Recently, more and more housewives prefer to cook homemade dishes, avoiding convenience foods. Moreover, these preferences apply not only to cutlets and dumplings. Even salted fish, which can be bought at any grocery store, many housewives cook on their own. The reason is the reluctance to purchase products filled with preservatives and flavor enhancers. Salted mackerel was no exception, especially since there are a great many recipes for its preparation.
Pick your recipe
Mackerel in spicy pickle
For salting, you can take both fresh and frozen mackerel. If you chose the second option, then before embarking on the salting, leave the fish for several hours at a temperature of +3 - 5 ° C, so that it thaws. After this, the mackerel must be gutted. To do this, cut the abdomen from the head towards the caudal fin and carefully remove the insides. Do not forget to remove the film so that the fish is not bitter. Rinse the carcass with running water.
Before embarking on an ambassador, decide exactly how you want to salt the mackerel - whole carcass, slices or in the form of a filet. Note that the whole carcass must be aged longer in the brine than the slices.
Mackerel is a popular commercial fish. It is not suitable for frying, as its fillet with this cooking method becomes dry and becomes unpleasant. It is for this reason that mackerel is most often salted.
When the question of cutting fish is resolved, you can begin to prepare the brine. To prepare it, you will need: 1 liter of cold boiled or filtered water, 5 tbsp. salt, 2 tsp tea leaves, 10 peas of allspice, 3 tbsp. sugar, 3 bay leaves, 5-7 buds of cloves and 1 onion.
Pour tea leaves with 100 ml of boiling water and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. While making brine tea, prepare the dishes for the fish. It is advisable to use an enameled or glass container for salting.
Pour water into the pan and add all the ingredients there, except for tea and onions. Put the pot on the fire and bring it to a boil. Peel the onions from the husks and dip them into a boiling brine, reduce the heat and cook the onion until its flakes begin to separate from each other.
Strain the brewed tea and add it to the pan, boil the brine for another 1-2 minutes and remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan and let cool.
For salting, take fish with a wide back and skin in a beautiful bright shade. It is desirable that the carcass does not have a white coating and damage.
Place the mackerel in a prepared container and fill with chilled brine. Try to arrange the fish so that it is completely covered with liquid. Close the container with a lid, and place in a cool place for about 12 hours. Shake the liquid every 3-4 hours so that the salting process runs evenly. After 12 hours, the fish can be served at the table.
Mackerel with oil and vinegar
Those who prefer a more piquant and spicy taste of fish will surely like mackerel in oil and vinegar. In order to pickle fish in this way, the carcass must be preliminarily prepared by separating the tail and head, gutting and cutting into pieces no more than 3 cm thick.
Put the fish in an enamel pan and sprinkle the mackerel with salt, taking 1 tbsp. per 1 kg of fish. Add to the fish 5 buds of cloves, 7 peas of black pepper, 1 tbsp. vegetable oil and 1 tsp vinegar. Close the pan with a lid and shake it well several times. It is necessary to salt the fish in this way for 12-15 hours, periodically shaking the pan.