Homemade herring sprats

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

Sprats - a fish no longer than 12 centimeters long and weighing about 15 grams, belonging to the herring family. It lives in the B altic Sea, in small quantities it is found in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

This fish has been used for many years to make canned food called "Sprats". Currently, various small fish are used for the preparation of canned food. We eat sprats from B altic herring, sprat, kilka, etc. And only in the B altic fish factories they traditionally prepare "Sprats" from the corresponding fish.

Thanks to a unique technology that does not change over the years, canned food retains its original taste regardless of the type of fish.

Some interesting facts

A chance find (workers found unused packages for sprats during the renovation of the old building) suggests that sprats (canned food) have been produced in Riga since 1890 on Malaya Molochnaya Street by Maurice & Co. Canned food was recommended to be consumed chilled (this was indicated on the label), and they were called - "Royal sprats".

The canned fish is packed in different ways. It depends on the time of the year when it was caught. In winter, the fish is laid back up, and in summer - belly up.

Summer fish is fatter, moves little in warm water, its back cracks when cooked.

A monument was erected to sprats: a fish jumps out of a bronze tin can. The monument was opened in 2008 in Mamonovo, where a large plant for the production of canned fish is located.

How canned sprats are prepared

The fish for canning is thoroughly washed, the head is removed, placed in rows on a special baking sheet and sent to the smokehouse for three hours. Next, the fish is tightly packed in jars, poured with oil, seasoned with s alt and pepper. Banks are sealed and sterilized.

Important: real sprats are cooked only with vegetable oil, s alt and pepper. No other additives and spices are allowed, if they are indicated on the jar of sprats, then most likely the fish in them is of poor quality.

Recently, some manufacturers save on smoking fish. Prepared carcasses are simply treated with chemical "liquid smoke", which saves the manufacturer's money, but is extremely unhe althy for the consumer.

In order to be sure of the quality of the fish and the method of smoking, you can cook your own homemade sprats from herring.

Recipe "Homemade sprats in the oven"

Cooking sprats according to the proposed recipe is a simple process and is available to any housewife. Tea and onion peel are used as a substitute for "liquid smoke". Herring sprats, the photo of which is presented below, are prepared from the followingproducts:

• frozen herring - 1 kg;
• sunflower oil - 200 grams;
• leaf tea (black) - 2 tablespoons;
• bay leaf - 8-10 pieces;
• black pepper (peas) - 10-12 pieces;
• s alt - 2 tablespoons;
• onion peel - 20 grams.

Rinse the onion peel, pour 2 cups of water and boil for 15-20 minutes. Cool the broth and strain.

Make tea in 2 glasses of water, cool, strain.

Thaw fish, rinse, decapitate and gut.

Place the fish tightly in a heat-resistant dish with a thick bottom. Lay the herring back up, as in canned food.

Sprinkle fish with pepper (peas) and bay leaf, pour oil. Gently move and tilt everything so that the oil filling penetrates between the carcasses of the fish.

Mix tea, infusion of onion skins, add s alt. Mix everything well until the s alt crystals are completely dissolved.

Pour the fish with the resulting saline solution.

Put herring in an oven preheated to 150 degrees, bake at the same temperature until the solution boils, then reduce the fire, reduce the temperature to 120 degrees, cook for about 2 hours.

Then let the dish cool, and only then take out the finished sprats.

Recipe can be modified to your liking:

• add carnation;
• strong s alt;
• increase time"languishing" in the oven (in this case, the bones will become very soft);
• increase the amount of strong tea (the fish will become harder).

Cooking herring sprats on the stove

If you are not interested in messing with onion peel, tea and oven, but want to cook herring sprats at home, then use the following recipe.

Products:

• Salak s/m - 1 kilogram;
• sunflower oil - 4 tablespoons;
• black peppercorns sweet and bitter - 10 pieces each;
• bay leaf - 3 or 4 pieces;
• food s alt - 1 teaspoon without a slide;
• vinegar (better fruit) - 1 tablespoon;
• granulated sugar - 1 teaspoon without a slide.

Defrost the fish, rinse well, decapitate, gut. Put herring in a saucepan with a thick bottom, s alt, sprinkle with pepper, granulated sugar, put bay leaf, pour in vinegar and sunflower oil. Pour the contents of the pan with water so that the fish is half in the water.

Cover the pan with a lid and put on a slow fire. Cooking time is approximately 2 hours. Then remove the pan from the heat, cool completely, take out the finished sprats.

To speed up the cooking process, you can use a pressure cooker or a slow cooker, in this case, the fish will cook in 1 hour.

Sprats based on soy sauce

The original recipe for herring sprats involves the use of soy sauce. The dish is cooked on the stove and marinatedday.

Required products:

• fresh-frozen herring - 1, 2 kg;
• soy sauce - 1/2 cup;
• tea brew - 1 cup;
• sunflower oil - 1 cup;
• food s alt - 1/2 teaspoon;
• granulated sugar - 1 teaspoon;
• bay leaf - 3 or 4 pieces.

Thaw the fish, rinse well, decapitate, gut, put in a pan with a thick bottom or cauldron, pour soy sauce.

Mix tea leaves with butter, put sugar, s alt and bay leaf. Mix well.

Pour the resulting mixture into the fish.

Put the pot on the fire, close the lid and simmer for 1 hour.

Do not turn or remove the fish. Put the pan with the fish in the refrigerator for a day. Then the sprats can be taken out and served on the table. A delicious treat is ready.

Small fish sprats

The proposed recipe allows you to cook sprats from herring (small), capelin, perched water, sprat and other small fish.

Ingredients required:

• fish (small) - 1 kilogram;
• sunflower oil - 0.5 cups;
• table s alt - 1 tablespoon without top;
• vinegar (apple) - 1/4 cup;
• bay leaf - 4-5 pieces;
• onions - 2-3 pieces;
• black peppercorns, cloves, parsley root - to taste.

Thaw fish, wash thoroughly, gut, remove heads and fins.

Onion peel, wash, cut into rings.

Put a layer of onions on the bottom of the cauldron,put a layer of fish on top, then a layer of onion, a layer of fish, etc. Put bay leaf, parsley root, cloves, black peppercorns between layers on the fish.

Vinegar diluted in a glass of water.

Mix diluted vinegar with sunflower oil and s alt.

Pour the mixture into the fish, close the cauldron with a lid and put on a small fire. The dish takes 1.5 hours to cook.

The taste of sprats is in no way inferior to canned store-bought ones.

Conclusion

Sprats from herring, capelin, sprat and other small fish are easy to cook at home. The recipes above do not require special skills, exotic products and a lot of time. But, following them, even an inexperienced hostess will be able to cook a delicacy that will be no worse than store-bought canned sprats. And the usefulness of the dish will not be in doubt: sprats from herring at home are always fresh and do not contain harmful impurities.

Cook with love, please yourself and your loved ones.

Bon appetit!