Fish is a worthy component of our menu. What dishes mankind did not invent with it! Fans do their best to diversify the list and come up with ways to simplify and speed up the process of their preparation. Among other tricks, a mackerel in onion husks in 3 minutes is worthy of special attention. Cast aside doubts: she really will cook in the specified time. And it turns out juicy, tender and suitable for a variety of purposes - in salads, on sandwiches and complete with side dishes.
Extremely Important: Fish Preparation
The good mackerel in onion husks in 3 minutes is that it can be prepared from fresh carcasses and from frozen ones. The latter are easier to buy - they are in almost any store with a fish department, not to mention supermarkets. However, in order for your first experience with this recipe to succeed, you must defrost frozen fish properly. In no case in water, albeit cold! Only at the bottom of the refrigerator, gradually laid in a colander and covered with a lid. A colander is needed so that the fish is not wet in the water flowing from it - this will not improve its taste. And the lid - so that the upper side is not ventilated.
If your mackerel is not gutted, and you want to prepare it with a whole carcass, it is better to pull out the insides after cutting off the head and without cutting the abdomen. So she will turn out more beautiful.
Three minute pickle
The first recipe is for those who, for some good reason, are in a hurry and do not accept food "chemistry". A mackerel in onion husk for 3 minutes without liquid smoke, which is often supplemented with a brine to give a smoked flavor, is definitely suitable for them. Preparing a pickle. For him, a generous handful of washed and dried onion husks is poured into a liter of water and boiled for five minutes. Then salt is poured (three spoons with a slide); how it dissolves - the carcass is laid. After three minutes the fire is extinguished, and it is immediately pulled out: if you hold it for longer, the fish will not “hold” the pieces.
It is better not to cut it right away, but to carefully decant the brine so that the carcass does not soak, wait for complete cooling. Everything: in front of you is a fully prepared mackerel in onion husks in 3 minutes. Reviews about the dish are extremely enthusiastic: despite the simplicity and speed, despite the absence of some elaborate spices, the fish turns out to be tasty, moderately salted and soft.
Husk plus tea: method number 1
This method is not so fast: with tea, mackerel in onion husks in 3 minutes will not be prepared. But at the exit you will have fish that does not differ in taste from the smoked one. Again, you need a pickle first. For him, three tablespoons of salt are poured into a liter of water, two of dry black tea (without any additives like bergamot or rose petals) and one and a half sugar are poured. At the same time, husks from three to four small bulbs are laid. The brine is boiling; boiling time is arbitrary, you need to focus on color: how it becomes a thick brown is enough. The pour is cooled and filtered. Three gutted headless carcasses are placed in a fairly spacious container and poured with marinade. He must cover them completely. Night mackerel in onion husks with tea should stand directly on the kitchen table, covered with a lid. Then she cleans the refrigerator for two or three days. It’s good to turn the carcass once a day. When the fish is ready, it is drained from the brine - and ready for use.
Husk plus tea: method number 2
There is a category of culinary specialists who believe that mackerel in onion husks with tea should be prepared completely differently than suggested in the previous recipe. In their opinion, strong black tea is separately brewed, again, without any additives, pure. The infusion should turn out half a cup. In parallel, a brine is prepared based on a liter of water: all the same three tablespoons of salt, one and a half - sugar, a couple of leaves of laurel, peas and coriander seeds - a teaspoon (in principle, the same as described above, only with the addition of seasoning ) Large husks are taken, so that they had to be dried in a saucepan in a dry form. The brine is boiled for ten minutes, and then it is also infused for a quarter of an hour until filtered. Only after that is tea leaves added to it.
The cooled marinade pours the fish, closes and hides in the bottom of the refrigerator for three days, without standing in the room. You have already mastered further actions: drain the brine, dry the fish, cut and eat the fish.
Smoke mackerel
If you want to get pseudo-smoked fish faster, you have to put up with the use of "liquid smoke". Such a mackerel in onion husk in 3 minutes also does not "ripen", but it will be ready after a day. The brine is made steeper: per liter - four full, with a hill of a spoonful of salt and two sugars. The husks in the water also come across more. Such a brine is boiled for twenty minutes, cools down and, when filtered, combines with the "smoke" according to the instructions. Mackerel is laid out in a flat, low dish, the container is almost completely filled with marinade, and the fish is pressed by not too heavy oppression. It is not necessary to clean in the cold; by the evening of the next day, the fish can be dried and carried on the table.
Additional tips
Those who have already prepared mackerel according to these recipes have brought some additions that make the cooking process more convenient, and the final result is more appetizing. Firstly, for salting, it is recommended to use not flat containers, but cut off large plastic bottles. Fish is placed in them with tails up. So it becomes unnecessary to bend from above - carcasses do not float.
Secondly, when using "smoked" recipes (mackerel in onion husks with tea or with smoke) after drying, the carcasses are a little greased with vegetable oil. From this they become even more similar to smoked "brothers."
Thirdly, a joint mackerel ambassador with herring in the same container gives a very interesting and tasty result. They say that a plausible imitation of sprat is obtained - only the sizes are larger.
Fourthly, adding herbs and spices to the brine gives good results. Just be careful that they fit with the fish. For the first time, you can try adding just greens - basil and cilantro. And then you’ll come up with something of your own.
One hundred percent, you will like mackerel in onion husks in 3 minutes. With the photo you can get a more complete picture of the dish and see how appetizing such precocious fish are.