Lightly salted herring: a selection of the best cooking recipes - how to pickle your own herring at home

How to choose fish for salting

This question is the main one, since the taste of the finished fish will depend on the quality and freshness of the main ingredient.

Usually, frozen or chilled fish is used for salting. It is very important to know the basic rules for choosing the most delicious fish.

When purchasing chilled herring, pay attention to the following:

• For salting, it is best to take whole, not gutted carcasses with the head on.
• The skin of the fish should be smooth, even, shiny, without damage or dark spots.The only exception is the dark stripes on the dorsal part of the carcass, characteristic of this type of fish.
• The eyes of chilled fish should be clean, without white coating.
• When you press on the carcass with your finger, there should be no marks or dents on the skin.
• For salting, it is better to take the largest and thickest herring. This fish is much fattier and more flavorful.
• When purchasing a carcass with a thick belly, there is a high probability that there will be caviar inside, and this is also a delicacy.

The rules for choosing frozen fish are slightly different:

• Herring carcasses must be intact, without damage to the skin.
• Pay attention to the amount of ice; there should be a minimum amount.
• Under no circumstances should there be any yellow spots or stains on the surface of the fish.
• The smell of fish should not raise suspicions about a low-quality product.

Mandatory pre-processing steps

First of all, frozen fish is thawed. It is best to do this in the main compartment of the refrigerator, placing the frozen carcass there for 12-20 hours. To speed up the process, defrosting can be done at room temperature. It is strictly forbidden to defrost herring in a microwave oven or in hot water by soaking.

Next, the herring is washed and, if necessary, if required by the recipe, cleaned of entrails, cut into pieces or filleted.

Recipes for salting herring

The general principles of salting fish at home are described Here.

Whole head and giblets

Salting a whole, uncleaned carcass with the head on has a number of advantages. Firstly, such fish turns out to be much tastier and more aromatic, and secondly, after cleaning and removing the skin, salted fish will look more aesthetically pleasing and will be suitable for serving a festive table.

The recipe is simple.First, the brine is boiled. To do this, add 3 full tablespoons of salt and 1.5 teaspoons of sugar to 1 liter of water. For spices, be sure to add a bay leaf (a couple of pieces) and a few grains of black pepper. If desired, also add a couple of clove buds.

The brine is brought to a boil over high heat and then cooled to room temperature. Herring carcasses are placed in the saline solution. A pressure is placed on top (a stone or a jar filled with water). In this form, the fish is left for preliminary salting for a day.

After 24 hours, the herring is transferred to a jar or plastic container of the required size and filled with brine. Cover the bowl with herring with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for another day.

Salted fish can be stored in this form for up to 7 days.

Advice: If the herring is over-salted after being in brine for a long time, it can be soaked in cold milk or clean cold water for half an hour.

The “Distilliruem” channel shares its entire method of salting herring.

Spicy salted herring in a jar

Boil a liter of water in a small saucepan. After boiling, put 2 bay leaves into the water (you can do 1 if you don’t like the taste of this spice). Also add 2.5 tablespoons of salt and 1.5 tablespoons of sugar. Necessary spices: black pepper (4-5 peas), coriander grain - 1/3 teaspoon and cumin no more than ¼ small spoon. You can also use a special spicy mixture for salting fish. Spice manufacturers offer a wide selection of spice sets, including for herring.

The fire is immediately turned off. The brine is given time to cool.

Meanwhile, clean the fish (2 pieces). The head is cut off from the carcass and the intestines are thoroughly cleaned. The herring is washed and the water is allowed to drain, placing the processed carcasses on a wire rack.Then each fish is cut into large pieces. To do this, just cut the carcass into 3 parts.

Pieces of herring are placed in a clean liter or one and a half liter jar, and the cooled spicy solution is poured into it. The jar is closed with a lid. The salted fish is placed in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Before serving, each piece of fish is cut into several pieces and decorated with onion rings and parsley.

The channel “Tasty Simple and Healthy” will talk about salting gutted herring carcasses

Dry method

The herring (2 pieces) is defrosted, the insides are cleaned and the head is cut off. Each carcass is thoroughly washed and cut into pieces of 3-4 centimeters.

The fish is transferred to a plate with high sides and covered with salt (1.5 tablespoons) and sugar (1.5 teaspoons). From the spices, add bay leaf, which is pre-crushed in your hands, and black allspice peas (5 pieces). The cuttings are thoroughly mixed so that the pieces of herring are evenly coated with a mixture of salt, sugar and spices.

Place the herring in a single layer in a wide enamel bowl or plastic container, trying to place the pieces as close to each other as possible. The container is closed with a lid and sent to the refrigerator. The fish will be ready in 8-10 hours!

A simple recipe for salting fish is described in our article.

Express method

Two herring carcasses are not completely defrosted, but only so that the cutting can be conveniently cleaned. The head is cut off from the carcass and the fins are cut out. Next, the herring is completely filleted. The layers of fish are cut into pieces, the width of which should not exceed 2.5-3 centimeters.

The next step is to make a highly concentrated saline solution: dissolve 5 tablespoons of salt in a liter of cold water.Constantly stirring until the crystals are completely dissolved.

The prepared fish fillets are carefully placed in a cold solution and left in it for 40 minutes. Then the pieces are carefully caught with a fork and transferred to a flat plate covered with a paper towel.

The slightly dried herring is transferred to a container with high sides. The pieces are arranged in several layers. Top the slices with refined vegetable oil. The oil should completely cover the herring pieces.

After 2 hours, the fish can be served. It turns out to be a kind of homemade preserve.

A universal method for salting any fish is presented in our material. You can also check out the recipe dry salting of herring and capelin.

In a jar with vinegar and onions

Preparing fish comes down to defrosting, cleaning and filing. Two large fish will be enough. The layers are cut into small pieces (ideal width 2-3 centimeters).

To prepare the brine, add 1 heaped teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of sugar to 250 milliliters of water. Place the bowl with the solution on the fire and bring to a boil. After this, turn off the gas and add 9% vinegar - 5 tablespoons - to the brine.

One large onion (can be red) is peeled and cut into half rings.

Pieces of herring are placed in a clean liter jar, topped with onions and sprinkled with spices. For spices, coriander grains and a mixture of peppercorns are used.

After the fish is compacted, the jar is filled with marinade. You can add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (refined version) on top.

Natalya Parkomenko shares with you her method of filleting herring

How to store lightly salted herring

After salting, fish is stored in the refrigerator for no more than 7 days. To extend the shelf life of the product, the herring can be removed from the salt solution, cut into pieces if it was salted entirely, and poured with vegetable oil. Fish in this form can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.