Grocery list
When preparing to smoke at home, you need to purchase:
- 1 kg herring;
- 2 tbsp. l. salt;
- favorite spices.
How to cook smoked herring: instructions and step-by-step photos
First you have to take care of the fish. It is unlikely that anyone will go to catch her. Hope for our fish stores. It is suggested to choose a chilled product, although it is not easy to purchase. Frozen herring will also work. However, it will have to be thawed naturally. Let it sit in the air for a couple of hours. If you want it really quickly, you can put it in the water, as in the photo.
The carcasses should definitely be cleaned. Your own laziness is always harmful, so you don’t need to entertain yourself with illusions that it will get away with your guts. Still, it is much more pleasant to eat smoked herring when it has been previously gutted. And the tails and fins are not cut off, this way the integrity of the carcass will be preserved.
The fish must be washed thoroughly. The water gradually brightens and then becomes transparent.
It's time to move on to salting. For 1 kg of herring you will need 1-2 tbsp. l. salt. Spices are immediately poured into the bowl. Then you need to carefully roll the fish in the salt and pepper mixture with your hands. According to the recipe, leave the fish to salt for about 2.5-3 hours.
After the specified time has passed, it is recommended to wash the herring again. This will remove excess salt. While the smokehouse is being prepared, the fish can be laid out to dry.
Many people suggest smoking herring at home in an oven or frying pan. It may be possible, but it is much more practical to perform this procedure in a home smokehouse, which is installed in the country house or in the courtyard of a country house. Folding devices are convenient to use even on picnics. A layer of wood chips is poured onto the bottom of the box. In this particular case, alder was used, although a mass obtained from any hardwood would be suitable.
The prepared, slightly dried fish is placed on the grill. Almost no fat drips from herring during hot smoking, but it is still better to install trays under the grill or lay out a piece of foil.
All that remains is to close the box tightly and add firewood from below so that smoke is constantly generated. Hot smoking of salka lasts about 40-50 minutes. Periodically, after half an hour of cooking, it is advisable to look at the color of the skin. If it turns golden, you can take out the smoked delicacy.
You can eat hot smoked herring immediately as soon as it is removed from the grill. However, on the second day its taste becomes even more rich and subtle. Try it, experiment! The recipe is simple and a lot of fun! Bon appetit!
