Salting red fish at home - a simple and tasty recipe

Having learned how to properly salt red fish at home, you will forever give up wasting money on store-bought substitutes. Many housewives doubt their abilities and do not want to take risks. However, knowing the ratio of salt to sugar and a few completely simple recipes, you can easily cope with the task, joining the orderly ranks of fans of home pickling.

Lightly salted fish is used to prepare sushi, rolls, various snacks, and put in salads and sandwiches. By spending literally 10-15 minutes, you will become the owner of a delicious base for many delicious dishes. The advantage of salting yourself is that there will not be a drop of preservatives or dyes in your fish. In addition, without overpaying one iota, you can make homemade red fish fillet a delicacy, adding a variety of seasonings at your own discretion.

How to salt red fish at home

What kind of fish is suitable for salting? Absolutely any kind, except for sturgeon - salting them requires refrigeration equipment, which is not available at home. Red fish - pink salmon, masu salmon, chum salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, trout and salmon. You can make sandwiches for the holiday table from salted red fish; find out the recipes by clicking on the link.

Fresh and frozen fish are suitable for salting. If you're planning to fillet fish, it's better to do it before it's completely defrosted. The bones with the ridge are separated more easily, and the fillet itself remains undamaged.

There are two methods of pickling: dry, using a pickling mixture, and using brine - brine.

Dry salting of red fish:

To make a pickling mixture, take equal amounts of sugar and salt, add any spices. The amount of salt and sugar can be varied, depending on which you will get salted fish prepared according to a new recipe each time.
When dry salting, the selected fish is simply sprinkled with the mixture and left on the kitchen table for a while. Some recipes call for covering the fish and putting pressure on top. Personally, I rarely do this, the fish releases juice and I don’t like it too much.

Salting fish using brine:

With this method, the fish is ready much faster, and its taste is more intense.
The classic version of brine is prepared as follows: for 3 tablespoons of salt, take table sugar (less is possible) and several peas of pepper - black, allspice, or both. Add a bay leaf - don't spoil it.
It is not necessary to boil the brine, just use raw water. But if you are going to store the finished product for a long time, then it is better to boil it.
Experienced lovers of salted red fish know the interesting secret of salting it. They add mustard powder to the brine. There is no powder - put ready-made. This will give a pleasant spicy aroma to the fish, and the salting process will go much faster, one and a half times. Just keep in mind that you don’t need to add mustard to the hot brine; let it cool a little first, up to 50 degrees.
Have you made the brine? Pour it over the fish carcasses and leave for two to three days at room temperature. When making fillets, start tasting after 5 hours (salmon salts much faster, you can try after two hours).

What kind of fish is suitable for salting?

In order to prepare salted fish, almost any representative of this family is suitable. Dishes prepared from red fish are an image product for all restaurants. Therefore, when choosing, you should be guided by the taste preferences of an individual family. Every representative of the underwater world that has red meat is able to please a person with tender, tasty meat.

Most often for home pickling they choose:

salmon,
pink salmon,
chum salmon,
trout,
sockeye salmon

Quick salting of red fish in pieces in 15 minutes

Any red fish can be salted using this recipe. It turns out very tasty - just like in a restaurant and even better! Pink salmon salted according to this recipe, for example, tastes no different from salmon! You can enjoy your favorite snack in just a quarter of an hour.

The secret of the quick recipe is that we salt the fish into thin pieces in brine with the addition of vodka or cognac.

To prepare we will need:

Salmon fillet (any red fish will do!) – 500 g.
Salt – 3 tbsp. l.
Black peppercorns – 10 pcs.
Sugar – 1 tbsp. l.
Bay leaf – 2 pcs.
Coriander seeds – 0.5 tsp.
Cognac or vodka – 1 tbsp. l.
Vegetable oil – 1-2 tbsp. l.
Water – 500 ml.

Preparation:

Let's prepare the marinade. Pour clean water into the saucepan.
We also send bay leaves, coriander, peppercorns, salt and granulated sugar here. Mix. We put it on fire. We are waiting for it to boil. Let it boil for 1 minute. Then turn it off and let it cool completely.
You cannot put fish in hot liquid - it will boil and the planned snack will not come out!
We clean the fish from the bone and remove the skin. It is best to freeze the ocean one. But if the product is a farm product, you don’t have to do this.
So, slightly frozen, in this case, fillet, cut into portioned slices, about 7 mm thick. We initially cut off the part from the abdomen into strips. In this form, let it defrost completely.
Place the finished pieces in 1-2 layers in a suitable bowl. Pour alcohol into the cold marinade. Cognac or vodka will add a unique note of taste.
In addition, alcohol has disinfectant and preservative properties. Therefore, in quick methods of salting raw fish, it is used not only as a flavoring agent, but also for safety reasons.
Pour cold marinade over the fish. It should completely cover the contents of the dish. Leave it like this, right on the table, for 10-15 minutes. After 10 minutes the appetizer will be lightly salted. After another 5 minutes, the fillet will become a little saltier.
Now place the pieces on paper towels. We also dry the top with them. The fillet should be completely dry so that it does not continue to salt out.
Place on a serving plate. Coat the top with vegetable oil. If it is salmon, then use a minimum of oil. But for pink salmon, for example, you will need a little more of it, because it is not fatty enough.

Bon appetit!

Spicy mackerel

If you prefer rich, spicy combinations, here's a delicious recipe for pickling fish. Here the main role is played by mackerel. She feels comfortable in the company of spices, even the most fragrant ones. Depending on how salty you want the fish to be, choose the holding time. Two hours will be enough for the mackerel to become slightly salted. For a stronger degree of salting, it will take 4–5 hours.

Ingredients:

mackerel carcass - 1 pc.
onion - 1 pc.
water - 500 ml
coarse salt - 1.5 tbsp. l.
bay leaf - 2 pcs.
black peppercorns - 15 pcs.
nutmeg - 0.5 tsp.
ground coriander - 0.5 tsp.
mustard seeds - 0.5 tsp.
lemon - 1 pc.

Cut the mackerel into 1 cm thick slices and place in a glass jar. Gently bring the water to a boil. As it heats up, add salt, onion half rings and all the spices, mix everything well. Boil the marinade over low heat for 7–8 minutes, cool to 35–38 °C, and pour the mackerel into the jar. When it has cooled completely, put the jar in the refrigerator, tightly closing the lid. We add slices of lemon and red onion rings to the finished salted fish and serve.

These are the recipes we came up with for salting fish. They may well appear on your New Year's table. However, there are many more variations on this theme. Find more interesting ideas on our website. Do you prepare this delicacy yourself at home? What kind of fish do you choose for this? Do you have a signature marinade and salting method? We will be glad if you share recipes with other readers.

SALTED RED FISH

Did you know that pink salmon can be a little dry after salting? To keep the fish soft, it is salted with a small amount of vegetable oil or, after salting, marinated in mustard sauce. Nelma, trout, and salmon are ideal for salting; this fish cannot be spoiled. But the meat of chum salmon and coho salmon when salted is a bit rough; it is softened by adding lemon juice to the salting mixture.

For salting, it is advisable to take a whole fish. It's okay if it's frozen. Just make sure that the fish has not been defrosted several times. Fish carcasses that have been frozen repeatedly look dull, and the flesh falls into pieces after thawing. Carefully examine the fins; frozen fat looks yellowish.

Do not buy fish packaged in several layers of film. In this form you will not be able to see her appearance. When buying chilled skin-on fillets, feel free to smell them. The fish should not smell unpleasant.

Remember that salt for pickling must be coarse and always clean. Sea or oceanic will do.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg red fish fillet
2 tbsp. l. salt
1 tbsp. l. Sahara
2 bay leaves
0.5 tsp. coriander seeds
0.5 tsp. pepper mixtures

COOKING

Wash the fillet, cleaned of fins, bones and dirt, under running water and dry with a paper towel.

Mix salt, sugar and spices. Sprinkle the resulting mixture onto both sides of the fish.
Place the fish in a container with a lid and leave at room temperature for 4 hours. Then place in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.

In the morning, lightly salted fish is ready. Before eating, clean the fillet from salt and spices.
To store fish for more than 2 days, brush it with vegetable oil and place it in a dry container. Store in the refrigerator.

Salt fish at home

Recipe for salting spicy fish

If you want to prepare salted spicy red fish in pieces, it is very easy to do. You can cook other fish in this way, for example, herring.

For salting, it is best to take chilled, fatty Pacific or Atlantic herring, paying attention to the appearance when purchasing - the fish should be silver, with transparent eyes. If the fish is frozen, it should be defrosted in the refrigerator - no microwaves or hot water. The container for pickling should have a sealable lid that does not allow air to penetrate under it.

The herring must first be processed by rinsing with water and removing the gills. Red fish prepared for salting should be cut into slices.

To prepare 1 kg of lightly salted slices you will need:

1 liter of boiled and cooled water;
2 tablespoons salt;
1 tablespoon sugar;
spices to taste (to prepare spicy salted herring, add cloves, cumin, peppercorns, bay leaves).

The prepared solution is poured over the pieces of fish so that they are all immersed in the liquid, tightly closed with a lid and placed in a cool place for 3-4 days.

Preparing marinated fish

You can prepare excellent marinated fish (not only red fish, but also herring is perfect for this!), for which you will need;

100 gr. grated carrots;
100 grams of onions, finely chopped;
20 ml wine vinegar;
10 gr. peppercorns;
50 grams of capers;
several juniper berries.

The marinade is prepared by simply boiling water with salt, sugar, carrots and onions. After this, use a slotted spoon to remove the boiled carrots and onions from the solution, adding wine vinegar, pepper and juniper berries. Cool the solution to room temperature.

Place the root vegetables and capers removed from the water onto thin pieces of fillet, roll them up and secure with toothpicks so that they do not unroll. The rolls should be placed in a container with a tight-fitting lid and filled with marinade. In 2 days the spicy fish will be ready

Whitefish pickling recipe

To salt freshwater fish from the salmon family, such as whitefish, we recommend the following recipe.

For 1 kg of fish you need:

50 g (about 2 tablespoons) coarse salt:
50 g sugar;
20 g dill;
2 cloves of garlic;
50 g dry white wine.

After preparing the fish for salting, rub it with a mixture of salt, sugar and wine. Garlic and dill must be chopped, mixed and stuffed into the fish belly, then tightly wrapped in linen or parchment. After 3-5 hours of storage in the refrigerator, the pickling process can be considered complete.

As you can see, salting fish at home is not at all difficult, but its taste is simply excellent!

Fish salting recipes

Red fish is salted more often; it is beautiful, tasty, and due to its high fat content, it absorbs a little salt, so it is rarely over-salted. When you start, don’t be afraid, you’ll ruin it.

By the way, after cutting, do not rush to throw away the waste. From heads, ridges, fins and other things, prepare an excellent fish soup. If you are interested in the recipe, write to me, I will share a simple and tasty recipe in the comments. Beer lovers sometimes salt the bones of red fish separately - the delicacy goes fantastically well with beer, and if there is a little meat left on the bones, then it’s a total delight!

How to pickle red fish in pieces

Salted red fish into pieces is also well soaked in the marinade; cutting them framed is easier than slices. If you have added salt, the carcass should be rinsed with cool water. Spices include onions, garlic, herbs, black and allspice. The fish will become more tender if you soak it in grated lemon or orange pulp for a couple of hours.

Ingredients:

fish – 1 kg;
salt – 2 tbsp. l.;
sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
pepper mixture – 2 tsp;
bay leaf – 2 pcs.

Preparation

Remove scales from the fish, separate the fillets and chop.
Grind the bay leaf.
Mix it with salt, sugar and pepper.
Sprinkle the mixture over the pieces.
Wrap the fish in a napkin, then in foil.
Place in the freezer for 2 weeks.

Rules to follow when salting fish

Whatever recipe you choose - and there are a great many of them for every taste - be sure to follow some rules:

salt, sugar and seasonings are mixed in a pan of such a size that the whole fish or its pieces fit completely there - this way the fish will be salted more evenly;
Having rubbed the pieces of fish with the mixture, they need to be laid so that the body of the fish does not come into contact with the skin;
The pan with the grated pieces should be removed to a cool room so that they are thoroughly soaked.

That's all. If you need lightly salted fish, after 10-12 hours you can try your delicacy; if you want stronger salting, you will need about 2 days.

Be sure to periodically check the fish and drain the juice formed during the process - if the fish sits in it for a long time, it will not turn out as tender and melting in your mouth as you would like.

Dry salting of red fish

The so-called salmon ambassador. Fish according to this recipe is made by dry salting, without brine.

Cut the fish into two large fillets. Pour salt generously into the bottom of the dish, rub the fish halves with salt and place the meat inside. Throw some salt on top, but don't skimp.
Leave it in the room for 6–12 hours. The larger the fillet, the longer it will take to reach condition. The salting time depends on what kind of product you want to get: lightly salted or cooler.
During salting, taste, decide that the fish is ready, wash off the excess salt. Next, friends, we proceed like this: sprinkle the inside with ground black pepper, if you like, add a little red. Then dip your finger in vegetable oil and grease the halves, and put finely chopped garlic and bay leaf on top (tear finely). Place the halves back together and let them ripen overnight in the refrigerator.

If you can’t resist, start trying at night, the fish will be ready, especially if the fish is not large. If you want to speed up the process, cut the fish into pieces.

The cloves won't ruin the product, but don't overdo it, you don't need too much. Yes, you can try other seasonings to suit your taste - there is room for creativity.

By the way, Far Eastern sailors don’t call salt salmon salmon; for them, the correct salmon salt is simply taking equal parts salt and sugar.

Lightly salted red fish - delicious recipe

It is very important to correctly calculate the ratio of salt to sugar. If you want to get a completely lightly salted product, reduce the amount of salt. Then, if the result is not satisfactory, you can always add salt. The same rule applies to sweets. The recipe is suitable for preparing lightly salted pink salmon, salmon, trout, and chum salmon.

We take:

Red fish – 1 kg.
Salt – 100-200 gr.
Sugar – 10 – 40 gr.
Dill - optional.

How to add salt:

Cut the carcass into small fillets.
Mix salt and sugar and grate the pieces.
Place in a container: the bottom row of pieces skin side down, the top row skin side out. If you decide to use dill, chop it and scatter it between the layers.
Cover the bowl with a lid and place a heavier weight on top. Place in the refrigerator and let stand for 5-6 hours.
If the pieces are large, the salting time will increase up to a day, depending on their size.

How to salt red fish with vodka

You can make salted red fish elastic at home - the recipe with vodka and alcohol ensures this effect and prevents the flesh from spreading. When choosing a carcass, it is important to consider that fatty varieties do not absorb excess salt, so they are easier to cook. Pink salmon will taste more tender if you grease the skin with oil before salting.

Ingredients:

fish – 500 g;
salt – 2 tbsp. l.;
vodka – 50 g;
sugar – 1.5 tbsp. l.;
dill - 1 sprig.

Preparation

Clean and wash the fish.
Place dill on the bottom of the pan.
Mix salt and sugar and grate the fish.
Pour vodka and press down.
Refrigerate for 12 hours.
Wash, cut, serve with olives.

How to choose fresh, high-quality fish

Firstly, you should take a responsible approach to the process of selecting fish carcasses. Its eyes can tell a lot about a fish: if they are red and clear, then the fish is fresh. The presence of cloudy eyes on the carcass indicates that the product is not fresh. Appearance is also important. If the fish has been frozen several times, a yellowish tint similar to rust may appear in light areas. As a rule, stale fish, if you look at it more closely, does not have a very attractive appearance, which immediately catches your eye.

If fish carcasses are packaged in polyethylene, then they should not be purchased, since it is very difficult to determine the freshness of the product, especially if there are several layers.

Those who cook fish at home are advised to buy red fish whole carcasses. Inside it you can find caviar, which costs a lot of money. By the way, you can also prepare caviar yourself, and this exotic product will cost much less than buying it at a retail outlet.

Pink salmon, salted at home

Cut the pink salmon into fillets, rub both halves with salt (3-4 tablespoons should be needed, depending on the size) and place them together.
Wrap the carcass in cellophane and several layers of newspaper. Place the salted red fish in the refrigerator for a day first. Then turn it over to the other side and hold it for another day.
Pink salmon, which is usually a bit dry, which is why many people don’t like it too much, turns out juicy. I forgot to say, when it is salted, wrap it in a cloth and move it to storage. This method can be used to salt salmon and chum salmon.

Recipe No. 2.

The recipe is perfect for home-salting pink salmon, chum salmon, and salmon.

Rub the pink salmon fillet with salt and add some spices. The seasoning can be bought in almost any store (special ones are sold), but you can also make it yourself. The mixture of seasonings must certainly contain white mustard grains - the fish will become dense and will not fall apart when cut.
Grate the fillet and leave on the table for three hours. Then cut into pieces and put in a jar.
The final touch: add any oil - vegetable, olive - and put it in the refrigerator. Pink salmon can be tasted after twelve hours and stored for as long as needed.

Guys, stop me, otherwise I'll torture you with salted fish. Of course, I hope that the advice on how to pickle delicious red fish will inspire you to great deeds and you will feed your household with solid delicacies.

Tasty salting of pink salmon

Salted fish is the most favorite snack of most residents not only of our country, but also of other countries. It should be noted that just the sight of such a dish whets the appetite.

You already know how to salt salmon and trout. However, there are still many red fish from which you can prepare a delicacy at home. One of them is pink salmon. This is a relatively inexpensive fish. That is why it is especially popular among those who like to enjoy a delicious dish, but are not ready to part with a lot of money.

So, salt the red fish in brine. For this we need:

small frozen pink salmon – 2 pcs.;
any fine salt – add as desired;
granulated sugar - a couple of pinches;
fresh lemon – 1 pc.;
drinking water – 2 glasses;
ground allspice - use to taste.

How to salt red fish with lemon

For those who like red fish, salted pink salmon at home with lemon is an ideal preparation. Dill goes well with it; it is used to sprinkle the pulp both during salting and after it. You can mix the greens with a spoon of lemon zest. To ensure that the carcass is salted in moderation, it is greased with oil; it is better to take olive or sunflower oil, which is odorless.

Ingredients:

fish – 500 g;
lemon – 1 pc.;
salt – 2 tbsp. l.;
sugar – 1 tbsp. l.

Preparation

Grind the fish and lemon.
Mix sugar and salt, pour some into the bottom of the dish.
Put in lemon.
Dip fillet pieces into a mixture of salt and sugar.
Place on top of the zest.
Refrigerate for 12 hours.

Salting in a few hours

If you need to organize a table with appetizers in a few hours, you will need a quick recipe for pickling red fish.

INGREDIENTS

0.5 kg red fish fillet
1 liter of water
4 tbsp. l. salt
2 tbsp. l. Sahara
3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
spices to taste

COOKING

Dissolve salt and sugar in hot water. Add spices and let the brine cool completely.
Meanwhile, cut the fish into slices, place in a container and fill with cold brine. Leave to salt for 2 hours at room temperature.

After the time has passed, drain the brine and place the fish on a towel to remove excess liquid. Place the plates in a plate and pour in vegetable oil. Store in the refrigerator for no more than a day. Bon appetit!

Red fish is incredibly tasty, but the pleasure is not cheap. Of course, on holidays you can splurge and buy a piece of salmon or pink salmon, and for every day a budget recipe for juicy and tender home-salted herring will come in handy. It's simply impossible to resist!

Salting with sugar and spices

This method is often used by famous chefs. The resulting meat is suitable for salads or served as a main course.

Products for pickling:

1 kg fillet;
3 tbsp. white sugar;
fresh parsley and dill;
1 tsp ground pepper;
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice;
4 tbsp. coarse salt;
4 bay leaves.

Cooking technique:

Mix salt and pepper and rub the meat with them.
Place it in a saucepan, put bay leaves and chopped herbs on top.
Place the next piece of fish on top and cover it with the rest of the salty mixture.
Pour lemon juice over the salmon.
Place the dish in the refrigerator for 2 days.
It is necessary to turn the fish several times daily.
After salting, clean the fish from spices and cut into pieces.

Salted fish is an excellent appetizer for any holiday or family dinner.

There are many options for salting salmon, but they differ only in the number of components. At home, you can prepare it according to your own recipes, obtaining a variety of flavors by using additional components.

Author: Shalunova Anna

Article design: Anna Vinnitskaya

How to store salted red fish?

Successfully salting a carcass is only half the battle; it is very important to store the dish correctly. Many housewives wonder how long salted red fish can be stored in the refrigerator.

You can keep it in the freezer for up to six months, but the taste is lost. First, the pieces must be blotted to remove excess moisture, each wrapped in cling film, then put everything in a closed bag.
The workpiece will keep in oil for about a month, just like in brine.

The shelf life also depends on the concentration of the saline solution:

if weak – a week;
with average – 15 days;
for severe cases – 30 days.