S alted herring: cooking recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

S alted herring is the simplest and most inexpensive cold appetizer. It can be found on any table and in any corner of our country. However, this was not always the case. This fish appeared in Russia only in the 15th century, when, in fact, they learned to s alt it. Before that, it served as food for the poor and beggars exclusively in boiled and fried form. It is interesting that the fish got its name, most likely, from the word "s alt", but through the Little Russian dialect - the word "sil" smoothly turned into "sild". So even the name suggests that the herring should be exactly s alty!

The most important step in preparing a dish such as s alted herring is the right choice of the source product. We will not bore you with unnecessary details - it is unlikely that the average buyer is able to distinguish B altic fish from the Pacific by eye. You need to know the following: herring for s alting should be large (fat), without visible damage, with a head, with tightly pressed fins, with a natural color without signs of yellowness.

The second important step is to properly defrost the fish. You can not defrost herring under hot and cold water and in the microwave, even in a special mode"defrost". The best option is to let the fish thaw in the refrigerator at a temperature not higher than +5°C.

The best and easiest recipes

1. S alted herring with spicy s alting

This is the easiest pickle recipe ever. Clean and wash the fish, remove the gills (otherwise the finished product will be bitter) and place it in a suitable dish. Brine: one liter of water, two large spoons of s alt, one (without a slide) spoon of sugar, black and allspice peas and a couple of bay leaves. Bring the brine to a boil, cool and pour over the fish. You can eat in a day.

2. Traditional s alted herring

For this dish, you need to properly prepare a saturated saline solution - s alt must be added to hot water until it ceases to dissolve. Then the liquid is brought to a boil, if desired, spices are added - mustard seeds, coriander, peppercorns and bay leaf. Then, pre-prepared fish, laid back up, is poured with chilled brine. The container must be left for about an hour at normal temperature, and then put in the refrigerator for one or two days. Important: if the skin of the fish is damaged, it will be s alty.

3. Dry s alted herring

The fish must be cleaned and washed, the gills removed, and then the carcass should be thoroughly dried with paper towels. Next, mix 1.5 tsp. s alt, 1 tsp. sugar and 0.5 tsp. black pepper and rub the herring inside and out with this mixture. After these manipulations, the fish must be wrapped in severallayers of cling film, put in a convenient container and put in the refrigerator for two days.

Sometimes housewives overs alt the spicy brine or use the wrong fish. The result is a very s alty herring. What to do in this case? You can use the old and well-proven method: soak the herring in milk. It will become very tender and unusually tasty. Another, no less effective method is to fill the fish with cold water and change the liquid every 3-4 hours. In a day, all excess s alt will be washed out, however, and the herring will become more insipid. In order to spice it up, we recommend shifting the fish with pickled onions and adding a little unrefined sunflower oil. You can also remove excess s alt by soaking the fish in tea.

All these methods are good, but a completely natural question arises: "What if the herring is s alty to the point of impossibility, but you want to eat it right now?" To do this, you will need to mix the fish with some product that absorbs s alt well. Of course, for this you will have to cut the herring into fillets and make a sandwich mass or minced meat out of it. As an addition, avocados, boiled potatoes and egg whites are perfect. The prepared product should be spread on white or black (slightly dried) bread. Very simple and incredibly delicious!