Himalayan salt block
Encyclopedia
Himalayan salt blocks are slabs of salt carved from quarries of rock salt
in Pakistan's Khewra Salt Mines
. They come in the form of blocks, bowls, and plates and may be used to serve, cook, and cure food. This method of putting food on salt instead of salt on food yields an even distribution of salt over the food.
temperatures (~600°F), otherwise the moisture released by the food will not evaporate off and will make the food very salty.
a food removes the water inherent in it, thereby also removing the conditions hospitable to the growth of harmful bacteria. This renders some raw foods edible and also enables some foods to be stored for longer periods of time. One can make gravlax
, for instance, by placing a salmon filet between two Himalayan salt blocks and leaving it to refrigerate overnight. Serving sashimi on a salt block also visibly cures the fish, giving it a slight pale tinge.
Halite
Halite , commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral form of sodium chloride . Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on the amount and type of impurities...
in Pakistan's Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
. They come in the form of blocks, bowls, and plates and may be used to serve, cook, and cure food. This method of putting food on salt instead of salt on food yields an even distribution of salt over the food.
Serving
Salt is a water soluble mineral. Because of this, moist foods placed on a salt block pick up salt. The longer the food is on the block and the more water it contains, the more salt it will pick up. Fruits and vegetables, moist cheeses, and unsalted butter, for example, contain enough water to become salted on a block, whereas bread and chocolate do not. Salt blocks or bowls can also be frozen to create a frozen custard from scratch or to curtail the melting of ice cream when serving.Cooking
Salt also retains heat well. Some purveyors of salt blocks recommend heating them slowly on the stove or grill so as to temper the block. The block may then be used to sear food like seafood, vegetables, duck breast, and thin cuts of steak. Whole steaks typically take too long to cook and become over-salted. Because salt is not fat soluble, oiling a salt block or cooking a fattier food on it decreases the amount of salt the food will pick up. After being heated, Himalayan salt blocks tend to cloud over and lose their translucency. It is key to bring the block to searingSearing
Searing is a technique used in grilling, baking, braising, roasting, sautéing, etc., in which the surface of the food is cooked at high temperature so a caramelized crust forms. Similar techniques, browning and blackening, are typically used to sear all sides of a particular piece of meat, fish,...
temperatures (~600°F), otherwise the moisture released by the food will not evaporate off and will make the food very salty.
Curing
Dry curingCuring (food preservation)
Curing refers to various food preservation and flavoring processes, especially of meat or fish, by the addition of a combination of salt, nitrates, nitrite or sugar. Many curing processes also involve smoking, the process of flavoring, or cooking...
a food removes the water inherent in it, thereby also removing the conditions hospitable to the growth of harmful bacteria. This renders some raw foods edible and also enables some foods to be stored for longer periods of time. One can make gravlax
Gravlax
Gravlax or gravad lax , gravet laks , gravlaks , graavilohi , graavilõhe , graflax is a Nordic dish consisting of raw salmon, cured in salt, sugar, and dill...
, for instance, by placing a salmon filet between two Himalayan salt blocks and leaving it to refrigerate overnight. Serving sashimi on a salt block also visibly cures the fish, giving it a slight pale tinge.