Homemade lox is easy and inexpensive to make in your own kitchen! All you need is salmon, salt and time to enjoy this delicacy at home.
When I met my husband, I knew that we would have some minor cultural differences to overcome. I was raised in aPolish family in a small town in rural Michigan. My husband was raised in a Jewish home on Long Island, New York. I call athletic shoes "tennis shoes" and he calls them "sneakers." I drink pop and he drinks soda. One of our biggest dilemmas to overcome - are donuts for breakfast or dessert? We still haven't solved that one so we eat them for both.
In order to make up for any cultural awkwardness in our home, I've tried very hard to learn to make as many of my husband's favorite Jewish foods as I can. I started with salmon patties, served with a side of spaghetti, in our first few months of marriage. I conquered latkes last year. And my noodle kugel is out of this world! One of my husband's favorite foods is bagels preferably topped with lox or cured salmon. But lox is pretty expensive so we only buy it for New Year's Day.
And then, earlier this fall, Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter posted her recipe for making homemade lox. I had to read her post twice to make sure we were talking about the same thing. Seriously, I'm starting to wonder why I buy anything at the store. But it's lox - it's super expensive so it must be hard to make, right? Wrong! This is so easy I can't believe the prices they charge for it. I patiently waited for salmon to go on sale at Whole Foods so I could get good quality Atlantic salmon. Last week it went on sale so I bought a ton of it and dove right in.
All I used to make homemade lox was 2 pounds each of salmon and fine sea salt. Leila lists some other flavoring options, but I wanted to stick with the basics for my test run. But you can add dill for a Norwegian flair or rosemary, lemon juice, sugar, liquid smoke, etc.
Now, I'm not a fan of lox, but my husband is a true connoisseur and my homemade lox passed his test with flying colors. The best part is that it cost me about $8 for an entire pound of lox.
Leila says the lox will keep for a few days in the fridge. I froze half of it for later and the other half was shared with my mom and devoured by a very happy husband.
Homemade Lox
Author: Like Mother, Like Daughter Blog
Ingredients
- Salmon, preferably Alaskan salmon with the skin on.
- Salt (around 2 pounds of fine sea salt)
- Optional seasonings including dill, rosemary, liquid smoke, various alcohols, etc
Instructions
- Run your finger against the grain of the fish and remove any bones with tweezers, your fingers or needle nose pliers.
- Fill a rimmed glass dish with about 1 inch of fine sea salt.
- Place salmon skin side up in the salt.
- Cover the salmon with another ¼ inch of salt.
- Wrap dish with plastic wrap just so that it doesn't smell up your fridge.
- Allow salmon to cure for 18-24 hours. I would shoot for 18 because at 24 hours, mine got a little too salty.
- Rinse salt and off and keep for the next time you make lox.
- Remove salmon from skin by cutting thinly against the grain.
- Lox will keep in the fridge for a few days. It should be OK to freeze -- I'll let you know!
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