Drying of fish consists of three stages - salting, soaking and drying. It should not be forgotten that without heat treatment it can be hazardous to health, so it is important to comply with deadlines. In order for the parasites in the fish to die, it is necessary to keep it in brine for 9 to 14 days.
Carp is a popular fish, and more often it is made of fish soup or fried, but you can also cook sun-dried carp.
Fish preparation
Before salting, the carcass must be properly prepared. It is advisable that the carp be fresh, ideally caught with their own hands. The large carp needs to be gutted, removed its head, gills and tail, cleaned of scales and washed from mucus. When removing the viscera, it is important not to damage the gallbladder.
It is necessary to cut fish caught in the summertime with your own hands immediately. To prevent the carp from deteriorating while the fishing process is in progress, nettles should be put in a container with fish. In winter, it is carved upon arrival with a catch home.
Dry salting
For salting, coarse salt or sea salt is required. Small and iodized does not fit. The best way is to take grinding number 3, in extreme cases - grinding number 1.
In addition to salt, you can use other seasonings, for example, a mixture of peppers and bay leaf.
For dry, choose a container in which there are gaps so that the liquid can drain. It can be a wooden box, barrel or basket. The bottom of the container is covered with burlap or a cotton cloth. The fish is laid in rows - head to tail, belly up - and each layer wakes up with salt. Salt is not put inside the gutted carcasses, otherwise you can salt it. Karpov is covered with a wooden lid, a load (stone) is placed on top so that there are no cavities with air in the fish flesh, and removed in a cold place. 10 kg of fish will require one and a half kilograms of salt. Salting time depends on the weight of the carps. Readiness can be determined by the elasticity of the pulp. On average, it will take about 10 days. This method is used mainly in the warm season.
Fishermen came up with salt fish in bags buried in the ground to a meter deep.
Wet salting
Dishes for wet salting of fish should not be oxidized. It can be a glass or plastic container: tank, pan, bucket, etc. Containers made of technical plastic are not suitable. Carps are placed in the container with their belly up, pouring salt at the rate of 1 kg of salt per 10 kg of fish. Salt can be mixed with a tablespoon of sugar to make the fish taste more tender. A wooden circle is placed on the fish, a load is placed on it. As a lid, you can use a flat plate, a lid from a pan, etc. A brine - brine begins to form in the container, and after one or two days it completely covers the fish carcasses.
Wet carps can be salted in a different way. Prepare brine from water and salt, pour carcasses with this brine, cover with a lid and set to oppression. This option is better for smaller fish than for large carp.
Washing and soaking
After salting, rinse with cold water from the tap, then soak for several hours to rid the fish of excess salt. The time is determined as follows: for one day of salting - an hour of soaking. Depending on personal taste, time can be changed.
After the fish has been thoroughly washed under running water, it is rinsed in the sink. After each rinse, the water is changed until it is clean.
When the fish is steeped for several hours, the water needs to be changed periodically. The more fish, the more water should be.
After washing, you can roll the fish in salt mixed with aspirin, the amount of which is 2% of the amount of salt.
How to dry fish properly at home
After the fish has been soaked, it is suspended for drying in the shade of a draft. It is better to dry carp in the open air, protecting it from flies and other insects with a net or gauze. Carcasses should hang under a canopy so that they do not fall precipitation. The best time for drying on the street is spring and autumn, when there are no flies.
In winter, you can dry the fish in the apartment, equipping it with a special place in the kitchen.
At different times of the year, carp will wither differently.
In summer, you can equip a dryer in the garage by pulling the ropes and hanging the carcasses. Draft can be provided with a fan. If the fish has to dry in the open air, it is best to hang it in the evening when there are no more flies. In the morning, the fish will โcatchโ, and the insects will no longer land on it.
In winter, it is impossible to dry the fish on the street, so you have to do it at home. It is best to choose a place near the window and the heating battery. Carcasses are hung by the tail (so that excess salt is in the head) on clerical paper clips with insulation. They should not touch each other, otherwise they will dry out poorly.
The duration of drying of the carp depends on a lot: season, conditions (indoor, open air), climate, weather conditions, fish size.
To what condition to bring the fish depends on the individual taste. Some people like dry land, others that are half-finished, so the surest way to determine readiness is to take samples. On average, carp dries from two to three weeks.
How to store
It is necessary to know not only how to dry fish properly at home, but also how to store it.
Sun-dried carp should be aired during storage. It is cleaned in boxes with holes or placed between the carcasses of chips.
The humidity in the room should not be higher than 80%, otherwise the carp will become moldy, and below 65% - in this case the fish will be too dry.
You can save dried carp in other ways: in the freezer in a plastic bag, in paper in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. In a freezer in a bag without access to air, fish is stored for a very long time - up to 6-12 months.
Sun-dried carp is an excellent beer snack or an ingredient for preparing other dishes.