Salted Herring

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Full recipe

Salted herring is one of the most popular fish dishes in our area. It was so historically, because herring was widespread in the USSR. There was even a GOST (ISO), according to which the production salting was performed.

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Since I was a kid I used to go to the market and buy a few fish every week. Later I began to take it in the store, until I realized that can cook herring myself – because this way the fish will be perfectly sharpened to my own taste. Especially since pickling is a very simple cooking option. You could make sure of this from the recipes for pickled mackerel and salmon.

Now let’s talk about how to properly salt herring at home. For this we will need fish and marinade. I will start with herring. We sell herring in frozen form, so when buying it, you should pay attention that the fish is not yellow, with no visible damage.

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If you are lucky enough to buy fresh herring, then make sure that the fish is firm and does not have an unpleasant odor. And the lucky ones who have the opportunity to catch their own herring can go straight to the cooking stage.

Since I have frozen herring (2 pieces), I let it thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator. In no case do not try to speed up the defrosting process, otherwise the fish will lose a lot of its own liquid, which affects the taste of the final dish. Next, rinse the fish under running water, washing off all visible dirt. I will not gut the herring for this recipe, so that the milt or caviar, which are inside, are also salted.

Now move on to the marinade – it will be spicy, but in moderation. To prepare it, pour 1 liter of water into a pot and put it on the fire. Add salt (3 tbsp.), sugar (1 tbsp.), spices and bring to a boil.

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I recommend using black pepper (10 pcs.), allspice (3 pcs.), cloves (1 pc.). This is the minimum set, which gives a great flavor of brine. You can add bay leaf, coriander, nutmeg and other spices if you wish.

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Bringing the marinade to a boil, let it stand for 5-7 minutes and take it off the heat. We need to cool it to room temperature, so that the herring does not start to boil in it.

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I will pour the brine over the herring in a deep container. Since herring is cooked whole, the bowl or pan should be long enough not to break the carcass. As a last resort, a three-liter jar can be used. Put the fish in a bowl and pour the cooled marinade.

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It’s okay if the herring floats and the back sticks out a little – it won’t affect the result of salting. We send the fish to the refrigerator for at least 1 day. At most I kept herring for 3 days – it did not stay in our family longer.

If you want to speed up the salting process a bit, leave the herring at room temperature for the first few hours. This way the chemical processes will start more quickly.

Tip

As a result, we get herring salted whole.

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It must be cleaned and consumed.

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The herring is lightly salted, spicy and incredibly tasty.

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Most of the time I make home-cured herring as an appetizer to eat simply with homemade black bread.

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But sometimes it serves as an ingredient for more complex dishes, for example, we often prepare salad herring under a fur coat or forshmak.

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And as you can see, herring is fast cooking, so having a few in the freezer, you can have time to salt the fish the day before the reception.

Bon appetit! Don’t starve 😋