Cedar Plank Smoked Salmon Recipe

There are three main types of smoked salmon. There is cold smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon and grilled/smoked salmon. For the backyard griller, here is an easy and great tasting recipe.

I tried this recipe last weekend, and it was amazing. This is a variant of a signature dish of Emeril Lagasse (of the TVFN fame).

The original recipe used horseradish and trout instead of ginger and salmon.

I had a hard time finding thin cedar planks (shingles) sold singly in the local hardware store, they seemed to only sell them in bunches of 40. I did however find untreated cedar shims that I was able to make do with.

So anyway, here's what you do: Preheat your grill and oil up one side of the cedar with your olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of the Cajun seasoning on the plank, and lay the filet of salmon on top. Season the filet with salt, pepper, and the spice mix. Cover the filet completely with the ginger and zest -- this adds flavor and helps the fish retain all of its moisture. Put the whole thing directly on the grill over the coals, close the lid, and stand back! The thing will smoke like crazy for a while. Check on the salmon after 15 minutes.

If the plank catches on fire before the salmon is done, simply spray it with some water (I had to do this a couple times).

When the salmon is done, you can either serve the whole thing with the cedar flaming around the edges, or remove it from the cedar plank and serve.

You may wish to remove most of the crushed ginger topping as it is a bit overpowering.

A nice sauce to accompany this can be made with soy sauce, green onions, and sesame oil. I don't know the measurements, I just winged it.

If you have a backyard smoker (water smoker, SnP Pro, Black Diamond, Hondo, Weber Smokey Mountain) or a Weber Kettle grill, you can make excellent smoked salmon by just getting the smoker going at 250F, put some flavor wood chips (apple is nice) on the coals and put the salmon filets or steaks on a piece of oiled foil on the meat rack. Cook to an internal temperature of 150F (30-60 minutes depending on thickness of meat). I like to paint on some teriyaki sauce about 5 minutes before I take the fish off the rack and serve it. For the Weber Kettle grill, use the indirect heat cooking method.