CURED SALMON

Cured Salmon
Serves 12, with leftovers

Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 whole side of salmon (2½ to 3½ pounds, with the skin on
3 tablespoons tequila
Half a bunch of cilantro
12 very thin lime slices

Stir together the sugar, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Using tweezers or needle-nose pliers, pull out any bones remaining in the salmon. (There can be as many as 30.) Cut the side of salmon in half crosswise.
Lay one piece of salmon skin side-down in a plastic container or glass baking dish. Drizzle with half the tequila. Sprinkle with half the sugar mixture, patting it firmly into the fish. Layer the cilantro over the salmon; arrange the lime slices over the cilantro. Drizzle the second piece of salmon with the remaining tequila and sprinkle it with the remaining sugar mixture, patting it firmly into the fish. Lay the second piece of salmon on top, skin-side up. Cover with plastic wrap. Set a small, flat-bottomed dish (or cutting board, or brick or whatever) atop the stack of salmon and weight it with 2 heavy cans or a small saucepan. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Remove the weights, the dish, and the plastic wrap. With a spatula, flip the two pieces of salmon as one, so that the top piece is now on the bottom. With the spatula, lift the salmon piece now on top and baste the cilantro layer with the accumulated juices from the dish. Replace the salmon. Cover with plastic, top again with the dish and the weights, and refrigerate another 24 hours.
Remove the dish, weights, and plastic. Scrape off the cilantro, limes, and the salt mixture and pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Transfer to a cutting board. Beginning with the tapered tail-end piece of the salmon, using a long, thin, sharp knife, cut the salmon, across the grain and at an angle almost parallel to the work surface, into thin slices, releasing the slices from the skin as you go.
Arrange the salmon on plates as you slice, overlapping slightly. About 2 ounces of salmon is a suitable portion (like all raw fish, it is rich). You may drizzle sour cream mixed with lime juice and zest over the salmon or serve it alongside.
Serve with the usual side garnishes: Chopped onions and capers will be enough for this one. Little toasted bread rounds or crackers would be excellent.