Eating fish has a positive effect on the human body, so it should be eaten quite often. Since it is far from always possible to purchase a fresh carcass or eat it immediately after purchase, dried, smoked and canned products have become very popular. You can buy this option in the store, it's quick and easy, but in this case there is no exact confidence in the quality of the product and how long it is there. To protect yourself and eat fresh food for sure, you should cook the fish yourself. To do this, you need to know how to dry the fish on your own.
Selection and salting
In order to get tasty products after drying, it is important to be able to choose the right type of fish, which in the process will acquire the necessary qualities. It is important to take the carcass, the meat of which can acquire the desired texture, aroma and taste. Best of all, small fish are dried, which are usually not in demand on an industrial scale - these are roach, ram, silver bream and the like. If there is a desire to dry larger fish, then you can use bream, pike perch and catfish.
In order for the drying to be successful and the product to have good taste, it is important to start the process immediately after catching the fish, without leaving it for storage because it can acquire a specific smell. If the catch turned out to be too large and it was not possible to capitalize it at a time, you can put the fish in the freezer and leave it until the previous stocks are eaten. In order for the product to be tasty during drying, it must have enough fat, therefore medium and high-fat fish in this case is best suited.
Before drying the catch, it must be properly prepared. In this case, there are two differing points of view - some believe that the fish should be washed well, the mucus removed and only then cut, while others say that these measures negatively affect the taste and simply wipe the fish with a rag. It is important not to touch the scales, they must remain in place throughout the drying process. Too small individuals do not even need to be cleaned of the insides, because they, together with the fat of the peritoneum, help to achieve a more intense taste.
If the fish is herbivorous and the drying procedure is carried out in the summer, then the insides should be removed, otherwise the flesh will taste bitter. If a larger fish is dried, then the procedure for preparing it is different: it is necessary to take out the insides, but without opening the stomach, so as not to touch the fat. To gut such a carcass, you need to cut it in the region of the dorsal fin and carefully remove all the contents. At the end of the process, it is not necessary to rinse the fish and its parts with water.
Once the fish is prepared, you can proceed directly to the drying process. There is a certain algorithm of actions, which includes several stages.
- salting, which is produced in a container that is suitable in size. The fish must be covered with salt and pour the saline solution on top. You need to keep it in salt in a cold place until it is salted.
- Followed by rinse the carcass well and soak it. It is important to use cold fresh water for this. The time frame will depend on how long the fish has been salted.
- The next step is the process itself. drying. It can be carried out in a natural environment or use additional devices.
If you do everything right, then you can expect that the dried fish will turn out tasty and fragrant.
Drying methods
In order to dry fish, you can use two main options for this process.
- Natural drying. It requires the presence of clean air in open space or in a room with good ventilation.
- artificial drying. It implies the use of one or another inventory that helps maintain the temperature necessary for the process.
Usually at home, the natural option is most often used. To achieve the best result, it is important to observe all the subtleties of this process.
- The fish, which has been washed and soaked, must be strung on a fishing line, for which they usually pierce the head at the location of the eyes. You can use paper clips and cling fish to the lip. For large fish, make a toothpick spacer in the middle of the carcass so that it dries evenly. Very small fish can be dried on a mesh that is stretched over a rigid frame.
- In summer, the bundles should be placed in a place or room where there is constant access to fresh air and the fish will be ventilated. You can’t leave it in the sun, because it can deteriorate and fat will drain from it.
- In spring and autumn, the best place for drying will be a canopy where the sun does not fall, but the fish is constantly in the wind. In winter, it is convenient to carry out the procedure on a glazed balcony, in the attic or even just in the kitchen.
- For natural drying, the air temperature should be between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius.
- When hanging the carcasses, it is worth hanging them so that they are at a small distance from each other, without touching.
- When choosing a place to store the catch, you should make sure that there are no items with a strong smell nearby, otherwise the fish will absorb their aroma.
- If it is a hot day, you should not plan to dry the fish, because such carcasses can be bitter.
The time to readiness will depend on the size of the fish and the time of year when the procedure is performed.
- In spring and summer under optimal weather conditions, you can get the finished result after a week, and in the case of very small fish - after two days.
- in winter when it is cold outside, for full drying it is necessary to wait from one to one and a half months, during which time the moisture inside will freeze out. In the case of drying in the apartment, the terms are reduced to 1-2 weeks.
To make dried fish tasty, it is important to know what exactly to do with different drying options.
In an electric dryer
To dry fish in a vegetable dryer, it is important to choose a device in which you can turn off the heat in order to cook the carcass at a temperature not exceeding 30 degrees. Due to the presence of a fan in the device, a constant air flow will be provided, which will make it possible to quickly dry the catch. In this case, the finished product will be received after a few days. But there is only one minus - the room where the process will take place will be saturated with the smell of fish.
During the use of the electric dryer, it is also important to monitor the condition of the carcasses by constantly checking them. To understand if the product is ready, you need:
- evaluate the appearance and structure of the fish - it should have a shine from fat, be dense, but elastic;
- inspect the skin, which should remain tight so that it can be easily removed;
- check the scales, on which salt crystals should not be visible.
You can eat dried fish from an electric dryer immediately after cooking, but to achieve a more pleasant taste, it is better to put the carcasses in parchment paper and leave in the cold for a couple of weeks.
In the oven
Another option for drying fish at home involves the use of an oven, with which you can also quickly get the desired product. For cooking, it is necessary to evenly place the carcasses on the oven grate, and put a sheet of foil under them. The required temperature for cooking is 80 degrees, otherwise the fish will be baked. As with other drying methods, there must also be oxygen access, for which the door needs to be slightly opened.
After two hours of cooking, fish heads are covered with foil, and everything is sent back to the oven for 4-5 hours. When everything is ready, each carcass must be hung and dried for a few more days, after which they can be eaten.
On the balcony
Another option for drying fish in an apartment in winter involves placing it on a balcony or loggia. It must be hung at a distance, under it place any container where the liquid will drain. The best option would be a balcony with ventilation, where you can update the flow of fresh air using a special device. If not, then you need to keep the window sash ajar. It is best if there is a slight draft in this small room, which will allow the fish to dry faster.
It is best to place the carcasses along the wall or across the balcony or loggia. Usually, under such conditions, the fish is cooked for several weeks, but the final dates will depend on the temperature indicators of the room and the environment, which means that they can either increase or decrease.
How to clean?
In order to clean dried fish, you can use a knife or just do it with your hands. To make it better cleaned, it is better to knead it in different directions, paying special attention to the belly and tail areas. Such actions will help to more easily separate the skin from the meat. When the preparation is over, you need to tear off her head, she is not eaten.
The next movement will need to tear out the dorsal fin, which will allow the fish to be divided into two parts in the back area. With the help of your fingers, you can enlarge the opening that was formed in the place where the fin was missing, doing this towards the head. After that, you can remove the skin from the back to the abdomen, doing this with your thumb. It is convenient to hold the fish with the tail towards you and the head to the other side.
In the case of peeling from the back to the abdomen, it is necessary to work on both sides of the fish at once. If it is more convenient to clean in turn on each side, then it is better to do this from head to tail. As soon as the back and ribs are cleaned, you need to firmly grasp the abdomen and pull off the rest of the skin from the fish. Thus, you can get a high-quality cleaned fish, which will be located in one hand, and the skin with the insides in the other. The advantage of this cleaning option is that if there is caviar, it remains inside the fish without causing problems with its extraction from the inedible part.
The cleaning procedure at first will seem rather complicated and time-consuming, but after 3-4 cleaned carcasses, the process will be established and there will be no problems.
To properly dry fish at home, you need to know the important rules and certain nuances, without which it will be difficult to achieve the desired result.
- Carrying out the salting procedure, it is worth placing large fish on the bottom of the tank, and smaller ones on top, so that all carcasses are evenly salted.
- When preparing fish for drying, it is also worth paying attention to its size, choosing the same size.
- For full and faster drying of large individuals, it is necessary to open their abdomen, which is convenient to do with toothpicks.
- If during the drying process the result is not formed, you can try again by washing the fish in saline.
- Vinegar or sunflower oil can be used to protect carcasses from insects in the summer. A good option would be to wrap the fish with gauze so that flies do not land on them.
- It is better to hang the fish in the evening on the day of the catch, because by the morning it will no longer be so fresh, it will acquire a strong aroma, which will increase the attraction of flies and wasps to it.
- In order to preserve dried fish for a long time, it can be wrapped in parchment or put in an airtight jar. Properties and taste will remain the same.
You can dry fish at any time of the year. For a warm season, you can use open space for this, in the cold season - an apartment. In summer there is a certain danger in the form of insects that can lay eggs on the product. The simplest protection in this case is the grid. If vinegar is used, it should be diluted in a low concentration so that it does not affect the taste of the product. You can dry the fish indoors, and then hang it outside, which will reduce the interest of insects in it.
Since the drying process may vary by season, fish type and size, there are many nuances of the process.
- In the process of soaking carcasses that have undergone the brining process, it is important to change the water several times to keep it clean.
- Its taste and softness depend on the position of the fish during drying. To make the carcass softer, it is necessary to hang it not with the tail, but with the head up. So there is no leakage of fat from it.
- Drying fish is a long process, but for those who do not want to wait, you can use devices like electric dryers that bring the catch to readiness in just eight hours.
- In those regions where frost is fierce for most of the year, it is difficult to dry the fish in the traditional way, because here it is frozen for about a month. After that, the catch can be stored for quite a long time, and the carcasses are very tasty.
- The middle of summer is considered the least successful time for drying fish, as the air temperature is too high, the catch simply goes rotten or becomes bitter.
- One of the options for salting, which has come down to us since ancient times, requires laying fish in wooden barrels. From them, the carcasses received an incomparable aroma, which is now considered a sign of a high class of cooking.
- It is very important not to place the fish in the sun. On open rays, fat is quickly rendered, from which the meat loses its softness and tenderness, and the dried product turns out to be dry and lean.
- There is a recipe for cooking fish in the oven, in which the carcasses are stacked in clay pots and placed in a preheated, but already turned off oven. Thus, the catch languishes and turns out to be very tasty, juicy and well-salted.
- In addition to the cooking process itself, it is important to be able to properly store the resulting product. If this is not done, then the product acquires an unpleasant odor, and mucus or mold may appear on its surface. This will indicate that this fish can not be eaten.
- It is traditionally believed that small fish are easier to pickle and dry, but with a large one you can get much more tasty meat. The choice is up to the person who prepares the product.
The process of drying fish is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance, the main thing is to know exactly the main points and take into account those subtleties that have a significant impact on the final result. Fishing enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor for a long time if they follow all the above recommendations.
For information on how to properly dry fish at home, see the video below.
Imagine you came to a friend's house to watch football, he took out a beer and a ram, you tried it and you liked it so much that you ask him for a recipe, but he does not give it. Do you want to repeat this taste and are looking for an answer to the question of how to dry fish at home? If you stumbled upon this article, consider yourself lucky and by reading it, you will be able to impress your friend with the taste of your ram.
Preparing fish for the salting process
The most suitable for drying is fish that has an average fat content, for example, carp, ram, roach, the weight of which should be up to 1 kg. If you are using a larger fish, make small cuts along the backbone from the tail to the head - this will allow the fish to dry out faster.
Important! During salting, fish scales are not removed.
Therefore, as soon as you thoroughly clean and rinse the fish, you can proceed directly to the salting process.
Soaking and salting
After cleaning, the fish must be salted. Salt's main job is to draw out all the excess moisture, so it's best if you use coarse-grained salt because it dissolves much more slowly.
The procedure for salting fish at home:
- Put the fish in layers in a saucepan or a large bowl, while sprinkling it with salt. You can also add a small amount of spices and bay leaves, of course, if you like spices. Sprinkle the final layer with salt so that it is not visible under the salt layer.
- Put oppression, a jar of water or a heavy stone on top of the container, and then leave it for several days.
- For the best effect, put the fish in a cool place, so you prevent it from spoiling prematurely.
Important! Carefully salted fish should creak a little when you pull the head and tail, the carcass meat should acquire a dark gray hue, and the dorsal part should be elastic.
- When the fish is thoroughly salted, do not spare the water, rinse it to remove all the remnants of salt and spices. The best way is soaking. To do this, put all the carcasses in a clean saucepan and fill with a sufficiently large amount of clean cool water.
Important! As a rule, the fish is soaked for as many days as it was salted. Some craftsmen resort to another method - soak until the fish begins to float to the surface.
- After soaking, thoroughly wipe the fish with a towel or napkins.
- Then hang to dry.
Important! In order to avoid the appearance of maggots, you can treat the carcass with ordinary 3% vinegar or dip it in unrefined vegetable oil.
How to dry fish properly?
It is necessary to dry the fish in a sunny, dry and well-ventilated place:
- As a rule, the fish is hung on hooks or strung on twine.
- They cling to her by the eye or lower lip. Hooks can be made from wire or paper clips.
- Cover the top of the fish with gauze or similar material, such as old clean tulle.
Important! If you dry fish often enough, you can get a special box, which is made of wood or plastic and covered with gauze.
Residents of city apartments are advised to hang ropes along with fish over their gas stove. But the minimum height from the burner must be 80-90 centimeters.
Important! Near the stove, the fish should dry for several days, but in the air for about a week. Size also matters - larger carcasses will take longer to dry.
How to store and use?
It is necessary to store dried fish in the refrigerator, and do not forget to carefully wrap it with cling film or parchment paper, otherwise it will become damp.
How to use it? - Yes, as your heart desires, the main thing is a good mood, as well as sincere company.
Important! Dried fish of a small size can also be crushed in a mortar, as a result of which you will get flour suitable for making second courses.
Dried or dried - what's the difference?
The fish is dried during drying of the pre-salted carcass. This is a familiar, ready-to-use product. Most people call it dried and dried. Therefore, if they ask the question: “How to dry fish properly?”, People, as a rule, mean how to properly dry it.
Dried fish is obtained from both unsalted (fresh-dried) and slightly salted carcasses. Dried fish is already considered a semi-finished product that requires further cooking.
Important! It is usually dried in the northern regions, harvested in reserve, in order to be used in the winter. Dried carcasses can be stored for a long time, and at the same time they do not lose their nutritional qualities.
Salt with brine
This method is also great for the home, because it allows you to get evenly salted fish in a fairly short period of time.
To do this, you must do this:
- Prepare a somewhat supersaturated saline solution, that is, brine. To do this, dissolve the salt in ordinary water, gradually increasing the concentration of salt. The solution is considered ready when a piece of potato or a raw egg will not sink in it. It will take approximately 1 liter of this brine for approximately 2 kg of fish.
- Sprinkle a thin layer of salt on the bottom of a large container. Place the carcasses in the prepared container.
- Fill with brine so that it completely covers all the carcasses.
- Cover with a plate or a lid, put oppression on top.
- Place the container in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days - this depends on the size of the carcass that you salt.
- After the required time has passed, remove the carcasses from the brine, and then soak in clean water for 25-30 minutes, changing the water every 10 minutes.
- Once you've finished soaking, let the water drain.
- Hang the carcasses in exactly the same way as with the dry salting method.
How long does it take to dry?
The time for drying fish at home until fully cooked depends directly on the size of the carcass, as well as the conditions:
- On average, this process takes 4-6 days.
- If you dry it on the street, it will be blown by the wind, as a result, it will dry faster, but at home it will take longer.
- In winter, in a cool room, this period increases. That is why, after 4-5 days, try the fish for the degree of its readiness. If it is slightly damp on the back, leave it to dry for about 1-2 more days.
- In more northern regions, carcasses are taken out into the street and frozen for a month and a half.
Important! It is quite quick and easy to dry fish at home inside an electric dryer. Forced ventilation, as well as elevated temperature, accelerate the entire dehydration process of the semi-finished product. In an ordinary electric dryer, at a temperature of approximately + 55 ° C, it takes only 5-7 hours to dry until fully prepared.
We wash the fish with cold running water. It is not necessary to gut the fish before salting. At the bottom of a wooden box (or an enameled pan) we pour a layer of salt about 0.5 cm. We put one layer of fish on it, we fill it with salt with a layer of 0.5 cm on top. After that we put the second layer of fish and again we fill it with salt, etc.
Salting fish at home
When all the fish is completely laid down, we fill in the last layer of salt and put a load on the fish. You can use a smaller lid or a plate and a 3 liter jar of water (as a weight). After that, the fish should be salted in a cool place, if possible in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. After the expiration of this time, we take out the fish from the brine and rinse it with running water from salt and put it back in a clean pan. Fill the fish with fresh water so that excess salt comes out of it. We leave salted fish in clean water for 1 hour.
Then we take the fish out of the water and lay it on a paper towel so that it dries a little. After that, we hang each fish (by the eyes or by the hook by the lip) to dry. Leave the fish to dry (dry) for 5 - 10 days. The duration of drying (drying) of fish depends on the ambient temperature and the size of the fish.
SEVERAL WAYS TO SALT FISH.
A lot has been written about salting fish.
But everyone is striving for one thing: how would it be tastier to do it so that the fish does not lose
its palatability, was transparent, oily and hard.
It should be noted that salting fish is considered a national delicacy, such as cabbage soup or porridge.
First you need to decide for what purpose you salt the fish.
If you want to eat it immediately after cooking, spicy salting is more suitable;
if you want to stock up on it in dried form, salt it like “vobla”.
If you intend to store the fish for a long time, it is better to cook it like salmon, etc.
The traditional and easiest way to preserve fish is salting it.
When salted, the fish can be stored for a very long time.
If the fish is being prepared for drying, it is not cleaned or gutted before salting,
just wash well.
True, you can also dry balyk, but this already requires professional training.
Coarse salt is used for salting. Its main purpose is to
remove moisture from the fish, and not to give it taste or provide
preservative effect. Coarse salt dissolves at low temperature
slowly and she needs moisture, which she just pulls out of the fish.
With fine salt, this effect does not work, it seems to “burn” the meat of the fish,
quickly salts out, but does not dehydrate it.
The fish is salted in different ways, depending on the size of the carcass, salting time
its desired duration of storage and its further use.
So.
1. DRY AMBASSADOR
In the picture: 1 - box, 2 - canvas, 3 - lid, 4 - fish.
Spread a clean canvas or burlap on the bottom of a basket or wooden box. Prepared fish is laid on it in dense rows, head to tail,
belly up and sprinkle with salt.
The total consumption of salt is 1.5 kilograms per 10 kilograms of fish.
A lid made of wood is placed on top of the fish and a heavy oppression (stone) is placed on it.
It is absolutely necessary, as it prevents the formation of air cavities,
in which putrefactive bacteria can develop, and, in addition, makes fish meat
denser.
After a while, juice is released from the fish, it flows out through the cracks between
basket rods or drawer boards. On the 5th - 10th day, the fish is salted.
All this time it should be in a cool place (refrigerator, cellar).
In this way, fish is salted mainly in summer in hot weather.
2. SALTING IN BRINE OR WET AMBASSADOR
The fish is laid in layers in a non-oxidizing dish (bucket, pan, tank, barrel) also with the belly up and sprinkled with salt at the rate of 1 kilogram per 10 kilograms of fish.
To give the fish a special, delicate taste, a tablespoon of granulated sugar is added to the salt.
A circle is placed on the fish, knocked down from boards or sawn from a single piece of wood,
better from linden or aspen (a circle of wood of these species does not emit resin or
tannins and does not deform in brine).
Depending on the cookware, any suitable lid can be used, for example:
from a pan or a flat plate, the main thing is that it enters the container freely
and covered all the fish. And pressed down by oppression (load).
After a day or two, the resulting brine (brine) covers all the fish.
At first, you need to make sure that the excess brine does not overflow over the edges of the dish.
The fish is kept in salt until the abundant juice runs out - excretion.
Usually the fish is salted for 3-10 days, depending on the size of the carcasses.
and will be ready for use.
With this type of salting, fish can be kept in containers for up to several months in
cool place.
Before use, the carcasses are washed with water, it is advisable to soak for
days and is eaten as a "herring" or dried: air dry
then put into a wooden box or storage basket.
Practice shows that fish does not absorb excess salt.
After use, the brine is usually discarded.
But if the brine is light, then it can be reused for salting "strengthening"
an additional amount of salt.
So, for example, in the old days they took care of salt, and merchants, having sold fish, for example, in
Rybne (Rybinsk), barges with brine were floated down the Volga back to Astrakhan.
Here it was "strengthened" with salt and reused.
You can also cook fresh brine by dissolving a kilogram of salt in three liters of water.
The resulting solution is poured into the fish placed in the container.
This method is also called wet and is used when salting small fish.
It keeps well in a cool place.
3. SPICE AMBASSADOR
The fish is salted as in salting in brine, only with the addition of spices.
Bay leaf, black peppercorns (can be fragrant), you can add
horseradish leaf, coriander grains or ground. Also add some sugar
sand to taste. All this fits between the layers of fish.
After a few days, the fish is ready to eat.
If the fish seems a little damp to someone, you can still dry it, although,
for example, with herring or red fish, you are unlikely to do this.
After spicy salting, the fish acquires a reddish-pink color and a pleasant
fresh scent. You can pickle not only sea and river fish weighing from 200
grams to 1 kilogram. Use it as a cold appetizer.
Such fish with hot potatoes is especially good, and with beer.
It is stored for a very long time in a cold room, in the refrigerator, in the freezer.
4. HANGING AMBASSADOR
For fatty fish, a hanging salt is used. (see pic)
The fish are hung on transverse rods in saline so that the carcasses do not press against each other.
The density of the solution is determined using a raw potato: it should not sink.
After 5-7 days the fish can be eaten.
5. SEMUNY AMBASSADOR OF FRESH FISH
Red fish, mackerel, herring, whitefish are suitable for this method.
Sprinkle the flattened fish with salt inside and in the section on the back, adding to the salt
a teaspoon of sugar, put pepper, bay leaf inside.
Wrap the fish in a clean cloth and refrigerate.
After a day you can eat. (details on the next page)
6. DRYING FISH
For drying use medium and small salted fish.
It must first be soaked in cold water for one to two hours,
and then hang in the shade in the wind, preferably head down.
In this position, moisture flows out through the mouth, and the fish dries faster and more evenly.
On a wooden board, they pierce the fish near the tail with a knife and, using a large straightened paper clip or special hooks made of stainless wire, hang them on a string. If flies have already appeared, then to protect against them, a gauze canopy with a neck is needed, which must be tied after hanging.
Drying lasts from four to ten days. Ready fish is stored in a basket or
bag, in a cool place, protected from sunlight.
7. BALYKOV AMBASSADOR
A. Large fish weighing from 1 kg is suitable for this method.
To salt the fish must be prepared as follows.
Rinse off all the mucus in cold water, carefully open the belly, gut.
Cut off the head just behind the gills, then the tail to the very base, but so,
so as not to harm the fish.
Cut off the tesha with scissors (the lower part of the abdomen to the ribs) - it must be salted separately,
otherwise it may oversalt. Dry the carcass with a clean towel.
If the fish weighs more than 2 kg, then be sure to cut it along the spine,
without cutting the skin on the back.
Pickling mixture: 10 tbsp. spoons of salt, 4 tbsp. spoons of sugar, ground cinnamon
tip of a knife and the same amount of coriander and pepper.
Mix the spices well and rub the mixture thoroughly under the scales, sprinkle generously
the abdomen from the inside, and if the fish is layered, then between the layers.
Wrap each carcass separately in gauze, canvas, cloth, tightly bandage it along
the entire length with twine or thick fishing line and, putting the fish on the tray at the very bottom
refrigerator, leave for 7-10 days.
Drain the brine as it appears.
At the end of the salting, free the fish from the tissue, rinse it with cold water and
wipe dry immediately. Such fish can be stored in the refrigerator for a very long time,
if it is periodically wiped with vegetable oil.
It is better to serve fish to the table by cutting into thin wide plates, as they are cut
sturgeon balyk.
B. BALYK, backs, teshi and bokovnik of valuable commercial fish, processed by salting, then dried or cold smoked.
Delicious product with high taste qualities.
For the preparation of balyk, large fleshy fatty fish are used.
Especially tasty balyk is obtained from sturgeon, salmon, herring fish, as well as
from oceanic - notothenia, sea bass, halibut, catfish, etc.
Balyk contains up to 45–55% moisture, 10–20% fat, and up to 20% protein.
Balyk is used in the form of cold appetizers, for sandwiches.
At home, balyk can be stored in the refrigerator uncut piece
no more than 7 days, and in slices - no more than 1-3 days.
8. PICKLE FISH
Marinated fish in vinegar brine, usually with the addition of sugar and spices.
This is an old way of cooking herring and herring.
Other types of fish, such as perch and roach, are also tasty in marinated form.
For pickling, both fresh and frozen or salted fish are suitable.
The possibility of fairly long storage of marinated fish is based on
the action of vinegar and salt, slowing down and preventing the development of bacteria.
But since the content of acetic acid and salt cannot be increased without
loss of taste of pickled fish, then it cannot be fully
considered canned.
You can store pickled fish for only a few months and be sure to
cold place.
DIFFERENT WAYS OF MARINING
The fish is placed raw in the marinade.
Boiled marinated fish.
The fish is boiled until tender in water with the addition of vinegar, salt and spices.
Then it is placed in jelly seasoned with vinegar.
Fried marinated fish.
The fish is fried in vegetable oil and placed in a chilled marinade.
Cold marinated fish
Preparing fish for marinating.
Fish is marinated only gutted or cut into fillets.
The fish must be fresh, it must be processed in compliance with the rules of hygiene.
Marinade. Wine vinegar (10 percent) 500 g, coarse salt 100 g, sugar 200 g,
onion 60 g, dill 1 g, allspice 3 g, bay leaf 1 g,
mustard seed 1.5 g, water.
Cooking method. Salt is dissolved in boiling water.
Add sugar and cool the water. Pour vinegar and add water so much
to get 1 liter of marinade. Then spices are dipped into the solution and stirred.
Cooking fish in a marinade.
Weigh the fish and put it in a dish intended for marinating.
The fish is poured with the prepared marinade. The amount of marinade by weight should
equal to the weight of the fish. The fish in the marinade is thoroughly mixed daily.
The fish is ready for consumption in 3-5 days at a marinating temperature of 10-12°C.
Processing of marinated fish for storage.
The finished fish is removed from the marinade and shifted into sliced \u200b\u200bin fillets or pieces
in storage containers (glass or plastic jars).
Then the fish is poured with marinade, the jars are tightly closed with lids and transferred to
cool place for storage.
Storage. Marinated fish is stored in a cool place, at 2-10°C.
A good storage place is the refrigerator. The maximum storage period is 3-6 months.
Give preference to medium-sized fish. At home, you should not salt huge pikes as a whole or the smallest roach. Also, very oily fish is not suitable, for drying which will require a lot of salt, as a result of which the product may lose its taste properties.
Large specimens are best sent for frying or dried in cut into separate pieces.
The following representatives of the river world are considered ideal for drying: - vobla; - pilaf; - carp; - ram; - crucian carp; - ruff and others.
Properly preparing fish for drying
First of all, clean and gut the fish well. These processes are very important, since the entrails (intestines or mucus) that are not removed can give the product an unpleasant bitter taste.
The most optimal for drying is fish weighing from 300 grams to 1 kilogram
Experienced fishermen and cooks recommend cutting small fish from the side of the abdomen, as this measure allows you not to overdry or oversalt the fish, and also preserve its taste properties. Large specimens, on the contrary, must be cut from the side of the fleshy back. So the fish is better dried and salted.
Take a large pot or tub and pour a 2-3 cm layer of salt on the bottom of the container, put a layer of fish on it, which is sprinkled with a little salt on top. An important rule in the dosage of the second layer of salt is its uniformity. Salt should not lie in a heap, as in this case the fish may turn out to be salted and unfit for consumption.
Give preference to coarse salt, which will absorb excess moisture in the fish. Fine salt will not be able to provide this process, as a result of which the product will deteriorate or become moldy
Then put a lid on the fish, which is pressed down on top with a heavy press. For this, dumbbells, weights or barbell pancakes located in the house are perfect. Do not be alarmed if after a few hours a cloudy liquid appears in the container. This is a kind of fish pickle, which in the future will be completely absorbed by salt.
Readiness of dried fish is determined by its appearance and texture. It should be dense, firm and dark gray in color from the back.
It is also allowed to add not only salt to the container with fish, but also other spices that add aroma and taste to the product. This is bay leaf, peppercorns or coarse grinding and other fish spices
But the drying process does not end there. Pour a lot of water into the container with a little vinegar (3%) or sunflower oil. Place the fish in it, which, after going through this, in fact, the reverse drying process, will get rid of excess salt and mucus. When the fish floats, take it out of the container and hang it to dry in a well-ventilated area. After 7-8 days the fish is ready.
To protect the product in winter and summer from the penetration of fly larvae and other insects, build a kind of cover or awning made of gauze or mosquito net around the fish at the last stage of drying.
It has become much more expensive than some five or six years ago. Coming to the market or to the store, you catch yourself thinking: “Why don’t I have a beer with dried fish?” And then you go to the counter, look at the price and understand that one fish is not enough, and buying two is already expensive. So you go back home with nothing. But now, thanks to this article, you will learn how to pickle fish for drying or drying.
Primary requirements
Before drying or drying the fish, you need to decide what kind of salting it should be. Now we will talk about how much to salt the fish for drying, and you can make this beauty yourself at home or in the country. If the fish contains ten percent salt, then it is considered lightly salted, from twenty and above - very salty. Brine (the juice that fish secretes, mixed with salt) is periodically drained to prevent bacteria from multiplying and spoiling for drying or drying, it must be fresh and chilled. Only after that you can start gutting. Salting fish for drying is a very responsible matter. You need to gut the insides so that germs do not get on the meat.
Salting small fish
For salting small fish, a barrel or an enamel pan is considered ideal. In order to salt the fish for drying, you need to wash it and rub it with a special mixture of saltpeter and salt. The proportions for such a mixture are 10:1. Saltpeter is an excellent preservative. It prevents the products from spoiling and gives them a beautiful reddish tint. Put layers on the bottom of a barrel or pan: fish - mixture, cover with a lid and put under oppression. Keep the container in a cool place. If you suddenly didn’t have saltpeter, then the recipe for salting fish for drying is a little more complicated. In this case, you will have to gut the fish and remove the gills. Various spices can be added to the salting to taste: currant leaves, blackberries, bay leaves, cloves, black, allspice, cumin and even rosemary. It all depends on your preferences. you can dry it, or you can eat it like that, washing it with water and pouring it with sunflower oil.
Fish processing
In order to properly gut the fish, you need to make a transverse incision between the head and the anus. It is impossible to cut in the opposite direction, since such an incision may damage the internal organs. Pull out the insides, gills, rinse thoroughly. Rinse until there is no blood under the spine.
How to salt fish for drying or wet drying
For drying, they choose not very much up to half a kilogram. In the hot season you need to gut, in the cold - no. You do not need to wash the fish, just wipe it with a dry towel to remove excess moisture. For cooking, be sure to take coarse salt. Any other will not work, since our goal is not to give the fish a taste, but to remove moisture from it. Such fish, salted for drying, will have an excellent smell and taste. The only disadvantage of coarse salt is that it dissolves slowly, but absorbs more moisture.
Then we proceed in this way: in a bucket or basin (if there is neither one nor the other, you can take a saucepan), pour salt, but not very much. The fish should be laid out so that the head of one touches the tail of the other. Salt each layer well. After the fish is finished, you need to pour enough salt on it so that it covers the entire surface. You can add some sugar for taste. Cover with a lid and put under pressure. The heavier the oppression, the tastier the fish will be. It does not allow air to seep into the container and prevents the growth of bacteria. After about 5 hours, the fish releases its juice - brine. It must be kept as cool as possible, even on ice.
How much to salt fish for drying or drying? Salt in this way should be about two or three days. After this time, in well-salted fish, the meat becomes gray. The next step is to prepare for stringing and hanging. Salted fish should be soaked under running water until it starts to float. Hang the fish in the following way: special hooks are threaded through the eye and hung on a rope. The fish needs to dry out after soaking, so it's best to hang them out at night so that the flies don't offend your catch. In the morning, to scare away the flies, the fish are sprayed with a solution of vinegar and water. Drying or drying lasts up to eight days, it all depends on the size of the fish.
Salting fish for drying or dry drying
How to salt fish for drying in a dry way and which fish is more suitable for this? There are answers to these questions. for drying or drying in this way is more suitable for large fish. With wet salting, we did not butcher the fish, we immediately need not only to take out the insides, but also divide the fish into two halves and wipe it with a dry towel. Sprinkle the inside well with salt. For such salting, the fish is laid in layers in a box. It is best to take a wooden one - the juice secreted by the fish will flow through the holes. The box must be placed in the pit. They usually dig it out in the shade and cover it with a film so that insects cannot get to the fish. The ambassador lasts up to a week. This method is also suitable for salting small fish. You can't even gut it.
Here is what you need to do for this:
1) Take a cutting board, put a clean towel on it.
2) We put the fish in a row like “sprats in a jar”.
3) Sprinkle with salt and wrap in a towel.
4) We cover with another board and put oppression.
Juice with this salting flows through the fabric. After the fish has been salted, it is taken out of the towel, washed in cold water, soaked for a short time and hung out. The best drying method is a wooden box prepared in advance with gauze or mesh walls, but you can do this in a simple way. We take a “gypsy” or shoe needle, thread a nylon thread or fishing line through it and string the fish, threading the thread through the eye holes. We put gauze or a mosquito net on top of the rope and dry it for seven to ten days. Large fish are best hung at high altitude on poles.
Dried and dried fish in nature
Many are wondering how to pickle fish for drying in nature. If you went on a picnic with friends for a couple of days and caught fish, you can safely dry it or wither right on the spot. How to salt fish for drying in field conditions? Gutted catch is placed in a bag with salt for a day, and then hung in the fresh air. You can fix the fish with clothespins, hanging them by their tails in the fresh air. The most acceptable weather for this is windy. To protect against insects, the fish is wrapped with gauze and wiped with sunflower oil or a solution of manganese. The optimum temperature for drying or drying is up to twenty degrees. In the natural environment, the fish is dried for up to two weeks. It is better to store dried fish in a cloth bag in a ventilated place, but it should be noted that after drying it should “infuse” for up to a month.
How to marinate fresh fish? Cold pickling
For pickling small fish, it is not necessary to gut it; for large fish, this condition is necessary. There are two types of marinating fish: cold and hot.
1. Prepare the marinade: 200 milliliters of water, 100 grams of salt, 200 grams of sugar. Mix and dissolve in 300 milliliters of boiling water.
2. Cool down.
3. Pour 500 ml of vinegar and boiled water into the brine.
4. Add one gram of bay leaf, one gram of dill, three grams of pepper, preferably allspice, one and a half grams of mustard in grains.
5. Put the dishes with the fish in the refrigerator for five days, first shift the onion rings and pour the marinade (1: 1). The onion is no less tasty than the fish itself.
Hot pickling
1. Cut the fish into pieces, after removing the insides.
2. Sprinkle with fine salt and put in the cold for 30 minutes.
3. For the marinade: boil two liters of water, add four onions and three chopped carrots.
4. After ten minutes of boiling, add two tablespoons of vinegar, pepper, bay leaf, salt, sugar to taste.
5. Pour the marinade over the fish and cook for twenty minutes over low heat.
6. Scald the jars, put the fish there and pour the marinade.
7. Close with a plastic lid.
You can store the fish for up to three days in the refrigerator.
Delicious salty balyk
Who doesn't love fish bacon? It is not only tasty, but also useful. Balyk can be made from fatty fish: sturgeon, salmon, trout and others.
Cooking method:
1. Separate the back from the skin, put it in a saucepan.
2. Sprinkle with salt and saltpeter (400 grams of salt per 5 grams of saltpeter).
3. Put under oppression for three days.
4. Stir the salmon, rubbing it with its own juice, and leave for another three days.
5. Remove, hang in the sun for drying.
6. Smoke or rub with liquid smoke.
Store fish properly
Fish products spoil very quickly, and neighboring products strongly absorb the smell of fish. It is for this reason that fresh fish should be stored in enameled dishes with a lid. You can keep it in this form for only two days. Frozen fish can be stored for up to two weeks. The salty product is kept in the refrigerator at a temperature of up to 12 degrees. Dried and dried are stored in the refrigerator in paper or a rag bag. If you have fish in barrels with brine, then you need to store it in a cold basement. Put the barrel on bricks, and cover the floor with sawdust. Change sawdust in winter often (about once a week), in summer - once every two weeks.
We hope that this article was informative for you, and you will definitely become a professional in marinating, drying and curing fish.
