Two ways to salt crucian carp

How to properly salt crucian carp depends on their size. Or rather, the preparation of the fish is slightly different, but the salting process itself is the same.

Small crucian carp, weighing up to 1 kg, only need to be washed. Large ones require a little more tinkering. Gut the insides, remove the gills, and make a longitudinal cut with a sharp knife along the entire back. Rinse the fish again under running water. The preparation of the fish is completed, and we proceed to salting the crucian carp.

There are two ways to salt crucian carp. The first method is “wet”, and the second is “dry”. The wet method doesn't mean you have to prepare the brine and fuss over the stove. With this method, the fish is salted in its own juice, that’s all.

• For 1 kg of crucian carp you need approximately 0.5 kg of salt.

Find a basin, bucket, or deep plastic bowl. Place a handful of salt at the bottom of the container and place a layer of crucian carp on it. Sprinkle them with salt, and again a layer of crucian carp. You need to lay it tightly, and to eliminate voids, you can add more salt. There is never too much salt here, and it is better to pour it in than to be greedy.

It is not enough to simply place large crucian carp. To ensure that the fish carcass is well salted, pour salt into the gill space, into the abdomen and the cut on the back.Place large crucian carp in the same way as small ones, as close to each other as possible.

After placing the last fish, sprinkle everything on top thoroughly with salt. Place a lid on the fish and place pressure on top. Immediately remove the container with fish for 3-5 days in a cool place, and within a few hours the salt will begin to draw water from the fish and it will get wet. This is normal and salting of crucian carp occurs in “its own juice”.

Dry salting differs only in the container in which the salting takes place. For dry salting, take wooden boxes with loosely fitted bottom planks. The released moisture will flow out of the cracks, and this salting is called “dry”. Dry salting also lasts 3-5 days, depending on the size of the fish.

For drying and smoking, crucian carp are caught in autumn and winter. At this time, they have accumulated a large layer of subcutaneous fat, and they are ideal for drying.

Watch the video on how to pickle crucian carp for smoking and drying: