Brandy Candy Smoker recipe

Author: Jim Parsons Walnut Creek, CA

The following is the recipe I've used for several years and everybody seems to like it. A lot of the recipes I've seen are for preserving the fish in addition to flavoring it and call for a lot more salt than I use. The result of my recipe is the salmon must be refrigerated after smoking, but that has never been much of a problem as it disappears pretty fast.

Ingredients

Here it is:
2 cups Soy Sauce
1 cup Brandy
1 cup Water
⅓ cup Dark Brown Sugar (or regular brown sugar or even white sugar)
1 teaspoon Tabasco (I'm usually pretty generous with the Tabasco)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder

Instructions

Mix it all up and stir to dissolve the sugar. Marinate the salmon (fillet it and
cut into chunks - leave the skin on. I usually scale the salmon as well) in the
brine. I use quart size zip lock Baggies and marinate for a minimum of 24 hours
- longer for thick fillets. I don't think you can marinate it too long - I've
left it for a week before. The salmon will take on a brownish color from the soy
sauce and will become firmer in texture. I think the salt draws some of the
moisture out of the salmon, which makes it firmer.
Remove the salmon from the marinade, wash off with fresh water and allow to air
dry for 30 minutes to an hour. Then it goes on the smoker (I use alder chips to
create the smoke) skin side down at just a bit over the lowest setting of my gas
smoker. I plan on 4 to 6 hours depending on the thickness of the salmon. Once it
is done I turn off the smoker and leave it there until everything cools off
(usually I finish it late in the evening and I wait to take it off until
morning).
My smoker has a pan to hold water that goes above the heating element to add
steam to the inside of the smoker. I usually add a gallon or so of water and
poor a beer into the water. The water is important but the beer is more of a
superstition than anything else.
The same recipe works on trout as well except you use the whole fish instead of
filleting it.