Lapsang Souchong Cured King Salmon with Ginger Lime Cream Cheese Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Cast Iron

by: QueenSashy

June15,2013

4 Ratings

Lapsang Souchong Cured King Salmon with Ginger Lime Cream Cheese Recipe on Food52 (1)

Serves 12 as hors d'oeuvres

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Author Notes

The fish royalty meets the tea royalty in a smoky, peppery cure. I co-designed the cream cheese to go with it with several great Food52 minds, and you can read all about it here: http://food52.com/hotline... —QueenSashy

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: QueenSashy is a scientist, blogger, and Food52 contest regular.
WHAT: Salmon cured with a smoky black tea and served with zippy lime-ginger cream (i.e. your best brunch ever).
HOW: Pack a tea-sugar-salt mixture onto a salmon fillet, then let sit in the fridge to cure. After a few days, rinse off the cure and serve slices of it on toast with a ginger-lime cream cheese.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Complexly smoky from the tea and five spice, a bit salty, a bit spicy, and buttery in texture, this salmon is incredibly simple to put together (the hardest part being waiting—but the good news is, we'd recommend a 3-day, rather than 5-day, cure). And the bright ginger-lime cream cheese was a perfect and refreshing complement—especially on a bagel. —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved
Your Best Recipe with Salmon Contest Finalist

What You'll Need

Ingredients

For the Salmon
1 ¹/₂ poundsking salmon filet, previously frozen per FDA standards
¹/₂ cupLapsang Souchong loose leaf tea, crushed into fine powder (or contents of about 15 tea bags)
¹/₂ cupkosher salt
¹/₃ cupturbinado sugar
1 teaspooncoarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoonchipotle powder
¹/₂ teaspoonChinese five spice powder

For the Cream Cheese
6 to 8 ouncescream cheese
4 tablespoonssour cream
Zest of one lime
1 tablespoongrated ginger

Directions

Remove the pinbones and scales from the thawed salmon. Leave the skin on. Rinse the salmon and pat dry.
In a small bowl, mix the tea, salt, sugar and spices. Line a large, non-reactive dish with plastic wrap. Pour one third of the cure mixture on the bottom of the dish. Lay the salmon skin-side down, and coat evenly with the remaining cure mixture. Fold the edges of the plastic wrap and wrap the salmon tightly. Weight the salmon down with something heavy (I use a cast iron casserole filled with a 5-pound flour bag). Cure in the refrigerator for three to five days.
Remove the salmon from the refrigerator and carefully rinse off the cure mixture with cold water. Pat the salmon dry.
Remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator to soften at room temperature. With a fork, mix the cream cheese well until smooth and fluffy. Add the sour cream one tablespoon at time and keep on mixing. Add the lime zest and ginger and mix well until fully incorporated.
With a sharp knife, slice the salmon crosswise off the skin. Serve with fresh bread, cream cheese, and some Sriracha sauce on the side.

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Recipe by: QueenSashy

threelittlehalves.com

Aleksandra aka QueenSashy is a scientist by day, and cook, photographer and doodler by night. When she is not writing code and formulas, she blogs about food, life and everything in between on her blog, Three Little Halves. Three Little Halves was nominated for 2015 James Beard Awards and the finalist for 2014 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards. Aleksandra lives in New York City with her other two halves, Miss Pain and Dr. V.

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11 Reviews

anka July 18, 2016

Congratulations on being a finalist!

QueenSashy July 18, 2016

Thank you!

FAQs

What to add to Lapsang Souchong? ›

There are many different ways to serve Lapsang Souchong tea, depending on your preferences. Whilst the black tea tastes great on its own, you can also drink it with milk, or sweeten the flavour with honey or sugar. Some people add vanilla or maple syrup to compliment the smoked flavour.

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What is the uniqueness of Lapsang Souchong? ›

The Unique Production Process:

Unlike other teas that undergo air-drying or pan-firing, Lapsang Souchong leaves are withered over pine fires. The tea leaves are laid out on bamboo trays over burning pinewood, absorbing the rich, smoky essence that infuses the leaves with a robust flavor.

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Why has Twinings discontinued Lapsang Souchong? ›

“If this new product is to replace the original... then that's a matter of great heartbreak to myself.” Twinings said it had experienced “some challenges with sourcing the blend”, which is why it made the “difficult decision” to replace it with “a new blend which replicates the distinct flavour of the original”.

Read The Full Story ›

Is Lapsang Souchong high in caffeine? ›

Lapsang Souchong is made from lower, older tea leaves, and thus it is among the lowest in terms of caffeine content. Older bushes, typically found in certain areas of China also result in lower caffeine levels.

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Is this the end for Lapsang Souchong? ›

Twinings told The Sunday Times it had experienced “some challenges with sourcing the [lapsang souchong] blend”, and had made the “difficult decision to delist” it, replacing it with “a new blend which replicates the distinct flavour of the original”.

Learn More Now ›

What tea tastes like a campfire? ›

Lapsang Souchong Black Tea

Unlike other black teas, which are usually withered and then steamed or fired, the leaves used to make Lapsang are smoke-dried over burning pinewood. This process imparts a distinctive flavor to the tea, with a smoky, campfire-like aroma and notes of pine and burnt sugar.

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When should I drink Lapsang Souchong? ›

Its flavor profile contains hints of pine resin, smoked paprika, and peated whiskey. Lapsang Souchong is best consumed during cold months as it imparts a cozy and pleasant tea drinking experience.

Do you sweeten Lapsang Souchong? ›

The flavour and aroma of smoked lapsang souchong is described as containing empyreumatic notes, including wood smoke, pine resin, smoked paprika, and dried longan; it may be mixed with milk but is not bitter and usually not sweetened with sugar.

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How do you serve Lapsang? ›

Lapsang Souchong can be served on its own, with Lemon, or occasionally milk and sugar.

How many times can you steep Lapsang? ›

You Can Brew At least 5-6 Times

Many customers think that they cannot brew black tea more than once. Please try our Lapsang Souchong. You can brew it at least 5-6 times.