Salmon Jerky - Sweet and Smoky

I really like the taste of smoked fish.  However, I didn't have a smoker until recently, so had to figure out an alternate way to enjoy the flavor I like.  I do have a food dehydrator and decided I could work with that to enjoy some dried fish.  I've dried a lot of meat in the dehydrator, making my African biltong dried meat, so decided to give some fish a try using fresh salmon.  Salmon jerky seemed to be a perfect substitute.  Here's what I found as a substitute for smoked salmon and it's quite enjoyable if you like smoky dried fish!

INGREDIENTS
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of fresh salmon (with the skin on)
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of molasses
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Teaspoons of fine ground black pepper
1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke (in the grocery store, usually with barbecue sauces)

First, put the salmon fillet in the freezer for about an hour.  That will make it easier to work with while you cut it into strips.  Make sure you've removed any small bones from the fish.  Then, cut the salmon into narrow strips...about half an inch wide.  Cut with the grain of the fish.  Leave the skin on, so make sure you have a sharp knife, as the skin is rather tough to cut.

While the salmon is chilling in the freezer, this is a good time to make up the marinade.  Everything just is mixed together...soy sauce, molasses, lemon juice, ground pepper and liquid smoke.  Pour the mixture into a large plastic zip lock bag.  Now, add your strips of salmon in the bag, seal it up and knead the bag, making sure the marinade covers all the fish.  Leave the zip lock bag of fish in the refrigerator for about 3 hours, occasionally turning the bag so the marinade works it's way around all the fish.

Take the bag of salmon strips out of the refrigerator and drain them in a colander.  After draining, pat the strips of fish dry, using paper towels.  The dried strips of fish may now be put on the food dehydrator trays, skin side down and allowing air space around each piece of fish.

I set the temperature on the food dehydrator at 160F.  The warm air, circulated by the fan in the food dehydrator will do a great job of drying the fish.  The amount of drying time will vary, depending on the thickness of your strips of fish and the room temperature and humidity.  Set your timer for 8 hours and check the fish strips when the timer goes off.  You want the fish to be nice and dry, still pliable but not hard and brittle.  Drying time could take up to 10 hours, if the strips of fish are large and thick.  But I think you'll find it about right after 8 hours.  At least the way I cut mine, that's about right.  Stored in an airtight container, the jerky will be good for about 3 months.  A vacuum sealer for plastic bags works perfectly!!!  You may also store it in the freezer and it will last a few months longer.

When you're ready to eat, just remove the skin from the strips of fish and enjoy the nice, sweet, smoky flavor of salmon jerky.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at: stan.kain@gmail.com