Salmon Candy Is The Sweet-But-Fishy Snack Beloved Across The Pacific Northwest

If someone told you to try salmon candy, you might assume that it's just a sweet that comes in the shape of a fish (perhaps something like Swedish Fish) — and you'd be wrong. The salmon in the name is quite literal: Salmon candy is actually something like a sweet salmon jerky. In that sense, it's more like a candied piece of salmon, a little bit like the way that candied yams wouldn't really be considered candy, per se.

Salmon candy is a Pacific Northwest specialty, and you'll often find it at seafood markets or shacks along the coast, although it's also not hard to find in stores selling specialty fish in big cities like Seattle or Vancouver (British Columbia). It's often made with sockeye or Chinook salmon (two of many salmon varieties out there), marinated or cured, and then smoked until the salmon is almost jerky. Then, it's glazed with brown sugar and/or maple syrup. The end product is a fatty, salty, and sweet treat that also provides some protein and omega-3 fatty acids, known for regulating blood pressure.

Usually considered a snack, salmon candy originates from Native Americans in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Some groups have been making it for centuries: Before the advent of modern refrigeration, drying and smoking salmon allowed these tribes to store it for longer than if it were fresh. If you hate seafood, it's probably not for you, but bear in mind that any intense fishiness is tempered by the sweetness and other flavors in the marinade.

If you've got time on your hands, you can make your own salmon candy — although it's not necessarily the simplest process considering all the brining, drying, and smoking (to be fair, a lot of the process is hands-off, but it's still long-winded). You'll want to start with deboned salmon strips or pieces, and you'll first have to brine the salmon. At its simplest, this just requires salt and sugar, but you can effectively turn this into a marinade by adding extra ingredients like ginger or allspice, or mixing up the ingredients for teriyaki. You'll then need to dry it on a rack before smoking it; each of these steps requires several hours.

As it smokes, you can glaze it with sugar or maple syrup. A lot of recipes recommend using a specialized smoker, although some home cooks claim to have figured out workarounds to smoke salmon effectively on a regular outdoor grill.

As for how to eat salmon candy, plenty of people suggest chowing down on it alone. However, if you want to get creative, it could work well in small pieces in a salad or sandwiches (perhaps in place of bacon); if you're willing to experiment, you could even try it on pizza. Some cooks even suggest putting it on charcuterie or cheese boards with crackers — yet its salty-sweet intensity also provides a neat contrast to juicy fresh vegetables.