Smoked Eulachons
Smoked eulachons are small, oily fish cured in a salt brine and hung over an alder fire for days. The fish are threaded on red cedar strips through the gills and mouth, so the cedar and the smoke both shape the result. You decide how dry they end up by choosing how long they hang. Eulachon is rich in fat, protein and vitamin A, and the half-smoked fish can be canned.
Instructions
Rinse the eulachons well under running water.
Mix a brine in a barrel using water and enough coarse salt that a potato floats in it. A good ratio is 2 cups (500 ml) of coarse salt to 3 gallons (12 litres) of water. Add the fish.
Leave the fish in the brine for about half an hour to an hour, until the eyes turn white.
Thread the fish onto cedar sticks by pushing a strip of red cedar in through the gills and out through the mouth. Put about 12 to 25 eulachons on each stick.
Hang the sticks from the rafters of a smokehouse so that no fish touch one another. Leave enough room between the racks and between the fish for the smoke to circulate evenly.
Wait until the fish have finished dripping, then light the smoking fire with alder wood.
Smoke the eulachons for 2 to 6 days. The longer they smoke, the drier they become. If you stop after one to two days, the half-smoked fish can be canned for storage.
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