Many of us love salted fish, and especially mackerel. Mackerel meat does not at all resemble the meat of other marine fish, it is unusually tender and has a very mild flavor. But as it usually happens, everyone loves to eat, and only a few can cook food. Of course, you can buy mackerel in a store, but a dish prepared with your own hands is much tastier and healthier. Therefore, in this article we will talk about how to salt mackerel yourself.
Salted mackerel is great for beer, for fried and boiled potatoes, and, of course, you should not miss the opportunity to try salted mackerel sandwiches. There is nothing complicated in the process of salting mackerel. For this, you will not need phenomenal knowledge in the field of cooking. For salting, you can use both ice cream and fresh mackerel. Naturally, I think there is no need to remind that the fish must be fresh. After all, you will do all this for yourself and your family members. Of course, it is better to choose a fish fatter, but this is not critical, since not everyone likes fatty foods. Now let's look at three ways to properly salt mackerel.
The first way - how to salt mackerel
Of course, first you need to cut the belly of the fish and thoroughly clean its entrails. The final result largely depends on this stage, since if you poorly cleaned the fish, then the remnants of the entrails will not affect the taste of the final product in the most positive way. Absolutely everything should be removed from the belly, even milk and caviar, if any. After you have cleaned everything, rinse the empty abdomen with clean water and fill it with salt. For salting, it is best to buy the most common coarse salt, which is by no means iodized.
After all the fish are cleaned and filled with salt, you can proceed to the next step. Take the dishes in which you were going to salt the fish, of course, it would be nice if the dishes were made of stainless steel. But if one is not available, then any other one that you have in the kitchen will go. Pour a small layer of salt at the bottom of the dishes and lay the fish so that all the carcasses are located belly up. When laying, do not forget to sprinkle the mackerel with salt from the sides. As soon as all the fish is laid, immediately sprinkle it with salt on top so that it is not visible.
Now you need to place the dishes with fish in a cool place. If your container is not very large, then the bottom shelf in the refrigerator is an ideal place. In this form, fish should be stored for about 4-7 days. As you probably already understood, the time of the ambassador depends on the size of the carcasses of mackerel. The larger the fish, the longer it will drain out. During salting, do not forget to drain the resulting brine from the container. If this is not done, then various unwanted microorganisms will surely start in it and spoil your delicacy.
That's all, as you see, there is nothing complicated, and now you know how to salt mackerel. But this is the easiest way to salting. There are many ways with the addition of various spices, but even salting the fish in this way, you will be in seventh heaven from the final result. If you do not want to wait a whole week until the fish is salted, you can use, so to speak, the express method of salting mackerel.
The second way - for the impatient
Similar to the first method, you need to gut and wash the fish. Next, you need to separate the tail and head from the carcass. Now, if you have never made fish fillets, the most difficult stage is coming for you. It is necessary to cut the fish along the ridge and separate the tender meat from the bones. If you do everything right, you will get a very nice filet, which immediately cut into slices. Now cut the rings into two medium onions and you can start cooking the most important thing - marinade.
Mix half a glass of vegetable oil with three tablespoons of 9% vinegar. Add 4-6 peas of allspice, 2-3 bay leaves and two cloves to the resulting mixture. This completes the preparation of the marinade. Put the mackerel fillet in a bowl, pouring it with salt, mix and let it brew for 10 minutes. After that, if desired and to taste, you can pepper the fish, be sure to sprinkle with onions and pour the marinade. Stir the fish well again and let it brew for 10-12 hours. Then put the container with fish for a couple of hours in the refrigerator and you can enjoy a delicious fillet of mackerel.
The third way - how to salt mackerel in brine
The beginning is exactly the same - cut off the tail, head, gutted and thoroughly washed. Now pick up the jar according to the size of your fish and place the carcasses in the jar with the tails up. The fish is ready for the ambassador, it remains to cook the marinade.
Pour 4 tablespoons of tea leaves, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 4 tablespoons of salt into the water. Bring the mixture to a boil and let cool slightly. Then strain the resulting marinade and add 4 tablespoons of liquid smoke to it. Now fill the fish with this marinade and hide in the refrigerator for three days.
As you can see, everything is extremely simple and the ingredients for salting are available to everyone. Now you know as many as three ways to salt mackerel. Bon Appetit!