Curing is a food preservation technique where salt, and other ingredients, are used to change the chemical composition of a meat or fish so that it will last longer. Back before refrigerators, curing was a popular way to have you food last longer. Curing, since you can use a lot of spices and sugar in addition to the salt, also is used to give the meat or fish additional flavor.
Curing salmon, which is similar to curing any other meat, is actually quite simple. You’ll need amply amounts of salt and sugar in equal amounts, usually a few cups will do. You’ll take that and essentially wrap the salmon in the salt and sugar. To get a little fancier, you can add other spices that you enjoy, such as pepper, dill, and parsley. You won’t need quite as much of the other ingredients but it doesn’t hurt if you add more.
First put half of the spice mixture down, then layer half of the salt/sugar/pepper mixture on top of the spices, put the fish on that, then layer the salt/sugar/pepper on top followed by the spices again. Some places recommend a “non-reactive pan” but I think it’s just easy to use some plastic wrap. If you go with the pan, you’ll want to put a non-reactive pan (or just use glass) on top and press down. If you go with the plastic wrap, you will still need some weight but it will matter less if it’s “non-reactive.”
After 12 hours, drain off the liquid that will have drained out of the fish, flip it over, and repack the mixture. After 12 hours, you’ll be done. Unpack the whole thing and rinse it off… you’ll have it ready for eating.
Curing salmon should last 4-5 days.
If my written explanation wasn’t descriptive enough, here’s a six-minute video demonstrating how you can cure salmon:
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