By its popularity in Russia, salted mackerel is probably second only to herring. And this is not surprising, mackerel (the western name for mackerel) combines excellent taste, usefulness and affordable price. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of easy money, some unscrupulous producers depart from GOST, when salting fish, they abuse vegetable oil and sugar at best, and in the worst use poor-quality fish and dubious additives.
Therefore, more and more people prefer to salt the fish on their own. So they themselves are responsible for product quality and manufacturing technology. The recipe for mackerel in mustard filling is a vivid example of how you can please yourself with a wonderful dish without the hassle and special expenses.
Calorie and advantages of mackerel
With significant fat content (13 grams per hundred grams of fish), mackerel is not very high in calories. Depending on the amount of butter and sugar in the marinade, its calorie content ranges from 160–220 kilocalories per 100 g. In addition, mackerel is a source of vitamins (A, C, E, group B), fatty acids, and most importantly, excellent fish oil , which is useful for adults and especially children during the growth period. Fish oil in pharmacies is not very tasty, children treat it very negatively, so the mackerel recipe in mustard filling becomes not just a guide for making a delicious snack, but also a way to fill the child’s need for fish oil without scandals and persuasion.
Fish selection
Which are better to buy semi-finished products? Before you translate into reality a recipe for salting mackerel in mustard filling, you need to choose the right fish. A few simple rules will help you avoid the tricks of sellers and disappointments from spoiled fish:
- It is necessary to sniff. This advice seems obvious, but many neglect it, and it’s difficult to hide an unpleasant odor even in frozen fish.
- Examine the eyes. In quality fish, the eyes are moist, convex and have a natural look. Dry eyes are a signal of multiple cycles of freezing / thawing.
- Check the condition of the carcass. The body and skin of a mackerel should not have obvious defects; spots, especially yellow ones, their sellers often pass off as fat; breakthroughs that indicate the friability and staleness of fish. The skin of fresh fish shines moist, elastic and has no mucus.
- Gills are a reliable indicator of fish quality. In fresh and healthy mackerel, they are clean, smell normal and have a pink or red color. Sellers often sell carcasses without heads, so that the buyer can not see the state of the gills.
- If all the steps are completed, but when implementing a mackerel recipe in a mustard fill, it suddenly turns out that the fillet is too easily separated from the bones, which means that the seller still managed to slip bad fish. It remains only to reconcile with the failure and throw out a dangerous product, in no case without risking health.
Mackerel in mustard filling - recipe with photo
Mackerel can be salted whole or in batch slices, the process of salting itself does not change from this. The recipe for mackerel in mustard filling is simple and includes the following steps:
- Defrosting. If necessary, first defrost the fish. It is advisable to do this gently, that is, put the carcass in a dish and leave it in the refrigerator so that it gradually thaws. But in cases where there is little time, mackerel can be put in cold clean water. She will be ready for salting in a couple of hours.
- Fish preparation. Gut the carcass, cleanse the guts and skin. To cut off the head or not is again an individual choice. Some food lovers consider a fish head to be a delicious delicacy.
The process itself is as follows:
- Marinade. 1 liter of water is boiling per kilogram of fish, 2 tablespoons of dry mustard, 1 tablespoon of salt without top, sugar to taste and a set of favorite spices are added to it. It can be coriander, bay leaf, a mixture of peppers, cloves.
- Pickling. Put the mackerel in a pickling container (glass container, pan, jar), pour the fish with the cooled marinade and put it in a cool place for a day, shaking it from time to time so that the mustard is evenly distributed over the carcass.
Storage of salted mackerel in mustard dressing
The recipe includes not only the cooking process itself, but also techniques that allow you to store the resulting product for longer. Fish can be stored for five days in brine in which it is salted. Moreover, the more salt in the marinade, the longer the mackerel is stored. To increase the shelf life, the fish is completely poured with sunflower or olive oil.