Salted herring, this simple, tasty and nutritious, truly popularly beloved product, is considered by many to be the most desirable dish at any feast. This fish is served in the form of appetizingly sliced slices, poured together with onion rings with vegetable oil, used as a filling for pancakes, addition to boiled potatoes, as well as one of the components of vinaigrette.
The most popular salted fish dish is a herring under a fur coat. To make the treat made from herring truly delicious, experienced cooks recommend using home-made salted fish. In their opinion, this method is guaranteed to protect guests from the consequences of exploring salted or stale store products of dubious quality. How to salt herring at home? We will try to figure this out in our article.
How to salt herring: basic rules
Experts believe that:
- Salting at home is best done with chilled Atlantic or Pacific herring, as the waters of coastal seas are often contaminated with toxins and hazardous waste.
- You should carefully consider the choice of product: in no case do not buy fish without fins and a head. Often they are cut off by sellers in order to hide signs of damage to the product. For young housewives who want to learn how to salt herring correctly, experts recommend that it is better to purchase a whole fish and cut it yourself.
- Frozen fish should not be thawed in warm water or a microwave. This should happen in a natural way: it is better to put herring on a plate and keep in the refrigerator until it thaws.
- For salting fish, do not use too fine or iodized salt.
What else should be remembered?
Those who want to learn how to salt herring should also familiarize themselves with the following nuances:
- According to experts, it is not necessary to gut the fish before salting, but the gills must be removed.
- For salting fish, enameled or plastic dishes with a tight lid should be used.
- Herring is salted both whole and in slices.
- Bones can be removed as well as left.
- Those wishing to learn how to salt herring so that it becomes as tasty and juicy as possible, experts recommend that the whole carcasses that they have been peeled are kept in water (cold) for about an hour.
- After the fish is kept at room temperature for several hours, it should be sent to the refrigerator. The finished product is recommended to be stored there.
- Dry Ambassador involves the use of a plastic bag or cling film.
- If you want to learn how to salt herring, you should take into account that the most delicious is fish, which is salted whole, not gutted, with all the insides. This herring is salted for about three days. In saline, it can be stored for about a week.
- If you want to save time, fish can be cleaned, cut and salted in pieces. After a few hours, such a fish will be ready. If the herring (whole) for a week is not eaten, it should be removed from the brine, cut and, shifting the pieces into a jar, pour them with oil.
- If for some reason it turns out to be salted, it is soaked in milk (cold) for 2 hours. Extra salt will be taken away by milk, and the fish will again become tasty.
About choosing a fish
In many ways, the taste of dishes depends on how high-quality and fresh products are used for their preparation. For those wishing to figure out how to salt herring at home, experienced housewives recommend buying chilled, medium-sized oily chilled fish with a thick back for salting. The freshness of a herring can be judged by the presence of a silver color on it, convex, not cloudy eyes, tightly pressed to the body of fins and gill covers. If on the skin of the fish there are any tearing or other defects, this may indicate that the carcass is stale, and you should refuse to buy it.
About the most popular salting methods
Salting herring is a simple matter, but it requires considerable patience. There are a huge number of cooking options at home. We offer you to get acquainted with the most popular of them.
Quick way (dry): salting in two hours
Sometimes time is running out, but I really want to try the salt fish, and urgently. This is exactly the case when it is important for the hostess to know how to quickly salt the herring. For those in a hurry, one of the fastest recipes is perfect. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the instructions on how to salt herring in 2 hours. Used products:
- herring (fresh);
- salt;
- sugar.
Cooking
So, how to quickly salt the herring? To begin with, fish must be cleaned and, if there is sufficient time, free from stones. Then prepare a mixture for salting: mix sugar and salt (1: 2). Next, prepare a container in which the fish will be salted, after which the mixture is poured into the bottom with a thick layer. Fish is laid on top of it, sprinkled with a mixture of it and the next one is laid out on top. So the herring is laid out in layers, sprinkled with salt and sugar. A press is installed on top: a bottle of water, a kettlebell, a heavy pan, etc.
Leave herring under oppression at room temperature for two hours, after which it is cleaned of salt, rinsed with water, greased with lemon juice, and served it to the table. For those who prefer a more salty herring, you can leave it under the press longer. The longer the fish will be salted, the more salty it will turn out.
Herring pieces
Often the housewives have the question of how to salt the herring in pieces. A dish prepared according to this recipe is very tasty and aromatic. Ready herring before serving to the table there will be no need to cut. In addition, pieces of fish are better saturated with salt. Use:
- herring;
- onion;
- one table. a spoonful of vegetable oil;
- two to three pinches of salt (to taste);
- half a liter of boiled water.
Cooking
Fish should be washed well, gutted, trimmed tail, head and fins. Then it is washed again, and then cut into slices, which are placed in a pre-washed and prepared jar. Onions are cut into rings and also put in a jar. Next, boil the water, dilute the salt in it to taste and cool the brine.
How to salt herring in a bank? After the liquid has cooled, it is filled with fish in jars, and oil (vegetable) is added on top. Banks are closed and sent to the refrigerator, where the fish should be infused for 24 hours. After this time, the finished delicious dish can be served at the table. Those who are interested in how to salt herring in spicy salting can add sugar, black pepper (a few peas) and bay leaf to boiling water along with salt.
Another recipe: salt the herring in a jar
For salting 8 fish in a 3-liter jar, you will need water (1 l) and salt (100 g). First, the fish is thawed, filled with cold water. Then, tails and fins are cut with scissors. A 3-liter jar holds eight fish (rather large). Load the herring into the jar by twisting it into rings.
It’s easy to prepare the brine. The amount of salt should be 10% of the total weight of water. Pour the solution into a jar under the throat: the fish should completely cover. Next, the jar is closed with a lid (loose), and put in the refrigerator. What is the meaning of salting? The saline solution should displace the blood, which is a protein (perishable), after which the fish will be suitable for eating. After three days, the slightly salted (lightly salted) herring will be ready. A fully salted mature herring will be ready for use in a week.
Salting fish in whole brine (another option)
Having completely salted it in the brine, we will retain most of the taste and create an incredibly appetizing and attractive-looking dish. When asked how to salt whole herring, experienced housewives are happy to share this recipe. Use:
- herring;
- sugar;
- salt;
- black pepper);
- Bay leaf;
- dried cloves;
- water.
Cooking method
So, how to salt herring tasty in brine (whole)? The first step is to prepare the brine: put the pan on the fire, mix all the ingredients (use the same proportions as in the previous recipe) and bring the water to a boil. After the brine boils, they remove it from the heat and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, the fish is washed and cleaned. Gutting is optional, this can be done later. Put the herring in the brine (cooled down), then cover the pan with a lid and set to infuse at room temperature. When determining the time of salting, one should be guided by one's own taste preferences: if salted herring is preferred, then it will be enough to withstand it in solution for 12 hours. The longer the fish is salted, the more salty it will turn out.
How to pickle herring without brine?
To use the dry method of salting at home, you will need:
- Sugar.
- Salt.
- Herring.
- Black pepper (ground).
- Film (food).
- Paper napkins).
Process description
First, the fish should be prepared for salting. To do this, it is well washed and the gills are removed. Then, with the help of paper napkins, the herring is dried as much as possible. One and a half teaspoons of salt are mixed with ground pepper, one teaspoon of sugar is added. The resulting mixture is rubbed with fish. In this case, you can not miss a single centimeter of the surface. After rubbing the carcass with the mixture, it is wrapped in cling film and sent to the refrigerator. It will take no more than 2 days to cook.
About spicy salting: mustard recipe
Often the housewives are interested in the question of how to salt the spicy salted herring? We offer one of the most popular options. For cooking use:
- herring - two pieces;
- water - one liter;
- salt - five tablespoons;
- sugar - three tablespoons;
- coriander grains - one tablespoon;
- dill (greens or dried) - one tablespoon;
- bay leaf - eight pieces;
- black pepper peas - 15 pieces;
- allspice - four pieces;
- mustard - two tablespoons.
How to cook?
Herring is cleaned from the insides. If you decide to leave your head, then you should definitely remove the gills, since they will give a bitter taste to the brine and the fish itself. Sometimes herring is sorted into fillets and cut into pieces. Each of which, once in mustard, will turn out to be very tasty. Next, boil water and pour salt with sugar and spices, excluding mustard. The brine should boil for 3-4 minutes. Then the fire is turned off, and the brine is cooled.
After that, the cleaned carcass is coated with mustard. Stack it in a special container equipped with a lid (tightly closed). Thanks to the use of mustard in the recipe, the herring becomes not only tasty, but also quite strong and elastic. Pour fish with cooled brine. It should be infused at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Then the herring is cleaned in the refrigerator. After two days it will be ready.
Spicy ambassador: we prepare a delicious herring in a package
For cooking you will need:
- Two herrings.
- Two tablespoons of salt.
- One tablespoon of sugar.
- One teaspoon of coriander beans or ground.
- 7-8 pieces of black pepper peas (chopped).
- Two bay leaves (ground).
About cooking
Gut the fish, remove the head, peel and remove the bones (large). The carcass is divided into two parts. Next, all the spices are mixed. They are coated with herring carcass. Then the fish is placed in a bag, tightly wrapped. The product should lie at room temperature for 5-6 hours. Then the fish is cleaned in the refrigerator for two days.
Dutch herring (spicy ambassador)
Use:
- Two herrings.
- Six teaspoons of sugar.
- Two onions.
- Half a lemon.
- One carrot.
- Ten bay leaves.
- Pepper peas (8-10 pcs.).
Cooking
The fish is thawed and gutted. They remove the head and bones, remove the skin. The finished fillet is cut into pieces two centimeters wide. Lemon is cut into thin circles, carrots are rubbed on a grater (large). Onions are cut into rings or half rings. A jar is prepared and all the ingredients are laid out in layers, following the sequence: chopped onions, bay leaves, grated carrots, lemon, a pinch of sugar and pepper (a little). Then a layer of chopped herring is laid out. The next layer is laid out in the same sequence and so on until all the ingredients are finished.
Then the jar is tightly closed with a lid and sent to the refrigerator for three days. The fish is served in the herring, pouring oil on top. According to reviews, the dish is simply delicious - very tender, juicy, aromatic and incredibly tasty!