A recipe for sweet kokanee candy bites, a great meal, snack, or appetizer. This recipe also works with most other salmon and trout. This recipe is perfect for small “scrap” pieces that come off of your fillet, collars, or you can always slice up a fillet.

Jump to Recipe

What is Kokanee Candy?

Kokanee candy is a sweet preserved type of smoked salmon. Because its so sweet and so delicious, and can be enjoyed at room temperature, its as good as or better than candy. Our salmon candy recipe is a maple flavored, with maple syrup in the brine, and is glazed with maple syrup. People also use molasses, honey, or brown sugar to add sweetness and a different flavor. The salmon is marinaded in the sweet mixture, allowing the salt and sugars to penetrate deeply into the flesh. The sweetness pairs really well with the kokanee, and makes for an awesome dish.

Difference Between Kokanee Candy and Smoked Salmon

Kokanee Candy is a type of smoked salmon, but there are all sorts of variations on smoked salmon. Some are hot smoked, some are cold smoked. There are also a variety of recipes and flavors that you can do when smoking salmon. Kokanee candy, or salmon candy, is pretty much just a dried, jerky type sweet salmon traditionally. Various cultures have been making variations of this recipe for centuries.

Adding Pepper

This is completely optional. It adds another flavor level, but some people just want sweet. That’s just fine. If you like the pepper flavor its a great addition. I also strongly recommend, if you don’t have one already, get yourself a pepper grinder, and do medium to course ground pepper on you kokanee candy. It’s a game changer. If you like the flavor of black pepper, and you’re just using it from a shaker or one of those metal tins, stop it. You get better freshness, texture, and flavor if you grind it yourself.

COLE & MASON Derwent Pepper Grinder

Check Price on Amazon

Kokanee Candy

Smoked sweet kokanee salmon

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 4

Total Time 12

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Equipment

Smoker
We recommend a fruitwood like apple or cherry

Ingredients

1-2 Lbs Salmon
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1 tbsp Liquid Smoke
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Cup Apple Juice
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
3/4 Cup Maple Syrup separated
2 Cups Cold Water
Black Pepper Optional, to taste

Instructions

Create your brine by mixing brown sugar, salt, liquid smoke, garlic powder, apple juice, orange juice, water, and 1/2 cup of maple syrup (reserve 1/4 cup of maple syrup for later). Mix well
Cut your salmon to the desired size. I like 3 inch strips for kokanee, and 1 inch strips for thicker salmon. Removing the skin is optional at this point. I prefer leaving the skin on and removing it when I'm eating it, especially with a smaller salmon, like kokanee.
Add your salmon to the brine. Make sure the salmon is fully submerged in the brine. *NOTE: vacuum sealing your salmon in with your brine allows you to brine more salmon with the same amount of brine.
Refrigerate the salmon in the brine for 8-12 hours, or overnight.
Remove salmon from the brine. Rinse the salmon. If you like it salty, you don't have to rinse the salmon.
Place the salmon on racks to air dry for 2 hours in a refrigerator
Smoke on low, 145-180, or the smoke setting on your pellet smoker, for 2.5-4 hours, depending on thickness of your salmon, or until it is firm to the touch, and does not release liquid.
While smoking the salmon, every hour brush the salmon with the remaining maple syrup. Pepper the salmon to taste after the last time you brush on syrup.
Enjoy your kokanee candy hot or cold

Keyword kokanee candy, kokanee recipe, salmon, salmon candy

Kokanee Candy Recipe

A recipe for sweet kokanee candy bites, a great meal, snack, or appetizer. This recipe also works with most other salmon and trout. This recipe is perfect for small “scrap” pieces that come off of your fillet, collars, or you can always slice up a fillet. What is Kokanee Candy? Kokanee candy is a sweet…
Best Kokanee Downrigger Rods

This article looks at the best rods for targeting kokanee while fishing with a downrigger. There are a number of different variables to consider, such as if you’re fishing from a big boat or a kayak, length, durability, cost, and just downright effectiveness. This guide should help you determine what to look for, along with…
Kokanee Salmon Snagging in New Mexico: Your Ultimate Guide

If you’re an angler looking for an exciting adventure this fall and winter, New Mexico has something special in store for you—kokanee snagging! This thrilling fishing season runs from October 1st to December 31st and offers the chance to catch kokanee salmon in some of the state’s most picturesque waters. In this blog post, we’ll…
Best Downrigger Release Clips for Kokanee

People have asked me about downrigger release clips for their kokanee fishing usually after having a day or a week of dragging kokanee around a lake without having any fish pull the line out of the clip. Kokanee are a different beast. This article looks at why people have these challenges, and the best clips…