How to soak salted fish at home, red, dry fish

The most healthy fish dish is salted fresh fish. It retains the greatest amount of useful substances, so necessary for the human body. Moreover, this definition applies to both ordinary herring and mackerel, and the well-known red fish, which is an integral part of any holiday table. The presence of salted fish on the table indicates a certain skill and diligence of the housewife, which guests, as well as relatives and friends, cannot fail to notice.

Depending on the amount of salt used in the cooking process, the fish is divided into:

• To hard salted.
• For medium salted fish.
• For slightly salted.

The most salty fish contains up to 14 percent salt, the average degree of salinity includes from 9 to 14 percent salt, and lightly salted fish is obtained if less than 9 percent salt is added to it.

As a rule, salted fish, which can be seen on the festive table, is of particular interest. As a rule, such fish is obtained as a result of soaking fish, since fish is salted only with a certain amount of salt. The technology of salting fish is aimed at destroying all the parasites that may be in the fish. You can’t do without a high concentration of salt.

The problem is also that it is almost impossible to buy fish prepared in this way in a store. Since fish can be stored in a store for a long time, it contains a lot of salt and often it is impossible to eat such fish.

If you soak it, you can achieve a delicate and pleasant taste. But there is also one “but”. It is not known how long the fish was stored in the store. It is possible that it has almost no nutrients left. Therefore, housewives salt fresh or fresh-frozen fish at home, after which they get a delicious and healthy end product by soaking the fish.

Why do you need to soak fish?

The soaking process is dictated by two factors: firstly, to preserve a pleasant and delicate taste, and secondly, for health reasons. Fish, with a low percentage of salt, is much tastier, so it is present in many gourmet dishes, and is also the basis of most cold appetizers. For example, many salads are prepared on the basis of lightly salted, mainly red fish, along with the following ingredients:

• Tomatoes, carrots and quail eggs.
• Grapefruit, eggs and spinach.
• There is a recipe for Olivier based on lightly salted fish.
• With vegetables and greens, as in the “Royal” salad.

There are many other options for using lightly salted fish, and not necessarily red. If salted fish were included in salads, then not only the taste of the fish would be spoiled, but also the taste of the salad as a whole.

In addition, eating too much salt is very harmful to human health. It is enough for a person to eat about 10 grams of salt per day to feel normal. With an increase in the dose of salt in the human body, the body tries to get rid of its excess, while it requires frequent drinking of water. In ancient times, the Chinese killed themselves by eating about half a kilo of salt at a time.

With excessive salt intake, it is possible:

• Due to the fact that salt is not absorbed and digested by the body, it does not contain vitamins and minerals, it negatively affects the internal organs.
• Salt increases the sensitivity of the central nervous system and provokes problems with the cardiovascular system.
• Salt negatively affects the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines.
• Salt binds calcium and removes it from the body.
• Salt can accumulate in the joints, provoking various diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

What you need to have for soaking fish

This will require tools and utensils. For example:

• Tools for processing fish in the kitchen, such as a knife, scissors and a cutting board.
• Soaking solution.
• Soaking container with lid.
• Salted fish, of course.
• Spice.

Methods for soaking salted fish

There are several techniques for soaking fish. The technology depends on the amount of fish, on the type of fish and on the taste, as well as on the taste preferences of the housewife.

Fish can be soaked as follows:

1. The easiest and most affordable way is soaking in ordinary water.
2. In milk.
3. In tea.
4. In marinades prepared according to special recipes.
5. In an industrial way, when the fish is soaked under running water.

When soaking fish, you should always remember that additional operations worsen the taste of the product. Therefore, the process must be deliberate and moderate.

Red fish

Salmon are those types of fish that are desirable on the festive table. Due to their unsurpassed taste and the presence of nutrients, they are very popular with housewives. And since this fish is not cheap, soaking methods are not simple either. The main task is not to spoil the dish.

A similar preparation:

1. Red fish is butchered, sometimes to the state of the fillet and cut into pieces.
2. A marinade is being prepared, with the addition of spices, cherry syrup, vinegar, etc. The marinade must be boiled.
3. The fish is placed in the hot marinade.
4. After everything has cooled down, the fish is washed and again poured with marinade, filtered through a sieve.
5. Fish in the marinade can be up to several days. At the same time, it should be in a cool place (in the refrigerator).

There are recipes in which the fish is soaked in tea, sometimes with sugar, vodka and cherry syrup.

No less common is the method of soaking fish in milk. As a result, fish meat becomes tender and tasty. For this you need:

• Buy at a fresh milk store.
• Determine it in the refrigerator for a while.
• Put the fish in a bowl.
• Fill the fish with cold milk completely.
• Put the fish in the refrigerator for a certain time.

The fish is soaked for a certain time, depending on the degree of salinity. For example:

• A large carcass, which was cooked in a high concentration of salt, can be soaked from one to five days.
• It is enough to hold medium-salted fish in the solution for several hours.
• If you need to quickly rid the fish of excess salt, then it is better to place it in hot water or marinade.

Spicy salted fish

Spicy salted fish is a fish when spices are also used in the salting process. According to this technology, ordinary herring, mackerel, and pink salmon are salted. Such fish is soaked either in water or in milk.

Soaking technique:

1. It is necessary to take a container in which the fish is placed completely.
2. Water is poured into the container, with the addition of vinegar in a ratio of 10: 1. The solution should not be very sharp and not fresh.
3. The fish is placed in a container.
4. After that, it is placed in the refrigerator for several hours.

You can soak the fish in strong tea:

• The fish is cut into pieces of the desired size.
• A container of the required size is prepared.
• Strong tea is poured into it, with the addition of sugar or syrup.
• The fish is placed in tea and sent to the refrigerator for several hours.

The method of soaking in tea has its advantages. Due to the presence of tannins in it, the fish does not lose its beneficial qualities.

dry fish

Dry salted fish is considered an excellent cold snack, although sometimes, due to its saltiness, it simply cannot be eaten. Such fish should be placed in water and then soaked in milk.

When soaking fish, you should always remember that in this form it can no longer be stored as much as the original product. The soaking time is usually determined experimentally, therefore, it is unlikely that it will be possible to cook fish that would satisfy all taste criteria the first time. In this regard, it should be noted that it is better to spend some time experimenting than to give preference to low-quality store-bought products of dubious taste and aroma.