Non-VegetarianNorthern Canadian cuisine Starters

Cold-Smoked Whitefish

Name: Cold-Smoked Whitefish
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Northern Canadian
Ingredients: 1 kg whitefish fillets; 100 g Kosher salt; 60 g Brown sugar; 1 l cold water; 2 whole Bay leaves; 1 tsp Black peppercorns

Great Slave Lake whitefish brine-cured and cold-smoked using safe modern temperatures for a delicately smoky, sliceable fillet.

🇨🇦Canada· Northwest Territories

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 240 min
Total: 270 min
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Hard
Calories: 180 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 6 gathered

Servings

Equipment

•smoker with temperature control
•food thermometer
•non-reactive container

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 180 kcal
fat: 8 g
carbs: 3 g
protein: 24 g
calories: 180

Instructions

1
Dissolve salt and brown sugar in cold water to make a brine; add bay leaves and peppercorns.
2
Submerge fillets in the brine, refrigerated, for 8-12 hours.
3
Remove fillets, rinse briefly and pat dry, then air-dry uncovered in the fridge for 1-2 hours until a slightly tacky pellicle forms.
4
Set up the smoker to hold a chamber temperature no higher than 30°C for true cold-smoking, using a food thermometer to monitor it continuously.
5
Cold-smoke the fillets for 3-4 hours, checking temperature regularly and never letting the chamber exceed safe cold-smoke limits.
6
Immediately after smoking, refrigerate the fish at or below 4°C and use within the recommended timeframe.
7
Slice thinly to serve chilled.

Chef's tips

Cold-smoked fish carries real food-safety risk if temperature control slips; if you cannot reliably hold the chamber below 30°C, hot-smoke to a safe internal temperature of at least 63°C instead, or buy commercially cold-smoked fish that has been produced under regulated conditions.