We are used to buying salted fish in stores and sometimes we don’t even think that it could be salted at home. It will come out not only cheaper, but also more useful: after all, if you cook the fish yourself, you are sure that it does not contain preservatives and dyes, which is especially important for red fish. Salting fish at home is elementary, and an excellent result is guaranteed if the timing and technology are met at least approximately.
As for red fish, salting fish at home can save a lot of money, given that slightly salted trout or salmon costs a lot of money, and when fresh, these varieties will cost half the price. When salted, these breeds, as well as sockeye salmon, are especially tender, tasty and beautiful, and due to their high fat content they absorb very little salt and are therefore never too salted. Salting fish at home is very simple: you need to grate the prepared pieces with a mixture of coarse salt and sugar, you can sprinkle with spices if you wish, and the next day you can start tasting it, but if patience allows, it is better to wait for the recommended two days. The thicker the pieces, the longer they have to peel. In this form, you can hold it for about a week, and then you need to hide it in the refrigerator.
A mixture for salting is done as follows: approximately the same amount of salt and sugar is taken, spices are added to taste, but, in principle, it is possible without them. A little pickling mixture is poured into salting dishes, and several peas of black and allspice and bay leaf can also be thrown there . Then, sliced fillets are placed in the dishes, they are also poured with the mixture and covered with the next layer. No oppression is needed - the fish will salted and so. If you bought a whole carcass, then it’s easiest to cut it a little bit frostbitten: in this case, the bones are separated a little faster, and this procedure hurts the fillet less. Bones can be salted separately - you get an excellent beer snack, and you can also make an ear from them by adding them to the fins, tail and head. The ear of these fish varieties is gorgeous.
Thus, you can salt any sea fish, but, as a rule, brine is preferred most often for other breeds. It allows you to make salting fish at home faster, and the taste is more intense. For a brine per liter of water, take three tablespoons of salt, optionally sugar, a few peas of black and allspice, a couple of bay leaves, you can add a little mustard, ready-made or in powder, to speed up the process and give a spicy aroma - the salting of fish at home will be reduced one and a half times. You can boil the brine, or you can use it like that - depending on how quickly you plan to use the final product. If you decide to boil the brine, then it is better to add mustard after it has cooled to 40-50 degrees, that is, it can be touched with your hands. The carcasses of the fish are placed in a brine at room temperature for two to three days and after that they are completely ready for use. If it was necessary to salt the fish at home in the form of a fillet, then it will be ready in 5-8 hours, depending on the size of the pieces.
If salting of fish at home should happen as soon as possible, for example, at the arrival of guests, then you can put slices about 2 centimeters thick and wide in the brine, and you will receive the finished product after 2-3 hours - this time is quite enough, although some sources recommend keeping her there for 8 hours, but this is completely optional. If you need, for example, herring for a salad "herring under a fur coat", then one and a half hours will be enough if you cut it beforehand with such slices as they should be in a dish.