Anyone who at least once tried to salt mackerel at home knows: it turns out to be much tastier than the purchased one. Note, it's not about the price, although the economical hostess remembers this too. The main thing is that the amount of salt can be adjusted to your own taste. Someone will like more salted fish, someone less. In our article, we share a traditional recipe, and you can already adapt it for your household.
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Defrosting mackerel
This stage seems obvious, but in fact it directly depends on how high-quality and tasty the final product will be. We recommend using fresh fish, but you will most likely buy frozen fish from the store.
Never put fish in hot water or microwave oven! This is guaranteed to degrade the quality of the fish.
It is best to defrost fresh frozen mackerel at room temperature or in the defrost section of your refrigerator. This usually takes 12 to 24 hours.
As a last resort, you can leave the fish in cold, slightly salted water.
How to carve mackerel
Observe the following order when cutting:
- Cut off the head, fins, tail.
- Take out and discard the insides.
- Remove the dark film from the belly of the fish.
- Wash the fish well.
- Cut the mackerel into small pieces and place in a deep plate.
Ingredients for pickling:
- Mackerel - 1 large or 2 medium
- Pure water - 1 liter
- Sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
- Salt - 1 tbsp l.
- Bay leaves - 1-3 pcs.
- Mustard (whole or powder) - 0.5 cups
- Coriander (powder)
- Pepper, allspice and black (powder)
- Onion-turnip - 1 pc.
- Vegetable oil.
Preparation
Prepare the brine: for this, bring the water to a boil and add salt and sugar there. After 5-7 minutes add mustard, pepper and coriander. At this, the brine is ready, and it needs to be cooled to 40 degrees.
Pour mackerel with cooled brine, cover it with a plate and put a jar of water on top.
When the brine has cooled down a little, put the fish in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Keep in mind that boiling water will crack the skin on the fish. This is fine.
Note to the hostess
The clove will give the aroma and a slight bitterness of mackerel: add 5-6 "stars" to the brine.
It takes up to 4 days to cook highly salted with a persistent aroma when it is in the refrigerator.
The fish retains its firmness for a week.
Finished fish can be packed in a special bag and placed in the freezer. So it will not only last longer, but it will also come in handy if unexpected guests arrive.
The longer the fish is in the marinade, the more salty it will become.
Serve salted mackerel with onions cut into thin rings. You can also add herbs and lemon or pour over with vegetable oil.
Do you know how to salt mackerel?
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