Cook at home
Before considering the features of preparing fish balyk at home, it should be mentioned that this dish can be of two types:
- hanging balyk – without heat treatment,
- cold smoked, which is made over several days.
To prepare this delicacy, you need to choose the right fish.
To prepare fish balyk at home, the main product must be fresh and not frozen. It should also be noted that it is best to catch fish from a clean reservoir, ideally in the autumn. The most delicious balyk is made from salmon and pink salmon. What is the difference between these fish and others? First of all, such balyk turns out to be more aromatic and pleasant to the taste, since these fish do not smell like mud. For cooking, you can use other types of fish, the fat content of which ranges from 5 to 30%. These are:
- Sturgeon, whose weight is 2-5 kg.
- Carp weighing more than 6 kg.
- Asp, whose weight is 2-3 kg.
- Catfish, the weight of which should be from 4 kg.
- Silver carp weighing 8 kg.
- Trout that weighs from 4 to 5 kg.
- Pike perch weighing from 2.5 kg.
- Nelma about 3 kg.
- Pike weighing about 6 kg.
The quality of the dish will depend on the fat content of the fish. Balyk turns out to be very juicy and aromatic from pink salmon, sturgeon, carp, salmon, and silver carp. These types of fish have a thick layer of fat, which makes the taste simply excellent. Pike, pike perch and perch are classified as less fatty fish varieties, so it is recommended to prepare them using the dried method.
Silver carp balyk at home
Delicious, aromatic, delicate-tasting fish appetizer! At home, just by following a simple cooking technology, it is easy to make balyk from fresh fish, which not only will not be inferior in taste to the store-bought product, but will far surpass it.
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Carpaccio with sauce
Pork balyk is dry-cured meat that does not contain harmful preservatives. This aromatic meat delicacy is prepared from a whole piece of pork. To do this, you need to choose high-quality and young meat.
Required ingredients:
- Pork neck – 1 kg;
- Salt – ½ cup;
- Spices - at your discretion (rosemary, paprika, marjoram, cumin, coriander, dry garlic, bay, ground black pepper).
Cooking pork dishes step by step:
- Cut off all the veins and membranes from the tenderloin, wash and dry. Rub thoroughly with salt, place in a convenient container, and cover with a lid that is smaller in diameter than the container. Let's place the oppression on top.
- Keep it in a cold place for three to four days, remembering to turn the piece twice a day. The brine that appears during the process does not need to be drained.
- After the specified period, take out the meat and blot it with paper towels. Generously rub the piece with a mixture of all kinds of your favorite spices and seasonings;
- Wrap the workpiece well in a four-layer piece of gauze, or in a thin cloth, tie it with thread or twine (like sausages in a store) so that you can hang it in ventilated places. You can keep the bundle on the window for one day in warm weather, and practice drying it over a radiator in winter.
- If, when checking the future product after 2 days, wet gauze is discovered, it must be changed.
- You can taste the balychok in 6-7 days, but it is advisable to wait another week or two - this will make the taste of the product even better.
The resulting delicacy is wrapped in parchment and stored in the refrigerator.
Summer is a great time for active fishing. Countless dishes can be prepared from fish, dried and withered. Fish balyk is a delicious delicacy made from previously salted fish and then dried in the fresh air.
For 1.5-1.8 kg of fish prepared at home, you will need:
- 3-3.5 large spoons of granulated sugar;
- 13-13.5 large spoons of salt;
- 2 tablespoons turmeric (for beautiful color, optional);
- 3 laurel leaves (can be crushed);
- A large spoon of coriander (preferably ground);
- Cumin – according to preference;
- Allspice and freshly ground black pepper – to taste.
Cooking plan:
- We clean the silver carp, gut it from the entrails, remove the head and spine, making an incision along the back - from the removed head to the tail. This process will affect the ribs;
- Next, cut off not very thick pieces on both sides;
- Let's take a separate container to mix all the spices described above in it. Generously sprinkle the silver carp with them on all sides;
- Press it down with some kind of weight, which can be a jar of ordinary water on a plate, and place it in a cold place for 5-6 days;
- After this time, rinse the fish thoroughly under running water. This will take several hours. Or soak using cold liquid for 5-6 hours;
- Place it to dry not in a hot place or exposed to sunlight, but in a well-ventilated place, cover it with gauze, and let the fish masterpiece dry for 3 days.
To protect it from any insects, sprinkle the fabric with vinegar.
Ready-made silver carp balyk is perfect with a glass of beer in good company.
For cooking, it is advisable to take only large fish that have dense meat and contain a minimum of small bones, and large ones will not be difficult to remove.
Ingredients for carp weighing approximately 4 kg:
- 2 small spoons of sugar;
- A kilogram of coarse salt;
- Paprika, hot ground red pepper, fish mixture - according to preference.
Step by step recipe:
- We will rid the carcass of scales, gut it, remove the tail fin and head;
- Combine spices and salt, cover the fish with this mixture on the outside and inside, and rub sugar only on the inside;
- We pack the carp tightly in cellophane, tying it with twine. Place in the refrigerator for 72 hours on the shelf next to the freezer;
- Next, remove the fish, wash off the salt crystals under running water, and blot with a paper cloth.
You can cut carp balyk into beautiful pieces and enjoy the great taste. Or wrap it in parchment, tied with thick threads and put it on the same refrigerator shelf “until the appropriate occasion.”
Silver carp balyk is a salted and dried fish fillet, its spinal part. By following the recipe, following simple steps step by step, you will be able to prepare an exquisite culinary masterpiece at home with a minimum set of spices.
Due to the large amount of useful substances in the composition of silver carp, eating balyk from such fish will have a beneficial effect on the body:
- Preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis. Fish contains omega fatty acids, which have a beneficial effect on the circulatory system.
- The amino acids contained in silver carp prevent the development of tumors. They improve the condition of people suffering from rheumatism, gout and high blood pressure.
- Zinc and iron, present in large quantities in fish, improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails. These elements normalize carbohydrate metabolism and increase hemoglobin content.
- Fish is an excellent antioxidant as it contains large amounts of vitamin E.
We suggest you familiarize yourself with: How to make a feeder for fishing on a feeder with your own hands: feeder devices and fishing nets ||
How to make fishing feeders Fish from a home smokehouse may contain carcinogens that contribute to the development of tumors. Knowing how to make silver carp balyk at home, you can avoid many problems and be confident in the quality of the product. The main thing is to properly process the fish so that no pathogenic microorganisms remain in it.
To make a perfect dish at home, it is important to choose the right fish and recipe. You need to pay attention to:
- Silver carp quality. It should be fresh, with bright eyes, a pleasant aroma, and red gills.
- Sizes of individuals. If the fish is large, then one carcass is enough. If several fish are taken to prepare silver carp balyk, it is better to select them of the same size so that they are salted evenly.
Cleaning silver carp
For balyk, they take both skinned and peeled fish. The scales must be removed. The tail of the silver carp is not salted, so it must be cut off along with the head and fins. Then you need to gut the carcass. To do this, her abdomen is cut and all the insides are carefully removed.
Proper cleaning of fish
All bones should be removed. Do this at home with tweezers. This device facilitates and speeds up the process. After cleaning, the carcass is thoroughly washed and wiped with napkins.
To make silver carp balyk perfect at home, it is important to strictly follow the technology described in the recipe. You must follow the recommendations for the duration of salting and drying. This will help make the taste as refined as possible and the product itself safe.
Ingredients
To prepare silver carp balyk according to the recipe, sugar and salt may be enough, but you can add piquant notes and a refined aroma. To do this you will need an additional set of spices:
- allspice;
- coriander;
- caraway;
- turmeric;
- Bay leaf.
You can use ready-made seasoning for fish, but in order to make a dish that everyone will like, I ask my loved ones about the taste so that I can independently adjust the composition and create my own recipe.
Pickling
Place half of the salt and sugar on the bottom of the container, according to the recipe 10 tbsp. salt and 2 tbsp. sugar for every kilogram of silver carp. Selected seasonings to taste are poured down. Then the fillet is placed on top and covered with the rest of the mixture along with spices.
Salting process
The salted fish should be covered with oppression and placed in the refrigerator. Salting requires 5 to 7 days, depending on the size of the fish, as well as personal taste preferences.
Before drying silver carp balyk at home, it must be washed or soaked for 5-6 hours to remove excess salt and spices. The fillets are then covered with gauze and placed in the open air, but not in direct sunlight.
Dried fish for the table
Gauze will help protect the balyk from harmful insects. Silver carp is dried for about 2 days. But this time can be extended if you like a drier product. Two days is enough to get a tender and juicy dish.
Smoked balyk
Before you prepare smoked silver carp balyk, you need to salt it. The recipe described above is also suitable for this case. It is not necessary to dry fish before smoking. In the smokehouse it will not only acquire the desired aroma, but will also reach the desired state. Fillet is smoked in two ways:
- Cold. A longer process that will take 3-4 days. The prepared fish is placed in a smokehouse at a temperature of 25-30°, with a break every 6 hours.
- Hot. You can cook smoked silver carp balyk over a fire according to this recipe in 40 minutes, and for small carcasses half an hour will be enough. For this preparation of fish in Astrakhan, you can use other types, for example, catfish or asp.
Smoked fish is the perfect snack
A smoked product differs in taste and smell from a dried one, but it should not be consumed often, since smoked products can negatively affect human health.
If you prefer thermally processed meat, then the following recipe will come to your aid. For it, in addition to pork tenderloin, you will need:
- mustard – 1 tbsp;
- honey – 1 tbsp;
- garlic – 3-4 cloves;
- seasonings
Coat the washed and dried meat evenly with honey and spices, and leave to marinate for 5-6 hours. After this, generously rub with mustard and garlic, crushed with a rolling pin, and wrap in foil. Bake in the oven for an hour. A few minutes before the end, open the foil to create a delicious crust.
The result is a great dish that can be served hot or cold.
Don't be afraid of the "overseas" name. In fact, underneath it lies the usual thin slice of fresh beef, which is seasoned with an original sauce. Or you can make a similar delicacy with your own hands, but from a dry-cured product.
How to cook dried silver carp balyk
To make silver carp balyk perfect at home, it is important to strictly follow the technology described in the recipe. You must follow the recommendations for the duration of salting and drying. This will help make the taste as refined as possible and the product itself safe.
Ingredients
To prepare silver carp balyk according to the recipe, sugar and salt may be enough, but you can add piquant notes and a refined aroma. To do this you will need an additional set of spices:
You can use ready-made seasoning for fish, but in order to make a dish that everyone will like, I ask my loved ones about the taste so that I can independently adjust the composition and create my own recipe.
Pickling
Place half of the salt and sugar on the bottom of the container, according to the recipe 10 tbsp. salt and 2 tbsp. sugar for every kilogram of silver carp. Selected seasonings to taste are poured down. Then the fillet is placed on top and covered with the rest of the mixture along with spices.
The salted fish should be covered with oppression and placed in the refrigerator. Salting requires 5 to 7 days, depending on the size of the fish, as well as personal taste preferences.
Drying silver carp
Before drying silver carp balyk at home, it must be washed or soaked for 5-6 hours to remove excess salt and spices. The fillets are then covered with gauze and placed in the open air, but not in direct sunlight.
Gauze will help protect the balyk from harmful insects. Silver carp is dried for about 2 days. But this time can be extended if you like a drier product. Two days is enough to get a tender and juicy dish.
Smoked balyk
Before you prepare smoked silver carp balyk, you need to salt it. The recipe described above is also suitable for this case. It is not necessary to dry fish before smoking. In the smokehouse it will not only acquire the desired aroma, but will also reach the desired state. Fillet is smoked in two ways:
- Cold. A longer process that will take 3-4 days. The prepared fish is placed in a smokehouse at a temperature of 25-30°, with a break every 6 hours.
- Hot. You can cook smoked silver carp balyk over a fire according to this recipe in 40 minutes, and for small carcasses half an hour will be enough. For this preparation of fish in Astrakhan, you can use other types, for example, catfish or asp.
A smoked product differs in taste and smell from a dried one, but it should not be consumed often, since smoked products can negatively affect human health.
The best recipes for making balyk from asp
There are many recipes for making asp balyk at home. Each of them allows you to make an original dish with exquisite taste. Individual ingredients give the product an unsurpassed aroma, and the subtleties of salting and drying make it possible to obtain a juicy and tender balyk.
Astrakhan is a region famous for fishing. Rich catches have led to the fact that residents began to create original recipes with which everyone can prepare delicious dishes without much effort. For 3 kg of asp you will need 300 grams. salt.
The step-by-step instructions look like this:
- The fish is cleaned and cut.
- Soak the carcass in ice water and dry.
- Make cuts where the meat is thick.
- Rub the fish with salt on all sides.
- Place the product under pressure and place in the refrigerator for 12-15 hours.
- Soak the salted fish in water for an hour.
- Hang out the balyk for drying.
Sugar balyk
This recipe is similar to the previous one, but you will need to include sugar in the ingredients. It will help make the dish taste exquisite, and it also helps the salt penetrate deeper into the fibers. For a fish weighing 3 kg you will need:
- 300 gr. salt;
- 150 gr. Sahara.
Sugar balyk
Balyk is prepared according to the following algorithm:
- The fish is cleaned, washed and cut into pieces if the carcass is too large.
- The fillet is rubbed on all sides with salt and sugar.
- The meat is placed in a container and placed under pressure.
- The container goes into the refrigerator for 4-6 days.
- The fillet is washed under running water for 1 hour or soaked in cold water for 4-5 hours.
- The asp is wrapped in gauze and placed in a ventilated room or outdoors, but not in the open sun.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Fishing for pike on girders in the summer: equipment, how to set it up correctly, how to catch, do-it-yourself summer girder
In this case, you should periodically check the meat for readiness, since the speed of drying depends on external conditions.
This recipe is often used when traveling. It is also used when subsequent smoking is planned. A strong saline solution - brine - is prepared using exclusively salt, sugar and water. But in some cases, spices are added to taste to make the fish with a piquant aroma. To check the readiness of the brine, dip a raw egg into it. It should float to the surface.
The asp is placed in brine and placed under pressure. You can pre-string carcasses or pieces onto twine. This will make further drying and smoking at home easier. To salt balyk from asp, it will take from 3 to 5 days.
Many people prefer balyk made from red fish. It’s not difficult to make it at home. To do this, certain techniques must be followed, including cutting the fish, salting, smoking or drying, as well as proper storage. To prepare you will need:
- Fish, characterized by a high percentage of fat content, weighing from 3 kg.
- 30 g of sugar for every kilo of fish.
- 150 g of salt for every kilogram of fish.
- Seasonings and spices to your taste.
Chicken fillet balyk
This dish is low-calorie and practically dietary; all vitamins are retained in the meat due to the fact that it is not exposed to heat.
Product composition:
- 2 large chicken breasts;
- 5 pieces of laurel;
- 100 grams of coarse salt (preferably sea salt);
- 55 ml cognac;
- A full teaspoon of turmeric, a mixture of ground peppers, paprika, and any herbs - according to preference.
Method for preparing chicken breast:
- Mix all the bulk ingredients together, add the broken laurel leaves.
- Place the washed and dried fillets into a container, coat them completely with this mixture, and pour in cognac (you can use dry red wine – 50/50).
- Cover the dish with film (lid) and place it in the refrigerator. After 12 hours, remove the future chicken balyk to dry it with a paper towel.
- We insert twine into each piece, with which we hang the pieces on the refrigerator door. Be sure to wrap them in gauze and let them dry for about three days.
In order for such a culinary masterpiece to be stored for a long time, it must be packed in foil and kept in the freezer. The meat product also keeps well in the refrigerator for two weeks.
Butchering the carcass
Before you start preparing balyk from river fish at home, you need to thoroughly clean the carcass of scales. After this, it is cleaned of all the insides and washed well under cold water. Then an incision is made along the entire spine, the loin is completely separated from the bones and divided so that you get 2 pieces of meat.
Next, the recipe for balyk at home involves cutting the carcass into portioned pieces. Take one piece of fillet and cut it lengthwise into several pieces. After this, take one of the meat strips, cut small pieces of fish with a knife, the thickness of which should be 2 cm. This is how all the meat is cut. Please note that the pieces must be without skin.
Note to the hostess
- If you have salted a lot of fish, take out as many pieces for drying as you can eat in the near future. Keep the rest in the refrigerator, but no more than three weeks. Please note that such fish will need to be soaked much longer.
- To prevent the finished balyk from drying out, it can be stored in the freezer. Before using, simply defrost it at room temperature.
- Pieces of fish fully prepared for drying make delicious smoked balyk. But fish for smoking must be well soaked, otherwise it will be over-salted.
- Before serving silver carp balyk, it is cut into thin slices and beautifully laid out on a plate.
Anyone can prepare silver carp balyk at home. Even easier than doing it. You can regulate the degree of dryness (so to speak) yourself. If you like it drier, let it dry longer; if you like soft balyk, shorten the drying time.
Why did I use silver carp to prepare balyk? First of all, it contains a lot of meat. For this reason, when you get ready to cook, choose larger fish. I already have a ready-made piece of fillet with skin, but without bones, weighing 750g. It was one half of the fish cut along the middle part, from the gills to the narrowing point towards the tail. Secondly, keep in mind that when drying, the pieces of fish will decrease in size, so the larger they are initially, the more of them will remain. By “more” I mean in area, but not in thickness. Thirdly, in a silver carp, in principle, there are not many bones, and in a large fish they are also large, which means they can be easily removed.
By the way, cook it sometime from the leftover silver carp.
Natural salting
It is best to use coarse sea or rock salt for salting pork. This variety does not dissolve in meat juice too quickly, and the meat is less salted. The time required for salting may vary depending on the size of the piece. As a rule, about three days will be enough for one kilogram of pork. In addition, you need to take into account the age of the pig - the meat of a young animal will be cooked faster.
After this, you can start salting. The chopped meat is placed in a pan, covered with salt and sugar, and everything is thoroughly mixed. After this, you can take the seasoning to your taste, process the pieces, roll them into rolls, and place them in the same container. Spices that are designed specifically for fish will be ideally combined with fish, as well as khmeli-suneli seasoning and black pepper, which give the future balyk an appetizing aroma and pleasant taste.
Next, at home, a recipe for balyk from asp or any other fish involves putting the semi-finished product in a pan in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Thus, the meat is well saturated with spices and salt. During this entire time, it is recommended to stir the fish once a day. If you have a large carcass, then salting will require more time, about a week.
After this time, the container is put into the freezer for a couple of days so that all kinds of parasites and microbes die there. You can also initially freeze the fillet for several days, and then salt it.
Catfish balyk recipe
To prepare asp balyk at home you will need a little time and a minimum of spices. Following the technology will allow you to create an exquisite culinary masterpiece that will become the highlight of the table. The taste of asp meat is somewhat reminiscent of pink salmon and chum salmon, and the cost of such a product will be much cheaper.
Before you make balyk from asp at home, you need to choose the right carcass. The fish must be fresh. Often, fishermen prefer to prepare balyk from asp right at the fishing spot. Meat is the most delicious and fatty in summer and autumn.
A sharp knife is the main tool with which it is easy to cut an asp. In this case, the balyk will turn out to be beautifully shaped. Before cutting, the fish is washed and the scales are removed.
The further algorithm is as follows:
- An incision is made from head to tail on the dorsum.
- The ridge is neatly stretched.
- The abdomen should remain intact.
- The opened fillet is cleaned, the bones are carefully pulled out with tweezers.
- The gills are cut out with a knife.
- The carcass is thoroughly washed under running water and dried.
Types of pickling
Different recipes for asp balyk at home involve different methods of salting the fish. Some of them are best used when cooking at home, while others are relevant when cooking outdoors. In any case, it is better to use coarse salt, as it dehydrates the fillets better.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Do-it-yourself hot smoked smokehouse.
For every fisherman in our vast homeland, catfish is considered the best and most successful catch. Balyk from such a magnificent fish is very tender, contains few calories, and can easily surpass meat in terms of satiety.
Components:
- Two-kilogram catfish;
- 300-350 grams of coarse salt;
- Any spice or seasoning - optional.
How to cook balyk:
- We thoroughly wash the river inhabitant, rip open the abdomen, take out the entrails, remove the fins, head and tail;
- We cut the “barbel” along the ridge lengthwise and remove it, eliminating the small bones. Cut the resulting catfish fillet into portioned pieces (up to 6 cm thick), rinse, and blot with a paper napkin;
- Sprinkle the bottom of a convenient container with salt, and place the semi-finished fish products, cut side down, close to each other, which we alternately generously sprinkle with salt;
- It is advisable to place a small press on top and put the future homemade balyk in the cold for two days;
- Then we remove the fish pieces, which should be thoroughly washed under ice-cold running water;
- To dry, place the pieces in a cool room for a few more days.
For preparing balyk from asp, fish caught at the end of the summer season, when it is fattening up and weighs 1.5-3 kg, is perfect. The taste of asp is similar to pink salmon and chum salmon.
What you will need:
- A glass of coarse salt with a slide;
- Fish weighing about 2.5 kg;
- Half a glass of sugar.
Cooking instructions:
- Let's clean the river "resident" of scales, cut from the top from the back and, moving towards the caudal fin, cut off the fillets, removing the spine and gutting the fish;
- Wash the fish fillet, dry it, sprinkle generously with a mixture of granulated sugar and salt. You can also cut it into pieces if desired;
- Sprinkle a little salt on the bottom of the enamel dish, put the fish, which we also add salt on top, put pressure on it, put it in the refrigerator;
- After about a week, we thoroughly rinse the asp, soak it in water for 6 hours, not forgetting to replace it 6 times with fresh water;
- Dry the semi-finished fish product with paper towels, choose a ventilated room that will give the fish the opportunity to wilt and dry for several days;
- In order for the asp to secrete fat, it needs to be kept in the sun for three to four hours. Let's pack it in a paper package and let it lie in the refrigerator for about 24 hours.
The finished delicacy is a wonderful addition to cereals and salads. Asp balyk is also an excellent snack dish.
Step-by-step recipe with photos
By chance, I happened to have several silver carp fish. We fried some of them, and decided to use one, the largest, to prepare balyk. I had to learn from my mother-in-law how to make balyk from silver carp at home; she often does this. True, it is best to use a large carcass for this purpose, weighing at least 3 kg, and preferably more. Such fish has more flesh, its bones are larger and, accordingly, are easier to remove.
My carcass is a little over a kilogram, but even such a fish will make a quite acceptable balyk. As you can see from the result, the cutting is not very wide, but the size does not affect the taste.
Spices for balyk need the most traditional ones, I decided to add turmeric as well. It doesn’t have much effect on the taste, but it will give our fish a pleasant golden color. This can be seen in the final photos.
I indicated the cooking time conditionally, meaning only our immediate work, without taking into account the time for marinating and drying.
Let's prepare everything you need for pickling: salt, sugar, turmeric, ground pepper, allspice, peas, bay leaf and coriander.
Mix the pickling mixture.
Now let's move on to preparing the fish. We clean the carcass, remove the entrails, and wash it. Let's let the water drain. We cut the carcass along the spine and remove the ridge.
Sprinkle both pieces generously with the mixture.
Next, cut the fish into pieces of a size that will be convenient to put in a container. You can pickle silver carp in a deep bowl, plate or saucepan. I cut my fish into 4 pieces - each layer in half. Place in a bowl, pour in all the salt and spices, trying to ensure that it is evenly distributed.
Cover the fish with some kind of pressure and apply pressure. You can put a load.
I leave the fish in a cool place for 5 days. During this time, the salt will dissolve, and our silver carp will look something like this.
Rinse the fish of salt.
Pour the silver carp pieces with cold boiled water and leave them in this form in a cold place for 5-6 hours. During this time, the excess salt will disappear. Next, the silver carp pieces need to be dried. It's winter now, our house is quite cool, so I dried it indoors. In autumn and spring this can be done on the balcony. In summer you can also dry it on the balcony in the shade. In summer, it is better to cover the fish with gauze to prevent insects and lightly spray it with vinegar for the same purpose.
Drying
The last step in preparing this delicacy is drying, that is, drying the fish. It is necessary to remove the pan from the refrigerator, string the pieces onto some strong thread, while leaving a small distance between the fillets. First, it is recommended to hang the meat for several hours in the bright sun so that each part is covered with a crust. After this, the fillet should be dried in a dry and warm room where there are no insects. As a rule, the entire drying process takes from 3 to 7 days.
Herring balyk
The recipe is simple and does not require certain proportions.
You will need:
- 2 fatty, large herrings;
- Rock salt - to taste;
- Black pepper, marjoram, a pinch of sugar - optional.
Cooking technology:
- We remove the head of the fish, cut along the ridge with a knife, without touching the abdomen;
- We unfold the carcasses like an open book, remove the insides, rinse with water;
- Pour coarse salt into the bottom of the container, place the herring skin side down, sprinkle generously with salt;
- Place the second fish on top, sprinkle well with salt;
- The dishes can be covered with film and placed in the refrigerator for 5.5-6 hours;
- We wash both carcasses under running water, soak in water for 10-15 minutes;
- We hang it by the tail in a place where air circulates well, and make sure that the fish preparations do not “close”;
- After 6-9 hours, the herring balyk is ready to eat.
Silver carp balyk: recipe
Ingredients:
- large silver carp – 1 piece;
- salt and sugar depending on the size of the fish;
- other spices to taste.
Cooking method
- Clean the fish and gut it. Rinse in cold water.
- Remove the fillet from the bones or cut the fish crosswise into large slices, but they should not be very thick.
- Prepare a mixture of salt and sugar. You can add any spices to your taste. Most often, cumin, coriander, and allspice are used for pickling.
- Take a suitable container (enamel, glass, stainless steel, plastic). Sprinkle some pickling mixture on the bottom.
- Place the fish pieces in a single layer, starting with the largest ones. Sprinkle with salt mixture. Pack the rest of the fish tightly.
- Press it down with a weight (this can be an ordinary jar of water) and put it in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. After a while you will see that the fish has given juice. Pieces of fish can be kept in such a salt solution – brine – for up to three weeks. This is the case if you have no time to start drying.
- Remove the salted silver carp from the refrigerator and rinse well under running cold water, and then soak. It is believed that fish must be kept in water for as many hours as the number of days it has been salted. But you should still rely on your taste.
- Dry the fish well with paper towels and hang it in a draft, avoiding direct sunlight. To protect the balyk from dust and insects, cover it with gauze soaked in a weak vinegar solution. And leave it for 3-4 days. As soon as the pieces of fish stop releasing liquid, become moderately elastic and are covered with a thin layer of fat, the balyk can be considered cooked.
- Store the balyk, wrapped in parchment, in the refrigerator for no more than 3-4 days.
Beneficial features
Due to the fact that processing does not involve frying or boiling the fish, a large amount of useful substances and elements are retained in the meat. That is why this delicacy is very beneficial for human health. 100 g of the finished product contains the following amount of vitamins:
- 0.057 mg vitamin A.
- 2.5 mg vitamin E.
- 0.2 mg vitamin B2.
- 1.8 mg vitamin PP.
- 0.05 mg vitamin B1.
This product also contains useful minerals that are required by the human body. These include: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, sulfur, zinc, iron, chromium, fluorine, nickel.
In addition, fish contains saturated fatty acids, which have a beneficial effect on the appearance of the skin and hair. The composition contains small amounts of ash, cholesterol and water. That is why, if you consume this homemade delicacy, you can not only enjoy the rich taste, but also provide your body with the necessary minerals and vitamins.
Balyk storage
The storage period for silver carp is short - 3-4 days. It must be placed in the refrigerator, first wrapped in parchment paper or foil. In view of this, you should not cook more dried fish than you plan to eat. If a large carcass is salted, then the salted fillet can be placed in the freezer, and, if necessary, defrosted and dried. In this case, the silver carp is washed from salt, dried and hermetically sealed so as not to lose its taste.
Silver carp balyk, prepared at home according to the recipe described, is a tasty and, most importantly, budget-friendly dish. The costs are minimal, and everyone will like the appearance, aroma and taste of the product. This dish can be safely presented to relatives and friends as a delicious treat.
It is necessary to store the finished balyk in the refrigerator, having previously wrapped it in paper. It is also allowed to be placed in a special container or vacuum bag. This way the fish will stay fresh longer. The homemade delicacy should be stored for no more than 1 month, because in the future it will dry out more and lose its aroma and taste.
In most people's minds, balyk is an expensive dish, which in most cases is served at the festive table. However, preparing it at home is quite simple. It is not at all necessary to use red fish as a raw material; you can use perch, silver carp or bream.
Silver carp, dried at home
At home, silver carp is dried in different ways. The process is similar to drying other varieties. Gourmets experiment with taste, adding various additives and spices.
The best time is spring and autumn, when the days are warm but there are few harmful insects.
The process of drying silver carp:
- sorting carcasses by size,
- ambassador,
- washing,
- drying,
- correct storage.
- Carcasses of the same size are selected, then the drying process proceeds evenly. The entrails are removed, the carcasses are washed well, and divided in half lengthwise. The scales are removed or left if the skin will be removed in the future.
- Prepare the mixture: for 1 kg of fish, 500 g of salt, 2 tbsp. l. Sahara. A little mixture is placed on the bottom of the dish, pieces of fish are placed tightly on top. Each layer is generously sprinkled with salt and sugar. When stored, the fish releases brine, in which it is kept under pressure for about 30 hours. For large pieces, the salting is extended to 5-7 days. Large quantities of fish can be kept in brine for up to three weeks.
- After salting, it should be washed and kept in clean water to remove excess salt. How many days the fish was in brine, so many hours it is soaked.
- Hang in a draft, in a place where there is no direct sunlight, which will melt the delicious fat. When the liquid stops oozing from the fish, the pieces will become elastic and covered with a thin layer of fat - the drying is finished.
- It is important to carefully package and store silver carp dried at home. When stored in plastic bags, the taste quickly deteriorates. You should prefer cardboard/wooden boxes, linen/canvas bags, tin, tightly sealed jars. Store in cool rooms with low humidity.
Drying silver carp is similar to drying other types of fish:
- The recipe for dried silver carp can be varied by lengthening or shortening the duration of all processes: salting, soaking, drying. This will allow you to choose the ideal combination in which the taste of the fish will be especially excellent.
- If a large amount of fish is salted, you can take out small portions for drying and keep the rest of the fish in brine. Silver carp is stored in brine in the refrigerator for three weeks. The soaking process will take a little longer for each subsequent batch.
- If you remove the thin belly part during salting and cut the fillet into smaller pieces, you will get a tasty silver carp balyk.
- Dried fish is suitable for smoking. If you wish and have the equipment, it can be easily smoked. Fish is soaked longer for smoking.
- To prevent dried silver carp from drying out, it is stored frozen. Thaw at room temperature before use.