Hot smoked salmon with mango and pineapple mojo

This is a fantastic way of smoking fish on a charcoal barbecue, using soaked hickory wood chips. Mojo, a spicy but not hot sauce popular in Cuba, is perfect to cut the richness of the hot smoked salmon.

Place the salmon fillets, skin-side down, on a platter. Sprinkle the flesh lightly with salt. Cover and leave in a cool place for about 30 minutes.

Make the mojo by putting the mango, pineapple slices, onion and chili in a bowl. Add the chili sauce, lime rind and juice, and the herb leaves. Stir to mix well. Cover tightly and leave in a cool place until needed.

Prepare the barbecue. Pat the salmon fillets with kitchen paper, and then brush each one with a little oil. Once the flames have died down, position a lightly oiled grill rack over the coals to heat. When the coals are medium-hot, and with a moderate coating of ash, add the salmon fillets, placing them on the rack skin-side down. Cover the barbecue with a lid or tented heavy-duty foil and cook the fish for about 3 minutes.

Drain the hickory chips into a colander and sprinkle about a third of them as evenly as possible over the coals. Carefully drop them through the grill racks, taking care not to scatter the ash as you do so.

Replace the barbecue cover and continue cooking for a further 8 minutes, adding a small handful of hickory chips twice more during this time. Serve the salmon hot or cold, with the mojo.

Serves 6
6 salmon fillets, about 17Sg/6oz each, with skin
15ml/1 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt and ground black pepper
2 handfuls hickory wood chips, soaked in cold water for at least 30 minutes
For the mojo
1 ripe mango, diced
4 drained canned pineapple slices, diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 fresh long mild red chili, seeded and finely chopped
15ml/1 tbsp good quality sweet chili sauce
Grated rind and juice of 1 lime
Leaves from 1 small lemon basil plant or 45ml/3 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro)leaves, chopped