If you want to get a little smoke flavor into your fresh salmon before grilling or sauteing, you can do it with Lapsang Souchong tea.  Lapsang Souchong is a black tea from China’s Fijian province that is dried over burning pine.  No kidding, this stuff is so strong that your entire cupboard will smell like a BBQ pit if you don’t store it in an airtight container.  I hate drinking it, but employ it as a vehicle for imparting smoke flavor to various proteins all the time.

You can do this two ways:  make a strong tea and then brush it on, or use the whole, dried, leaves, which is what I do.

tea-cured salmon side

For a side of salmon, just lay it out and sprinkle a handful of the dried tea on the flesh, along with some Kosher salt.  Then roll it up, thin end first, and wrap tightly in plastic.  Toss in a plastic bag or put on a plate and store in fridge for a couple of hours.  Note that the longer you leave it, the stronger the smoked flavor will be.  My advice is to start with a two-hour “cure” first (or one hour, if the fillet is thin) and see how you like it.  Unroll and remove the tea and excess salt.  Prepare as you like, but it’s best grilled outdoors or on a grill pan indoors.

Quick-cured tea salon in a bag