Sprat is one of the favorite delicacies on the territory of the former Soviet Union. And if in the USSR it can be easily found on the shelves of any store, today lovers of this fish have to try to buy it. But why buy? We can pickle sprat at home, while the product will turn out to be tastier at times and most importantly - more natural.
Before telling you some recipes for salting sprat should reveal a couple of secrets, without which the result of cooking can be unsatisfactory.
In the first place, for salting fish, you should take only large rock salt, fine, and even more iodized will spoil or completely negate all efforts.
As for the fish, it can be gutted before salting, or, if desired, it can be salted with entrails.
Now is the time to offer you a few options on how to pickle sprat at home.
Spiced salted sprat
You will need:
- sprat - 1 kg,
- black pepper freshly ground - 50 g,
- salt - 200 g,
- dried cloves - 2-4 pcs.,
- black pepper pea - 3-5 pcs.,
- coriander - 50 g,
- bay leaf - 2-3 pcs.,
- ground ginger - pinch.
Preparation Method
- Rinse the fish thoroughly and allow all excess water to drain.
- Grind the cloves, black pepper, coriander and bay leaf not too finely in a mortar.
- Add salt and ginger to spices. Mix well.
- Pour all the spices into the fish, mix thoroughly.
- Now the sprat needs to be put under a press and put into the fridge for 12 hours. After that, the fish is ready for use, enjoy your meal!
Recipe number 2
You will need:
- sprat - 1 kg,
- salt - 200 g,
- black pepper pea - 100 g,
- dried cloves - 4 pcs.,
- bay leaf - 5-6 pcs.,
- cardamom to taste.
Preparation Method
- Sprat should be thoroughly washed and allowed to drain.
- Take a wooden or enameled dish and place some seasoning on its bottom.
- On the spices you need to put a layer of sprat and re-fill it with seasoning. Alternate the seasoning mixture and fish until the container is full.
- Now, seasoned sprat should be put under a press and put in the fridge for about 12 hours. After this time, the fish is ready for use, the press can be removed.
Pickling of large sprat
We are used to understand small size fish as sprat, however, there are often specimens in this family larger than the average size. What to do with them? Naturally pickle, especially since we have a suitable recipe for this. You will need:
- fish - 1 kg,
- freshly ground black pepper - 10 g,
- black pepper pea - 4-5 pcs.,
- salt - 100 g,
- white pepper - 50 g,
- dried cloves - 5 pcs.,
- coriander - 1 g,
- cinnamon - 0, 1 g,
- ginger - 0, 3 g,
- nutmeg - to taste,
- rosemary - to taste,
- sodium benzoate - 2 g,
- sugar - 200 g.
Preparation Method
Salting the fish in this recipe is somewhat similar to what we presented above.
- Mix all the spices. Pea pepper, bay leaf, cloves, coriander and nutmeg should be ground in a mortar.
- Take an enamel pot or wooden barrel and pour some spices on its bottom.
- Lay the fish over the spices. Sprinkle with spices again and put the fish back. It is necessary to alternate until the dishes are filled.
- From above it is necessary to put the load and put the dishes in a cold place (in the cellar or in the refrigerator).
- A few hours of patience and you can enjoy delicious fish on the table. Enjoy your meal!
As you can see, salting sprat at home is quite easy and fast, the main thing is to have a desire!
