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Salmon candy has become my new favorite road food. Sweet, smoky, meaty, fatty. And while it looks like regular smoked salmon, it’s not. So what on earth is candied salmon?
Well, I first heard about candied salmon decades ago, when it was called squaw candy, but it’s no longer called that for obvious reasons. Salmon candy is basically heavily smoked strips of salmon, originally smoked so long they were basically salmon jerky. Nowadays it’s usually lacquered with something sweet, such as brown sugar, maple or birch syrup, or even molasses. The idea is to combine fatty-savory-smoky-sweet in one bite.
Strips from the belly of the salmon are best, but regular fillet strips are good, too — and you can do this to salmon collars as well.
Don’t get me wrong: I love my recipe for smoked salmon. I really do. But it’s for large pieces of salmon, meant to be eaten as a meal, or crumbled into salads or whatever. It isn’t something you can wrap in a paper towel, stick in your pocket and carry with you when you are picking blueberries or wandering around, or maybe fishing for more salmon.
For that you need to change things up a bit. First is the dry cure. My regular smoked salmon uses a brine cure, which keeps the fish supple and moist. Salmon candy needs to be heavily cured and heavily smoked to keep in less-than-ideal conditions.
While it isn’t strictly jerky, although if you want to make a true salmon jerky this is my recipe, the heavy cure and smoke has let me carry salmon candy on multi-day road trips and on fishing boats with a minimal amount of refrigeration.
How minimal? I’ve eaten it at room temperature after it had been in my pack while fishing all day, or in the late afternoon on a long drive. But I fish in cool places, so the salmon probably never got about 65°F. I wouldn’t let it get actually hot and eat it.
Remember, this is an Alaskan invention and it rarely gets hot in Alaska.
If you want something truly hardy, you will need to cut the strips thinner and smoke them harder to get them jerky-like.
What salmon to use? Well, any, really. This is a great use of chum or pink salmon, and it is also excellent with large trout or char. If you want to order salmon from Alaska, try Yakobi Fisheries — I have fished commercially with them and can highly recommend their fish.
Consider my candied salmon a hybrid, hardier than regular smoked salmon, and not quite as austere as the traditional salmon candy made by the native Alaskans. Whatever you call it, it’s damn good.
Smoked Salmon Candy
Ingredients
- 5 pounds skin-on salmon pieces, cut into 1- to 2-inch thick strips
- 1 pound kosher salt
- 1 pound brown sugar
- 1 cup maple syrup or birch syrup
Instructions
- Mix the salt and brown sugar together. Find a lidded container large enough to hold the salmon; a big plastic tub works well. Lay down a layer of the salt/sugar mixture about 1/4 inch deep. Put a layer of salmon down on this, skin side up. Cover the salmon with more salt/sugar mixture. If you need a second layer of salmon, make sure the layer of salt and sugar between them is thick enough so that the pieces of salmon are not touching. Basically you are burying the salmon in salt and sugar. Cover and let cure in the fridge at least 30 minutes, and up to 3 hours. The longer the cure the saltier it will be; I cure for 2 hours.
- Remove the salmon from the cure, which will get wet, and briefly rinse the fish under cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel and set the salmon on a drying rack skin side down. Let this dry in a breezy place for 2 hours, or in the fridge, uncovered, overnight. I put the racks under a ceiling fan near an open window with another fan blowing at the fish from the side. You are doing this to form a pellicle on the salmon, which helps it smoke properly. Don't skip this step!
- Traditionally salmon candy is cold smoked for several days. If you can do this, go for it. Regardless, you want to bring the temperature up gradually over the course of an hour or so and let it sit at around 165°F to 200°F for at least 3 hours, and up to 6 hours if you like your salmon candy harder and smokier.
- Every 90 minutes to 2 hours, paint the salmon with the maple syrup. This also helps to remove any albumen -- the icky white stuff -- that can form between the fish flakes if your smoker gets a little too hot too fast.
- When the salmon looks good and lacquered, typically about 3 to 4 hours, remove it to the drying racks again and paint it one last time with the maple syrup. Allow to cool to room temperature before storing. Salmon candy will last a week in the fridge, longer if vacuum sealed. It freezes well, too.
Notes
Tips
Smoke likes Fat. Smoke adheres better to fat than lean meat, so bellies and collars are better for this. Vary the thickness. Very thin strips will dry harder and be more like jerky... and will keep longer. I eat mine fairly quickly, so I leave the strips thicker, at about 2 inches wide.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Hank, can you use previously frozen Spring salmon for this recipe? Another question: do you can salmon? There doesn’t appear to be a recipe for canned fish on your website.
Christine: Yes on pre-frozen salmon, no on canned salmon. Not a huge fan.
Susie Olsen,
The word “squaw” caught my attention and I squirmed a bit. I believe it is a really harsh racist word. I actually believe it might still be used in some parts of Canada. I think it is totally reasonable to ask for the word to be removed. Indigenous folks in Canada have been dealing with racism and stereotypes for over a century and they continue to have to face it. This is not about political correctness, it is being kind and trying to undo some of the painful culture that persists.
Written by a white woman of European decent.
Also- i’m Looking forward to trying this recipe. It sounds Great!!
The author of this recipe simply said “squaw” candy because it used to be called that, and even mentioned that going forward it is referred to as “salmon candy for obvious reasons”. People may have had it back in the day and might want to make it. If you simply said “salmon candy” they might not know if this recipe is what they are looking for. Get a hold of yourself and quit acting like the police for political correctness. Nobody would think a thing about it, had you not mentioned it. There are lots of items that may have reference to American Indians because that was history. Do you have a problem with someone referring to “white” bread?
I came on this site to find a recipe. It looks like an awesome recipe. It sounds delicious.
One thing that got me was the original name of the recipe. It is unnecessary, uncalled for and very rude and disrespectful. Its the intention and it is better to be nice. I could never understand the word “squaw” and why anyone would use it. Why mention the name that it was (like we’d know that) when you know it isn’t nice for “obvious reasons”?
Please take it down.
I just came back from the Feather River & learned of an invasive species known as squaw fish, or northern pike minnow. I heard from a couple people that they are only good smoked. This might be where the name comes from? The author is clearly not being racist, & clearly prefaced the former name with an explanation. I enjoyed learning a bit of the history, and that this is a old style of preparation enjoyed by indigenous people, not just a new foodie thing. Lighten up folks. The recipe is called salmon candy. Turning a blind eye does not erase the past. Trying this tonight. I’ve bought it before in Gold Beach, OR & it was unbelievable!
Marko: Just so you know, the pikeminnow is not invasive. It is the native in the Feather. But thanks for coming to my defense.
If you live in Hawaii-use Ahi bellies for this recipe, they will be great. I’ve smoked them many times this exact way and it turned out awesome.
If my smoker can hold 100* how long should I pl an on smoking the fish?
Brian: This is a hot smoked product, so you’ll want the smoker up to at least 150F to cook the salmon through. As for time, go as long as you want. I like only a few hours — more makes it too smoky for me.
i just got a two-door propane smoker, and no way it’ll hold a low temperature. however, you mention cold smoking. i assume that after the dry brine the salmon would not be likely to spoil at room temperature. what do you think of putting it in the smoke *without* a flame, and using a perforated tube smoker in the closed smoker cabinet? in your experience, does cole smoking take longer than hot smoking?
thanks!
Flash: Yes, cold smoking takes a lot longer than hot smoking. Days, even. You gently smoke the fish at low temps (below 90F) for several hours each day for several days.
My husband just bought a smoker yesterday and am gathering some recipes to try. We live in Hawaii and he and his buddy’s fish a lot but no salmon here. We will have to get at Costco. I am assuming this is only good for fatty fish?
Anne: Actually, no. It’s damn good on lean fish, too. But if you do this with, say, a snapper, cut the fish thinner and shoot for more of a chewy jerky product.
Do you have to leave the skin on or will it work just as well with the skin off?
Christina: Skin needs to stay on. It holds the salmon together. You can discard it when you eat it, though.
This is a great recipe. It comes from a Trager grill cookbook.
I make it all the time
Kate: Sorry, but it most definitely DOES NOT. An intern at Traeger stole my recipe and never told his boss about it. When I found out and told Traeger, they were mortified and told me the intern had done this several times and was fired.
Like you we salmon fish past the gate. I’ve been using your recipes for regular smoked and now salmon candy. I like both. Real reliable recipes. The candy was awesome. I added some pepper flakes as well. I’ve got salmon in the freezer and am always looking for new ways to prepare.
What about the skin? How does this come into play when eating? can you do this without the skin on the fish?h
Dan: You need the skin to hold things together. You can eat it or not.
This recipe is identical to traeger website salmon candy recipe.
Dan: Interesting. They copied me, as this recipe has been up for about 8 years.
Can this be done in a dehydrator? If so, at what temp and how long would you suggest?
I make salmon candy whenever I can get a nice salmon fillet. I wash the pieces after the dry cure and that helps to keep the salt from overwhelming. I do not have a smoker so I put the salmon in my convection oven on dehydrate at 120 degrees for a good eight hours. This recipe is easy to prepare and oh so tasty.
Happy New Year
Have you every tried this on trout? I’m sure I would have to adjust my cure & smoke times but this sounds amazing. Any suggestions?
Gregg: I haven’t tried it on trout. But you’re right, it should work.
I followed this and am disappointed. For me it’s too salty I would use 1cup of salt pr pound of BS. I have done this before but it had been a couple years so I looked it up and got this recipe. Waste of two kings.
H ank,
Finished the smoking and maple syrup coating. It went great.
Picture available to post.
I am smoking. With maple chips , since you paint with mapl e syrup.
What do you use?
Thanks, Hank.
The membrane on the belly, do you remove or ignore it?
I have tried to pull it off but not very successful.
Bob
Bob: I ignore it. It peels off fine afterwards, or you can eat it.