The most delicious salted fish is home-made salting. Such pieces will look great on the festive table as slices or additions to cold snacks. They will enrich even modest treats and make the celebration richer. So, you will learn how to salt coho salmon, what preparatory work should be done and how to choose a salting method. And also get acquainted with salted red fish recipes.
What kind of fish is this?
How to salt coho salmon and start with it. What kind of fish is this? This species belongs to the marine salmon family with reddish flesh. Coho salmon differs from other relatives by the color of the scales. It is silver in color, from a distance it seems whitish.
In the retail network, it is sold predominantly finished, so for a long time you do not need to bother with its preparation.
Fish cutting
Before salt coho salmon at home, think about what pieces you will cut the fish. For instance:
- fillet - with bones from the ribs and skin;
- fillet - without bones, but with skin;
- pure fillet - without bones and skin;
- steaks or their halves.
Although the latter (steaks) are often used precisely for the heat treatment of fish (frying, steaming), it can still be salted.
First of all, you should thaw the fish if it is frozen. This is best done at room temperature - put the carcass in a bowl or clean sink for 6-10 hours or on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator (from about 1-1.5 days). This method is lengthy, but leaves all the useful and nutritious substances in the fish pulp. If in a hurry, fill the coho salmon with cold water. It will take half the time to thaw, but some of the vitamins and minerals from the upper layers of the pulp will also go into the liquid.
To cut chopped coho salmon on a fillet of various kinds, follow the step-by-step recommendations:
- Rinse the fish carcass under cold water, clean it from scales, remove the dark film from the abdomen.
- Dry the carcass with a paper towel - do not use ordinary napkins, they are thin and will stick to the pulp.
- Prepare a clean and dry chopping board and place a piece of paper towel under it so that it will not slip on the table.
- Put the fish on the board.
- Make even cuts along the back of the carcass, bypassing the large fin.
- Hold the tail and place near it a sharp cook knife under the flesh of the fish on the spine. The knife blade should fit under a previously made incision near the dorsal fin.
- Cut the fillet (with bones from the ribs and skin), following exactly the bones.
- Then turn the fish over and cut the second filet in the same way. It can already be used and left in this form.
- You can cut the costal bones with a knife, picking them up at the base. The result is a filet on the skin.
- Then remove the skin and remove the small bones with kitchen tweezers - you have a clean filet without skin and bones.
After cutting the fish into a clean fillet, small bones remain in the pulp, which are attached to small cartilage fragments. It is very easy to pull them out with tweezers. Accelerated salting will result if the clean fillet is also cut into slices or slices. The mixture for salting is quickly absorbed into the pulp. This will take about 2-3 hours. This is ideal for those with guests on the doorstep. To make steaks, the fish should be washed and dried, and then cut the carcass across the fibers into pieces from 2 to 3 cm in thickness.
How to choose a container?
It is important that the container in which the fish will be stored in the salting mixture is not iron or aluminum. The taste of such a food will irreparably spoil - a pronounced “iron” flavor will appear.
It is better to take one of this:
- Plastic container;
- glass jar;
- plastic bag.
Cooking basis
The basis for cooking red fish home-made salting is a pickle or spicy mixture. To make a brine, mix boiled water with salt and sugar. Add peas of allspice or black pepper, if desired, a little citrus juice. Be sure to taste the brine - it should not be very salty or sour. Place the pieces of fish (preferably in the skin) in a liquid so that it covers the meat a little. Leave in a closed container for salting. The exposure time depends on the weight of the fish and the weight of each piece. Small slices are prepared much faster than large slices.
To use the dry method of salting with spices, coarse Extra salt is taken (it fits perfectly), a little granulated sugar (salt to sugar ratio 3: 1), spices and seasoning to taste. The fish is wiped with a dry mixture and placed in a plastic bag or jar, closed and left for a period of 1 to 5 days, depending on the size of the piece.
Spices & Seasonings
How to salt coho salmon at home with spices and seasonings? It is only necessary to choose them correctly. The taste of spices should not interrupt the taste and aroma of the fish itself. So, such options are suitable:
- peppercorns (black, allspice);
- Lavrushka (quality sheets of gray or greenish-gray);
- carnation inflorescences;
- mustard seeds;
- coriander;
- juniper or barberry berries (they must first be crushed in a mortar to get aromatic juice);
- greens or a dried mixture of dill (greens or seeds).
Sliced onions, garlic or horseradish leaves are also used. Table vinegar, lemon (or orange juice) or white table wine is added to taste. Overdoing with such flavoring components is also not worth it. A few (3-4) pinch of ground mixture of 2-3 types of seasonings are enough to salt coho salmon at home (see recipe below). If you decide to choose a special purchase mix "For fish", be prepared to change the color of the pulp of the carcass. This is due to some spices that give the fish a greenish tint. However, it does not get spoiled, but the appearance suffers a little.
With or without oil?
How to salt red coho salmon fish with oil, not every housewife knows. However, it is very simple. Vegetable (sunflower, olive or sesame) oil is used to give the fish pulp juiciness and softness. Without the addition of oil, salted fish is a little dry, but if you intend to use it for preparing snacks, this is the most:
- Pour the pieces of fish with a mixture of salt and sugar (the ratio of the bulk mixture is 3: 1);
- close tightly;
- leave overnight.
It will turn out to be well-salted fish, and if the period is reduced to a few hours, a light-salted product will come out. If desired, slices or slices prepared in such a dry way can be greased with vegetable oil and served with thin rings of sweet onion (red, shallot or white). Now let's figure out how to salt coho salmon at home.
Options for mixtures for salting
In addition to the usual mixture of salt with sugar, other options are available:
With salt:
- coarse salt - 3 tsp;
- sugar - 1 tsp;
- olive oil - 3-4 tbsp. l (or other vegetable);
- ground pepper - 1/3 tsp
With wine and honey:
- Extra salt - 3 tbsp. l .;
- natural flower honey - 1.5 tbsp. l .;
- table white wine - 100 ml;
- vegetable oil - 100 ml;
- spice mix - 1 tbsp. l
With citrus:
- fresh fruit orange juice - 100 ml;
- carnation inflorescences - 3-4 pcs.;
- coarse salt - 3 tbsp. l .;
- sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
- mustard seeds - 1 tsp;
- juniper berries - 20 pcs.
Citrus juice is an acid that not only significantly speeds up the salting, but also enriches the dish with aroma and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Freshly squeezed juice from mandarin, orange, lemon or kumquat is suitable. Consider these options for salting mixes, and it will be easier for you to answer the question of how to salt coho salmon at home. The recipe will always be at hand.
Soy Sauce Recipe
Before salting coho salmon in soy sauce, remember that it is already salted. That is, the usual salt in the recipe is used less, otherwise the taste of the finished dish will deteriorate.
What ingredients are needed:
- chopped and chopped pieces of fish (coho salmon) - 1 kg;
- Extra salt - 3 tbsp. l .;
- granulated sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
- peppercorns - 3-4 pcs.;
- Lavrushka - 1 pc.;
- soy sauce - 3-4 tbsp. l .;
- freshly squeezed citrus juice (lemon) - 50 ml.
If desired, add thin rings of onions to this list - 30-50 g.
How to salt coho salmon fish:
- Thaw frozen fish and then pretreat it - cleaning, cutting, slicing (see recommendations above).
- Put sugar, salt, peas in peas and lavrushka in one container. Remember a little or explain the mass. Add soy sauce and the juice of half a medium-sized lemon.
- Grate the pieces of fish with the prepared mixture and close in an airtight container. Leave at room temperature for a little less than an hour. Then put in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
If it happened that you went too far with salt, this can be fixed. Place the fish in cold water with boiled (in water without salt) rice for half an hour or an hour. Try it - the taste will change for the better.
Packing and storage
After you have finished salting coho salmon, you should pack the pieces in an airtight container. This can be a zipped bag, a can with a silicone lid or a special container. Now you know how to salt coho salmon at home. The recipe is very simple and does not require much time. The main thing is to withstand the fish in the refrigerator for impregnation with a salt mixture. It is important that the recipes for brine and salting fish in this article are universal, they are suitable not only for coho salmon, but also for other red fish:
- chum salmon;
- salmon;
- pink salmon.