Smelt dried at home

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

As you know, among the various snacks for beer, dried fish remains a favorite delicacy. Many have long abandoned harmful chips and crackers stuffed with dyes, preservatives, flavor enhancers and artificial additives. Natural products are now in fashion, including beer snacks.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to buy fish in a store in good quality. It comes across either too s alty, or too old (yellow, “rusty”), or with an unpleasant odor. Let's take smelt fish today as an example. This small fish has long won the hearts of lovers of foamy drink. However, dried smelt is quite expensive in the store.

How to save money on beer snacks? The answer is very simple - buy fresh fish, the price of which does not bite so much, and cook it at home yourself. How to make dried smelt at home - we will tell in this article.

S alting fish

Proper s alting of fish is an important step in cooking. In order to properly s alt smelt, you need half a kilogram of fresh fish and half a kilogram of s alt. If there are more fish, then calculate the patternthe ratio between s alt and the main product will not be difficult.

S alting process

Dried smelt is good because in the process of its preparation it is not necessary to remove the insides and suffer from scales. The fish will only need to be thawed, rinsed under cold water and placed in pre-prepared dishes. Remember that each fish carcass must be covered with s alt. Either dip each in s alt and then place in a bowl, or sprinkle on top and mix thoroughly. It is recommended to lay a plastic cling film on top of the dishes. Some housewives still put a load on the fish, for example, a three-liter jar of water. But you can not do this. If you have cooked the fish properly, it will s alt perfectly even without pressure.

Next comes the waiting stage. First, the s alt will dissolve, then the fish will give its own juice and will infuse in this form. The waiting time is usually around twelve hours. That is, if you s alted the fish in the morning, then by the evening you can proceed to the next stage of cooking. It is not necessary to put the fish in the refrigerator, being afraid of spoilage of the product. The s alt won't let her go.

After s alting, the fish must be washed. You can try it for s alt. If it turned out to be too s alty (it lay for more than 12 hours), then the fish must be soaked in cold water. To do this, put it in a bulk bowl with water and leave it for a couple of hours. At the same time, remember that it is recommended to change the water every hour.

Dryfish

There are several ways to make home-dried smelt no worse than the store-bought version. There are several ways to dry s alted fish. Which one to choose is up to you.

Fish Newspaper

For a long time, fishermen dried their fish with a regular newspaper. Nowadays, many do exactly the same, without using the suspension method. When you have washed the fish, rid it of excess moisture, it can be dried. A newspaper (any paper) is spread on a wide baking sheet, and fish is placed on it. Try not to let the fish touch each other. There must be a distance between them.

In this form, we send the baking sheet with fish to a well-ventilated place, for example, to the balcony. In order for the dried smelt to turn out delicious, not to deteriorate during the drying process, it should not be placed in a place that has access to direct sunlight. After a day or two, the fish is ready to eat.

Use the hanging method

The most commonly used method of drying fish is hanging on a thread or fishing line. Fishermen advise taking a thicker thread so that it can withstand the total weight of the product. We thread a needle with a large eye and make “shots” in the eye of the fish. Connoisseurs do not recommend immediately hanging the fish, piercing the tail. During drying, water will drain into the fleshiest part of the carcass, which, in turn, will dry out worse. It is better to hang it by the head first, and a day later by the tail. So the fish will dry evenly, the excess liquid will properly go away, there will be no unpleasantsmell.

Remember to keep a distance between carcasses. So you will ensure sufficient air access, proper drying and preservation of the taste of each individual fish.

The fish hanging on a string is dried on the balcony or in any other place with good ventilation. How long will dried smelt be cooked? Everything here will depend on your taste preferences. Someone likes raw fish, someone prefers an almost "oak" dry version. In any case, it is not worth taking the fish off the line before two days later.

How to store dried smelt

Sometimes, especially for families of fishermen, a fairly decent amount of fish appears in the house. What to do with her? Of course, s alt and dry. But how to keep this abundance of fish?

Hanging

Experts say that dried smelt, the recipes for which are described above, can be stored for a long time in several ways. The most common is in limbo. If the weather is right, then on the balcony on which the fish was dried, it will be stored further. If you live in a private house, then you can use a barn, garage or veranda as a place to store dried fish.

However, the fish should be kept hanging properly. It is better to wrap it in newspaper or paper. You do not need to pack each fish, you can take a "bundle" and wrap it. So the fish does not dry out and retains its taste for a long time. But remember, if there is at least one spoiled dried smelt in the bunch, then the rest of the fishbetter not to eat. Therefore, make the "bundle" small - 5-7 carcasses in one.

Freeze

Definitely cold is the best way to store food. The container used is a wooden box, plastic or glassware, in which the dried smelt should be placed after drying (photo attached). Many housewives simply wrap the fish in paper and put it in the freezer. There are many options, choose the one that is more convenient for you.

Tin Can

An excellent way to store dried fish is also considered to be the use of tin containers. Of course, it is not always possible to find a real tin can, but if you succeeded, then you are a happy hostess. S alted, dried dried smelt is placed in neat rows in a tin. Close the lid tightly and put it in the cabinet in the kitchen. In this form, without access to sunlight and insects, the fish will last for about three months.

Calorie dried fish

To a lot of people who are on a diet, it seems that eating dried fish is not worth it. However, experts say that dried fish will not harm a losing weight body. Including dried smelt. Its calorie content is only 146 kcal per hundred grams of product. Some types of fish cooked "according to the rules of losing weight" in the oven or steamed can be much more high-calorie.

In addition, dried smelt is a source of a large amount of protein. It contains only 5 grams of fat and 0.07 grams of carbohydrates,the rest is protein. One hundred grams of this fish contains about 25 grams of protein. Nutritionists call this combination of BJU ideal for those who decide to lose weight. Few foods can boast so much protein with a low total calorie figure.