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Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy)
Strips of wild salmon cured in brown sugar and salt, dried to a tacky skin, then hot-smoked over alder and brushed with maple syrup until sticky, chewy and glazed.
Canadian (Pacific Northwest) · medium · serves 8
prep 20 min · cook 180 min · plus 6 h hands-off time
~408 cal · 25g protein · 38g carbs · 16g fat · 0g fiber · 37g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Candied salmon, or salmon candy, is a chewy, sweet and salty strip of , smoked salmon from the Pacific coast of British Columbia and the American Northwest. It grows out of the smoke-preserved salmon of the Indigenous peoples of the coast, for whom drying and smoking the fish was how the summer salmon runs fed a household through the rest of the year.
The modern version adds sugar. Strips of sockeye, coho or Chinook are packed in a cure of brown sugar and salt, rinsed, and left to dry until a tacky skin called a pellicle forms, which helps the smoke cling. Then they go into a smoker over alder, the traditional wood of the coast, and are brushed with maple syrup or honey as they cook until they shine.
In British Columbia it is sold at seafood markets and fishing-town shacks, including by Indigenous-owned smokehouses, and it is a favourite Vancouver souvenir. It is eaten as a snack, with the fingers, a piece at a time.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
- 1 kg (2 lb) wild salmon fillet (sockeye, coho or Chinook), skin on, pin bones removed
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (about 90 g) coarse kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) maple syrup
- 2 large handfuls alder wood chips or chunks, for smoking, or apple wood
Instructions
- 1Cut the salmon across into strips about 2.5 cm wide, leaving the skin on. Mix the brown sugar, salt and pepper.
- 2Spread a thin layer of the cure in a glass or plastic dish, lay the salmon on it skin side down and cover it completely with the rest. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours; the cure will turn to a syrup.✎ Chef’s noteThicker strips can take up to 6 hours. The longer the cure, the saltier and firmer the candy.
- 3Rinse each strip under cold water and pat dry. Set them skin side down on a rack over a tray and refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 hours, until the surface feels tacky and slightly glossy.✎ Chef’s noteThat tacky skin is the pellicle. Without it the smoke will not stick and the fish weeps white protein as it cooks.
- 4Heat a smoker, or a kettle grill set up for indirect heat, to about 80 to 95C (175 to 200F) with the alder. Brush the salmon with maple syrup and lay it skin side down on the grate.
- 5Smoke for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, brushing with maple syrup every 45 minutes or so, until the strips are firm, deep mahogany and sticky, and flake only at the thickest point.
- 6Give them a last coat of syrup and let them cool on the rack. Eat at room temperature. They keep in the fridge for about a week.
British Columbia coastal and Indigenous smokehouse tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
British Columbia. The coast eats what the ocean and the rivers bring up. Five species of Pacific salmon run here and get smoked, grilled or cured; spot prawns have a season only a few weeks long in spring; and Dungeness crab and oysters come off the same shoreline the salmon pass on the way inland.
🗺️
Canada. Canada's food reflects its vast geography and immigrant makeup, Québécois poutine and tourtière, Atlantic seafood, prairie grains, and Indigenous game and berries. Maple syrup remains its sweet national signature.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Canada
PoutineHot fries, squeaky cheese curds, and glossy pepper gravy, rural Québec’s gift to late nights everywhere.
Nanaimo BarsA no-bake three-layer bar: coconut-crumb base, custard-cream middle, chocolate top, named for a BC harbor town.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Grill or barbecue.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy)?
Strips of wild salmon cured in brown sugar and salt, dried to a tacky skin, then hot-smoked over alder and brushed with maple syrup until sticky, chewy and glazed.
Where does Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy) come from?
Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy) is a Canadian (Pacific Northwest) dish from British Columbia, Canada.
Can Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Candied Salmon (Salmon Candy) take to make?
About 9 h 20 min in all: 20 minutes prep and 180 minutes cooking, plus 6 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 8.
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