Salted herring is usually always present on the New Year's table as a simple cut or as a component of some New Year's salad. In this form, it is undoubtedly delicious, but if you want to bring a new trend and new tastes to the menu, you can try experimenting with salting technologies for this universal fish for all times. Today on the menu is smoked herring for the New Year!
Due to the fact that herring, especially from northern latitudes, is quite fatty in itself, you can salt it in the style of a smoked fish delicacy and air dry it to improve the taste and appearance. Decide for yourself whether to use liquid smoke in the brine - in our case, the result is a completely natural fish without questionable additives, which you can happily present to any table and for any company. On weekdays, such salted “smoked” herring will go great with potatoes and cucumbers, and on holidays it will become a table decoration and a subject of increased interest to curious guests.
Ingredients:
- - fresh frozen herring – 2 pcs.;
- - water for brine – 1 l;
- - sugar – 1 tbsp;
- - salt – 3 tbsp;
- - onion peel – 1 handful;
- - black tea – 2 tbsp;
- - vegetable oil – 1-2 tbsp. (for lubrication).
Preparation time: 3-4 days. Servings: 5-8
Herring recipe
1. It is advisable to start the preparation by preparing a coloring brine, since it needs time to brew and then infuse to obtain an intense pigment for coloring the herring and imitating the effect of smoked fish. Onion peels and strong tea leaves will act as coloring agents; if desired, use liquid smoke (100 ml of liquid smoke per 1 liter of brine). So, first, pour boiling water over black tea.
2. Wash the onion skins to remove dust, sand or soil, dip them into hot tea leaves and place the pan on the stove.
3. Bring the liquid level to the required 1 liter, boil for about 5 minutes, turn off and let it brew and cool for about 1 hour.
4. While the tea leaves are infused and cooled, we cut up the herring that has thawed at room temperature: it must be washed, cut off all excess - heads, tails, remove the entrails, clean the belly and rinse clean again.
5. When the liquid in the pan has cooled completely, strain it and discard the husks and tea leaves. Add salt and sugar to the filtered tea leaves, mix, dissolve the crystals - the coloring brine is ready!
6. Place the cut herring in a suitable tray so that the brine covers it completely.
7. Fill the herring with brine, and if it floats, place a saucer on top to “drown” the fish into the water so that the skin is evenly colored. We put the container in the refrigerator for 2 days, periodically you can turn it over and check whether both sides are colored equally.
8. After 2 days, remove the herring from the brine, lightly blot it and hang it to dry.You can hook the fish with hooks/clips, or you can hang them by the tails using threaded thread. We dry the herring in the open air or in a ventilated kitchen at a temperature of 15-25 degrees for 1-2 days.
9. As a result, some of the moisture leaves the herring, the fat is distributed more evenly in the tissues, and the fish itself “ripens” to perfection! Coat the sides of the fish with vegetable oil and move them to the cold. Such “smoked” herring should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a week.
Cold smoked herring is ready! Bon appetit!
