein
- 3 g
- Fat
- 76
- kcal
Ingredients makes 10 servings
Instructions
Zest the lemon and chop the herbs.
Place lemon zest, peppercorns and Erythritol into a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until fine. Mix with rock salt and spirit to form a rough paste.
Lay cling wrap out on bench and spread a third of the cure over the centre of it. Place half of the chopped dill on top of the salt cure.
Place the salmon on top of the cure and spread the remaining dill over and around the fillet. Cover with the balance of the salt cure. You want the dill to be the closest ingredient to the salmon.
Wrap cling wrap very tightly around fish and cure and add a few more cling wrap layers. Place in a container and sit a plate on top, weighted with tin cans.
Sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours, turning every 12 hours or so. The salmon will be cured when it is firm to the touch. Wipe salt cure off.
Gently run a sharp knife under the skin to remove. Slice salmon thinly. Salmon gravlax will keep for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition per serving, about 50 g/ 1.8 oz
Carbs 1%Protein 61%Fat 38% of calories
- Net carbs
- 0.1 g
- Total carbs
- 0.6 g
- Fiber
- 0.1 g
- Sugars
- 0 g
- Protein
- 10.8 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Saturated fat
- 0.6 g
- Calories
- 76 kcal
- Sodium
- 253 mg · 11% RDA
- Magnesium
- 17 mg · 4.21% RDA
- Potassium
- 236 mg · 11.8% EMR
Nutrition by ingredient
| Per about 50 g/ 1.8 oz | Net carbs | Protein | Fat | kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon, raw | 0 g | 10.8 g | 3 g | 73 |
| Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Lemon zest (peel), fresh | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Spices, pepper, white | 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Dill, fresh | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Erythritol (natural low-carb sweetener) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Gin, distilled alcoholic beverage (~40% vol) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 2 |
| Total | 0.1 g | 10.8 g | 3 g | 76 |
Serving size about 50 g/ 1.8 oz
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Egg free
- Nut free
- Pork free
- Coconut free
- Shellfish free
- Beef free
- Pescatarian
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Comments & ratings (14)
re: ketodietapp.com/Blog/lchf/healthy-salmon-gravlax
very interesting recipie.
i love all food safe (worm-free) presentations of salmon, including smoked, and most deinitively gravlax, while staying in the keto & GF lanes.
i'm subbing:
- dried powdered monkfruit for erithritol
- tajin (super mild pepper flakes w/ lime) for lemon zest
- finely ground Chinese white pepper for white pepper corns
- pulverized pickling spice for chopped dill
- unfiltered, raw, organapple cider vinegar w/ mother (veriied 5% acidic) for aqueous solution
i believe this still qualifies as keto.
i deliberately chose powderized subs & slightly increased fluidic volume, because i'm using a negative-pressure marination chamber (to draw fluid out of the salmon during 1st 24hrs of refrigeration), then switching to mildly positive pressure marination for the final 24hrs (to mechanically drive the contact mixture into the salmon flesh). this avoids the use of weighted plastic wrap and flipping. successful marination doesn't have to be anaerobic.
your recipie provided me with an excellent framework for my variations.
thank you!
Hi. What brand of salt do you use here? Would pink Himalayan salt work? Thanks!
Absolutely! Sea salt or pink Himalayan are great options.
I join you in the appreciation of cured salmon. What is most interesting is that, if you cure your salmon a bit longer, the refridgerated shelf life people expands exponentially. I have cured salmon for Christmas and, well wrapped, enjoyed it at New Years as well.
Also, if you can get matching sides of salmon you can cure them together, fresh side to flesh side, with some cure on the outer sides too. Do keep your dill adjacent to each side's flesh.
David, that's a fantastic idea, thank you!
A side of salmon??? Do you mean a filet?
It is the whole half (side) of the salmon but you can use several fillets instead).
Actually there's nothing wrong with using the sugar the is in the original gravlax. The salmon doesn't absorb that much and it helps it keep longer. I can keep my gravlax for several weeks in the refrigerator, just cut of the piece you want to eat but let the rest still be stuck to the skin and you're golden.
Wouldn't have a Christmas without it.
Thank you for the tips Lexi!
Except for using sugar? Is your recipe the same? How much sugar do you use?
This recipe uses 2-3 tablespoon of erythritol. I'd still personally use the erythritol as I have not tried sugar and can't confirm how much of it will end up in the salmon.
Can you taste the Erythritol or Swerve? I use this type product in coffee etc... but in a cure? (aside from the cooling effect you get which I would expect to be quite horrible on smoked salmon) - I fear that using it would ruin an expensive piece of fish and the time & effort to cure it and then cold smoke it etc...
I wonder as Lexi said, that the salmon doesn't absorb that much of the sugar? I went to several commercially prepared smoked salmon products to look at the nutritional information... for example President's Choice "Bay of Fundy Smoked Atlantic Salmon" lists as the ingredient: Atlantic salmon, salt, brown sugar, natural smoke. The Nutritional information Label says that per 55 grams of product there is 0 grams of sugar? I looked at others as well - some listed 1 gram per 55 grams but still quite a reasonable amount.
I unfortunately cant make the assumption that home cured smoked Nova Lox is prepared in the same way as the commercial product - but I would hope so.
I think it won't make the salmon too high in carbs - even if you end up with a gram of carbs per serving, so I think you can use sugar. But the only way to tell would be to measure your blood sugar levels (I'm saying this in case you really have to be careful as I wouldn't advice someone with type 1 diabetes to use it). Having said that, I don't think the erythritol or Swerve would make it taste horrible. I've been using low-carb sweeteners in marinades for meat and they always taste great.
The cooling effect comes from the crystals dissolving. If the erythritol crystals dissolve fully while curing you shouldn't
feel the cooling effect in your mouth. If you have crystals on the fish when you eat it then you might. But I'm guessing you aren't supposed to have a munch of the curing salt still piled on when you eat it, or the water from the fish will have dissolved it all. So there should be no problem. You could use a different sweetener like allulose, or a non crystal sweetener like Stevie or powdered monk fruit extract.