What is ram fish? This is a species of roach, the most common. It’s just that, in comparison with roach, her body height is large, her scales are smaller, also in the anal fin there are fewer rays, more blackish edges of the fins and thick teeth. 25-35 centimeters - the length of the ram, its weight is up to 1.8 kg. This fish is found in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, enters rivers in spring for throwing eggs, and very often comes for wintering in the fall. So most of the fish winters at the mouths of rivers in the sea.
Ram is a trademark, its disappearance
This fish does not rise high in the river. Her spawning occurs somewhere in late March or early April in the grass and reeds, then the ram fish again goes into the sea. For the reason that it used to be sold only dried in the Kuban, on the Don, throughout Priazovye, ram is any fish that looks like roach or roach.
In past times, all the
rivers flowing into the Sea of Azov, especially Don, were very important for fishing, gave a huge amount of ram. Now, unfortunately, there has been a complete impoverishment of the entire pool, and the ram, unfortunately, is not caught anywhere else. The reason for this is not fully clarified, but it is assumed that the limitless fishing of rams put it on the brink of extinction. So you need to be very careful, otherwise the most useful fish will completely disappear.
Stockfish, ram: cooking process, first part
The peculiarity of this process is that at first the fish is salted, after a certain period of time has passed, it is dried in a well-ventilated and dry place. After all this, it can be eaten without being pretreated, for example, with heat. During storage, the fat and moisture content in the carcass will gradually decrease, it will become noticeably drier, and therefore it is also called dried.
They cut far from all fish, but only those whose meat ripens during the (natural) drying process, acquiring a specific aroma and taste. It is best to
jerk fish that have medium fat content. In the case when it is not large, then take it whole or divide it with layers along the spine, you can cut pieces of 100 grams across the layer. Sun-dried ram has the best taste, some other fish also differ in this: roach, perch, capelin, sabrefish, bream, roach, etc.
Cooking stockfish, second part
If our fish is small in size, then it is salted with gut, dried in the same way. It turns out just what you need. The fat of the entrails and subcutaneous during the drying process gradually impregnate the meat, and the fish itself becomes much tastier. It is recommended to do this in the spring, it is possible in the fall from medium fat or fat bait.
But in the summer it is not advisable to do this, since
herbivorous fish mainly feed on greens, and it decomposes when dried, and we get a bitter taste and an unpleasant odor. The entire procurement process consists of three main stages: salting, soaking and, of course, drying. Now we will look at
how to salt ram
fish .
Salting live bait
When salting it, two methods are most often used for drying: dry and wet (aceous). Wet salted small bait fish, its weight is somewhere around 250-500 grams. You do not need to wash, wipe only with a towel, be sure to dry. Salt for salting use only coarse grinding, as its main purpose is to remove moisture from the ram. She really doesn’t need to give her a taste, since she herself has a good aroma. In this case, coarse salt dissolves more slowly and sucks out more, absorbs moisture. It is poured on the bottom of the pelvis, pot or enameled bucket.
We place the ram (type of fish) in as dense rows as possible: to the tail - to the head, to the stomach - to the back, and even better, as follows: put the back on the abdomen. In this way, oppression will work better. You need to salt each row well. Add a little sugar - for a special taste. From the pan a little smaller, we put an enameled lid or a wooden circle on top, and oppresses it. After 4-5 hours, the fish itself will let the brine. Remember we talked about
brine? This is it. At all times, while live bait is salted, it must be placed in the most cold place.
We continue the process of salting
Why do we put our fish in the coldest place? Because the salt penetrates the meat quite slowly, and where the bait fish did not have time to salt, the cold protects it from spoilage. If you salt the fish at home, you can do it in the cellar, refrigerator or on ice. In other conditions, for example, in a campaign, it is placed in a pit, which was dug in a shaded, cool place and covered with tarpaulin or branches from above to protect it from the rays of the sun.
Usually after three days the back of the live bait becomes hard, the caviar becomes red-yellow in color, and the meat becomes gray-dark. In a bucket of water with the brine method, you need to dissolve so much salt so that the raw egg placed in the brine floats on the surface. Look at how a fresh ram fish looks, take a photo of it, string 6-10 pieces or twine on a twine and dip it into a brine prepared so that it is completely covered with a brine. Small bait fish is salted out in two to three days. We take it out of the bucket, wash it in water for 20-30 minutes and hang it out for drying.
Completing the salting of the ram
In the event that the fish is large ram, but you want to wither completely, then you need to pump in a solution of salt in its belly before sending it to the brine. We do this with a syringe or a rubber syringe through the mouth. The larger bait is salted in a dry way. Its weight is more than a kilogram. Cut each fish along the back and then crucify. Remove the insides, then wipe with a cloth, dry. Sprinkle salt from the inside, but in moderation, without zeal.
We lay the carcasses in rows in a wooden box, while directing the abdomen up and on the scales - on top - add salt. We dig a hole in a cool place and put a box in it, after which we cover it with a film of polyethylene. The ambassador lasts from four to seven days, depending on the size of the fish. In the process of salting, it secretes its own juice, but it flows out through the slots of the box. This is dry salting.