Salmon Jerky from the Tomb Raider Cookbook
The next recipe from the Tomb Raider Cookbook that I made was Salmon Jerky. This recipe is inspired by the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, which Lara visits in the Tomb Raider II expansion The Golden Mask. Specifically she goes to the fictional Melnikov Island in search of the titular Golden Mask of Torngarsuk, the Inuit god of the sea, death and underworld. I like to think she would have made and taken some of this Salmon Jerky with her (and Sledging Biscuits, which I'll get to in another post), or bought it from a local vendor.
Jerky is a common staple snack at gas stations and other roadside stops. If you can make it yourself, it's definitely much better than what you would get there. The ingredients are pretty simple and you probably have most of them already. The only one I didn't have is Liquid Smoke, but it was easy enough to find. Actually, this was the first time I'd ever cooked with it. You freeze the salmon for half an hour, then cut it into thin strips and marinate them in Liquid Smoke and other flavorful ingredients.
Marinating it overnight is best for maximum flavor. I bought a small fillet to start with since I wasn't sure if I'd like it. The best before date on it meant that I'd have to cook it the same day or the next, which is what I prefer to do with fish regardless. I decided to marinate it in the evening, then in the morning I put it into the oven for the required nine hours at a low temperature, before getting ready for a conference call with an acquaintance later that afternoon. The recipe doesn't say to do this, but I did to save on cleanup: I sprayed the rack the salmon was cooking on and lined the baking sheet underneath the rack.
By 7:12pm my time, the jerky was done. Ultimately, it didn't come out very dry or chewy, it was quite soft. The skin, which you leave on before cooking and take off afterwards, was crispy and also very chewy. I think if I'd taken it off and rendered it some more in the oven, it could have become crunchier like pork crackling. I could have that completely wrong though.
The "jerky" wasn't so much jerky as de facto smoked salmon. It would have to be cooked at a higher temperature or for longer, or I needed to cut it even thinner. It definitely couldn't be stored at room temperature, so I kept it in the fridge and ate it the next day. My research afterwards indicated that salmon jerky, or any jerky for that matter, is better made in a dehydrator. I don't have one of those, and I'm not about to buy one, but I do know somebody who has one.
If I try this again, I'll do it in my friend's dehydrator. I wonder how the same combo of flavors would work on salmon bites or a fillet of salmon roasted in the oven? I think it could be really nice.
If you want to make this recipe for Salmon Jerky yourself, you can find it in Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide.
