Update to $86 food haul, made gravlax with the salmon

Spread out plastic wrap, 2 pieces, so you have like a 2ft x 2ft square

Spread the cure on the plastic wrap, I used sugar and salt in a 2:1 ratio, some recipes say 1:1 but I think it's too salty. Idk how much I just eyeball it so there's a layer the skin side of the salmon can rest on it.

Cover the top with the cure and you'll be making lox. If you take the extra step and season it, you'll have lax, I think, idk, I'm not any of the races that make these things so that's my understanding. You can add gin, ground pepper, fresh or dried dill. Or not, the important part is the to cover the flesh side of the salmon with the sugar and salt so it covers the entire flesh side and remains visible. Whenever you can't see salt and sugar on the fish then you need to add more. I don't have exact portion because I eyeballed it.

Wrap it up, poke corners in the Saran wrap packet so liquid can leak out. I used the Tupperware in the picture because the center is warped and raised up higher than the sides so the liquid can pool along the edges. I take one of those cheap disposable plastic water bottles with the tiny caps and I drink half of it and then take the air out and molded the bottle to the shape of the fish and then put the lid on with rubber bands. This way there is pressure on the fish. I guess to remove more liquid? I'm not sure, the recipes used things like food cans and wine bottles but I don't think that's practical. Anyways fish packet, water bottle, Tupperware lid, another water bottle on top of the Tupperwareid and some rubber bands to keep it together and to add more pressure and put it in the fridge.

I drained it and checked on it every 12 hours. One recipe said 36 hours for medium cure and I think that's the sweet spot. After 24 hours it definitely was cured but not quite enough for me, still had raw texture. If you can't see any salt/sugar on the fish then you need to add more to keep curing it. I dumped out a fair amount of liquid at first and it slowed down each time I checked the fish (once every 12 hours).

I filet'ed the meat off the skin and then charred the skin in a toaster oven. I cut up the charred skin to make into crumble to add smokey flavor to the final product without actually have to smoke anything.

Bagel, toasted, schmeared with cream cheese, put capers on a plate and then press the cream cheese side into the capers so they don't fall off, add think sliced lax/lox and red onion, squeeze of lemon, fresh dill… You can add cucumbers but I prefer not to.