Today I want to share with you the recipes for one of my favorite dishes, namely - ram (ram).

Taranka (taranka) - the common name for dried dried fish.

Various fish of the cyprinid family are mainly used for cooking taranka: roach, ram (from whose name the concept of "taranka" arose), roach. But in fact, you can make a ram from a larger list of fish: goby, bream, pike, perch, crucian carp, sabrefish, silver bream ...

Taranka is considered a Russian national beer snack. Cooking the ram (drying in salted form) lasts from several days to several weeks, and depends on the size of the fish and the cooking recipe, as well as the expected result. someone wants a dried ram, and someone is very dry. The fish is salted in brine (brine) and kept for 3-4 days. Live salted fish turns out to have a better taste, since, having swallowed the brine, it is salted more evenly. After that, the fish is hung out in the open air and dried. Large fish are sometimes cut to dry well.

Preparation. We take enameled dishes (or stainless steel), sprinkle the bottom with 0.5 cm of salt.Wash the fish thoroughly. If the fish is medium-sized, up to 0.8 kg, we do not release the entrails, if more, we release them.

Salting. We rub the fish with salt, and pour salt over its gills. If the fish is more than 1.5 kg, in addition to the released intestines, we also make a longitudinal incision on the back, and fill it with salt as well. It is better to use coarse salt, because fine salt makes a crust on the fish, through which the brine will not salty its body. We put the fish in a container, and when the first layer of fish is laid, sprinkle it on top with 1 cm more salt, then put the 2nd layer, and sprinkle it with salt on top again. When the ambassador is finished, put some kind of lid on the fish, but so that it does not press close to the walls of the dish, and there is a small amount of air available. Place something heavy on the lid to press down on the fish. We put a container with salted fish at the very bottom of the refrigerator. If winter - on the balcony, but not in the sun. Periodically drain the lettuce from the fish container.

Salting time: small fish (up to 0.1 kg) - a day or two. Medium fish (up to 0.8 kg) 3-4 days. Large fish from 1 kg and more - 5 days to 2 weeks, depending on the size and ambient temperature. An indicator of good salting of fish is the cessation of abundant excretion of juice by the fish.

Preparation for the sign. When the salt has done its job, remove the fish from the brine and rinse it thoroughly in clean water. After we collect clean water again in a container, and soak the fish for 2-3 hours. Then we rinse again and, for example, I added 25 ml of vinegar to 3 liters of water during the second rinse. This prevents the possibility of getting into fish when drying unnecessary living organisms (let's not talk about the bad).

Some designs of boxes for drying ramps

Hanging. For hanging we take some kind of box, you can rivet from several boards. The box should be well ventilated on all sides. We wrap it with gauze or an anti-mosquito net so that flies cannot sit on the ram. Which can lay their eggs there, which in turn can turn into worms. Before hanging the ram, break its gills so that they dry faster. If the fish is large, put match spacers on the cut belly. We hang out. It is best to hang the fish with its head up to prevent the brine and internal liquid from leaking out of the fish. This will make it greasy and tastier. Hanging is best done in the evening, so that the ram can weather and dry out overnight. We completely close the box with a suspended ram with a net, and put it in the shade, in a well-ventilated place, for example, on a balcony with an open frame. If possible, avoid placing the box on the south side so that the temperature is not too high.

Choose when to shoot the fish yourself.

Another method of cooking taranka

Required inventory. For salting caught fish, you must have a special container, in which salted fish can be stacked in rows. In a private house, in a country house in the yard, you can use boxes knocked out of wood or thick plywood with drilled holes at the bottom to drain fish juice into the ground. You can also use plastic and metal containers (the latter should be covered with a layer of enamel). A rectangular container made of thin stainless steel is a good and durable one. Usually such capacious and deep containers are made to order and are rarely found on sale. In plastic, enameled and stainless steel containers for draining fish juice, a special stand is additionally made, which is used for dry salting. Such containers with a stand are especially relevant in cases when fish is salted at home, for example, on a balcony.

For home salting, the author uses a monolithic plastic container, which has the following dimensions: length - 45 cm, width - 35 cm and height - 25 cm. At the bottom of the container, according to its size, a sheet of plywood with a thickness of 1-1.5 cm is cut. the entire contour of the web at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other we drill holes with a diameter of 10 mm, as well as several holes in the center of the web for draining the fish juice. Two or three wooden blocks with a thickness of about 30 mm are cut under the bottom of the canvas. A gap is formed between the canvas lying on the blocks and the bottom of the container for the thickness of the blocks. For convenience, the blocks are fixed to the canvas with anti-corrosion coated screws. But nevertheless, it is more reliable to fix the blocks with a nylon cord, tying their ends through the drilled holes, and melting them with a match (the fact is that the heads of the screws, in contact with the salt, will darken over time and rust will form on them). After a special pallet is made of solid plywood on blocks, it is necessary to cut out of plywood (or knock down from a planed flat board) according to the size of the container, several more canvases without blocks (in the amount of three or four, depending on the height of the container). Additional plywood sheets are used to overlap the rows of fish laid for salting. The first row of fish is placed on a pallet with cubes, which is first sprinkled with coarse salt, and salted fish is already placed on top. (More on this below). The laid row of fish is covered with a sheet of plywood (in this sequence, the rest of the fish is laid to the very top of the container). Each intermediate web must have several drilled holes, both along the contour and in the center, to drain the fish juice to the bottom of the container. The canvases are adjusted to the exact size with a small gap of 4-5 cm from the walls of the container. The ends and edges of the cut-out canvases are processed with sandpaper.

For high-quality preparation of a taranka, it is necessary to have loads of various weights. So, for dry salting, the author uses disks of collapsible dumbbells with an anti-corrosion coating and a small bag sewn from strong dense fabric, filled with dry river sand. The weight of the sandbag is 15 kilograms. It is also necessary to have a piece of porous material or an air-permeable blanket, which is used to cover the container with fish and cargo. At the time of salting the fish, the cover is pulled together with a linen elastic in order to completely exclude wasps and flies from entering the freshly laid fish.

Equipment for drying fish. In order for the drying process to go well, it is necessary to equip a special place. In the courtyard, they can serve as a place located under a wide canopy of the roof, which protects well from rain and sun. The box has a door, inside it there are rigid rods, on which fish are hung with the help of hooks made of metal wire. Another option for drying fish is possible, which involves the use of several identical rings made of thick copper wire. The diameter of the rings is 40-70 cm. The number of rings is from 5 to 7 pieces, depending on the thickness of the wire. In the upper part of the rings there is a rigid rod, fixed to each ring by means of a dense copper wire winding. The rings are equally spaced from each other. There are metal hooks on the rod for hanging fish. General view - a cylinder covered on all sides with a net or a double gauze canopy, buttoned. A strong nylon cord is threaded along the entire length, with which the device is easily fixed at the desired height.

In apartments of multi-storey buildings, where the area is limited, you can use part of the balcony or loggia facing the street. For this purpose, you need to carry out simple construction work that does not take much time. We will need some tools and skills to use them. (How the equipped balcony looks like can be seen in the photo offered to your attention). Required tools: a hacksaw for wood, a drill, drills, a hammer, a punch, a screw, nails, and also: a nylon cord, two wooden strips, a piece of gauze (with a margin - for double wrapping). In the extreme frame, which rarely opens and is securely fastened on metal hinges, besides, it is additionally fixed with latches, a wooden plank 2 cm thick and 5 cm wide is attached above and below the frame at a height of 40 cm from the box itself. It is important that the plank is not less than the specified thickness and width. The bar is attached to the frame with four screws (two on each side). At the ends of the strip cut to size, points for drilling are marked with a pencil, in the place of which holes are drilled with a drill. Then the bar is applied horizontally to the frame and the drilled holes are marked with dots, which will serve for the screws. The drill diameter should be slightly smaller than the screw diameter. The marked points on the frame are carefully drilled to a depth of 2.5 - 2.8 cm into the body of the frame and away from the glass. Opposite the wooden plank on the wall, the place of attachment of the second plank is marked in the same sequence. Holes in the wall are punched with a punch or a perforator to a depth of 4-5 cm, the punched holes are lubricated with PVA glue and wooden corks from a solid species of wood - oak, acacia, birch - are tightly hammered into them. Holes for screws are also drilled in wooden corks. The second plank on the wall is also secured with four screws. Another important point: before attaching the planks, nails are driven into the ribs on top of each of them at the same distance from each other and to a depth at which an incompletely driven nail will look one and a half centimeters above the plank. Nylon cords are pulled between the wooden slats fixed to the frame and the wall. The cord should be under slight tension. If the cord sags, it is shortened by tying a single knot around the edge.

Preservation and transportation of caught fish. The caught fish must be preserved and brought home intact. If caught in early spring or late autumn, then the fish is well preserved during this cool season. And if in the warm season, then you need to know the basic requirements for the preservation of the caught fish. The fish should not be in closed and airtight bags, cellophane bags, etc. The fish spoils quickly if kept in a container with water - the water heats up quickly. Since fish is a rather delicate product, when playing, you must learn to hold it with your hands so that it is not injured. The hook should be removed gently with tweezers or small pliers. During transportation, a wicker basket made of vines can serve as a reliable container, in which the caught fish is necessarily shifted with nettles or reed leaves. Before laying the fish, let it dry, but never rinse it with water. The caught fish is easy to keep for quite a long time, if it is shifted with leaves of oak, cherry, nettle, currant, walnut. During transportation, the fish must be provided with air access, otherwise its shelf life will be reduced. To preserve the fish for a long time, for example, two to three days, it is necessary to immediately after the catch remove the entrails, gills, wash the meat from the blood, rub it with vinegar and put it in salted water for 10-15 minutes. Then take dry crushed wormwood or thyme, nettle or white bread, previously soaked in vodka and put the fish in the peri-abdominal space. After long-term storage in the described way, the fish is suitable for eating, but you cannot make a ram from it. It should be remembered that only freshly caught fish is suitable for making a ram, which has not been preserved for more than several hours after the end of fishing. The sooner the caught fish is delivered home, the better it will be preserved and the better the quality of the fish you cooked will be.

Salting. The oldest and easiest way to preserve fish is the ambassador. The fish sprinkled with salt releases water from itself, and the water dissolves the salt, forming a brine solution - brine. For salting, as mentioned earlier, only fresh and undamaged fish is used. Salting salt should be clean, free of any impurities and coarse grinding. When salting fish for drying, two main methods are used: dry and wet (brine). With the dry method of salting, cooked fish, preferably the same size for each layer of salting, must be rinsed with running cold water and put into a spare container, from which it will be convenient to get it for salting. Next to this container there should be salt and the main container in which the ambassador will be produced. At the bottom of this main salting container, we put a pre-made plywood pallet on small blocks and sprinkle the entire pallet area with salt (the thickness of the salt layer is up to one centimeter). We rub large and medium-sized fish with salt under the scales (from tail to head), be sure to stuff salt into the gills and put it on the canvas of the pallet in dense rows - head to tail, back - to the stomach (With this folding of the fish, oppression will work better) Sprinkle the laid fish a layer of salt in such an amount that a flat surface of the poured salt forms on top of the fish. Then we overlap with a canvas cut from plywood and make sure that it lies strictly horizontally and is stable, if necessary, level the surface by adding salt.

So, the first row of fish is packed and salted. The remaining fish is laid in the same sequence, which is covered by the last upper fabric. We put a load on this canvas. A few words should be said about the use of cargo. It is not worth putting the entire load on the fish laid for salting at once. In the first 6-7 hours of salting, it is worth using a load weighing slightly more than half of the weight of the total load, and then reporting the rest of the load. This is how the process of salting fish proceeds more evenly. The weight of the load depends on the size and quantity of the laid fish. The larger the fish, the heavier the load should be. For example, when salting large bream weighing 1-2 kg, the author uses a weight of 17-20 kg. For medium-sized fish (250-500 grams), the weight of the load is 12-15 kg. The top row of the laid fish is sprinkled with a thick layer of salt so that it covers all the fish, and when all the fish are laid, the container with the load is covered with a double layer of gauze or a porous cloth that allows air to pass through, and wrapped with a linen elastic band so that the blanket is pressed tightly to the walls of the container to prevent wasps and flies from entering the laid fish.

With home salting, the fish, depending on the size, can be under load from 2 to 7 days. Small fish are aged for two days. Whole fish of medium size (250-500 g) - 3-4 days. Fish exceeding the average size (600-800 g) is aged up to 5 days. Please note that in the latter case, the entrails of the fish must be removed. The entrails and blood clots are removed before salting and in large fish (weighing 1 kg or more). In this case, along the ridge from the inside, a shallow incision is carefully made with a knife towards the dorsal fin without damaging the skin. Salt is also poured inside the abdominal cavity of the fish, then the fish is pressed from above with a load and kept for up to 7 days.

With brine (wet) salting in an enamel or stainless steel container, such an amount of salt dissolves in water (with thorough stirring), at which a raw egg floats on the surface of the brine. Fresh fish is dipped in brine so that the brine covers it completely. A wire mesh is placed on top (mesh wire - with an anti-corrosion coating), and a load is placed on it. For brine salting, select medium-sized fish (300 - 500 g) and incubate in salt brine under pressure for 3 days in a cool place.

Soaking. To reduce the salt content in the fish and to avoid the formation of salt crystals on its surface, soak is used. Salted fish are washed with cold running water. The gills and abdomen of the gutted fish are washed especially thoroughly. Small fish are soaked in fresh water for half an hour, larger fish should be soaked for several hours (for example, the fish was salted for 5 days, this means that the soaking process in fresh water should last 4-5 hours, and the water must be drained twice and the container should be filled (the author uses a plastic bath) with fresh fresh water Note that during the soaking process, after the first water has been drained, it is useful to leave the fish for 1-2 hours without water so that the salt is redistributed in the fish meat, and also, to reduce the salinity of the inner layers of the fish. If during soaking the fish begins to float, this indicates that the salting becomes tender. In this case, if you look at the fish "in the light", then its back will be amber-transparent. After drying, the meat acquires a slightly reddish color.

Drying. Before hanging the fish for drying, you need to lay it out on paper so that it dries a little, or wipe it dry with a clean cloth. The author hangs the fish on specially made hooks made of stainless wire, pre-piercing the hole for the hook with an awl. Usually fish such as blue bream, silver bream, roach, white-eyed fish are hung upside down. Large fish, gutted - bream, ide - head up. In general, if the fish is dried gutted, then it is hung up with its head up so that the fish oil does not flow down, but remains in the fish meat. During drying, a wooden cross-brace must be inserted into the belly of the gutted fish. This is done for better drying of the fish. Drying time can be different, it depends on the air temperature and the size of the fish. The drying process usually lasts from 1 to 4 weeks. If the fish is strung through the eye sockets (using a needle and a strong cord), then it is necessary that the fish be positioned with their backs to one side; and so that she does not crawl to each other, the overlap on the head is done twice. And, of course, careful control of the fish hung out for drying is required. The fish should be reliably protected from flies and wasps with a net or gauze. At night, there are no flies, and at this time the fish need not be protected with a net or gauze in order for it to dry out until a dry crust forms. Flies lay their eggs only on the wet surface of the fish. In the early morning, after overnight drying, the fish can be lightly sprayed with a solution of vinegar: its pungent smell scares off flies. But it is better to immediately hang the fish in a specially equipped place protected from flies. For this, a gauze canopy is widely used, the ends of which must be slightly wrapped and fastened with ordinary clothespins or fastened on pre-sewn loops with buttons.

Storage. It is best to store ready-made, well-dried (but not overdried) fish in cans, closing the jars with lids.Large fish can be stored wrapped in parchment, but not in cellophane bags, because in this case there will be no air access to the fish. In this form, a ram, for example, blue bream, sabrefish, silver bream, can be kept for quite a long time - up to 4 months. Dried fish can also be stored well in a cloth calico bag in a cool dry place. If the fish is dry, you can restore the elasticity of freshly cured fish. To do this, the fish must be soaked in water and wrapped in damp paper (keep the paper wet for two days, moistening it with water as it dries).

Conclusion. To get a delicious back of dried fish of gentle salting and amber color, you need, of course, some experience of drying at home. But experience, as they say, is a profitable business, and over time you can learn how to make a ram not only from a small white fish, but also from a large fish that weighs more than one kilogram. The author was preparing a ram from bream, the weight of each of which exceeded two kilograms. Dried large spring or autumn bream is something special! You can't buy these in the store!

I would like to say a few words about salt waste during dry and brine salting. If salting takes place in the yard, then a small depression must be dug under the container so that the fish juice flows into the ground through the holes drilled in the container. Salt remaining after dry salting is folded into a bag and thrown out with it into the trash can. If there is very little salt, then it can be thrown into the toilet, but in no case should you try to drain the salt waste into the sink - the entire drain system located under it may clog. If the drying of fish is carried out in a specially equipped place on the balcony, then in the balcony frames of the glazed balcony there should be a window covered with a nylon mesh. No matter what floor of a multi-storey building you live on, flies will still fly to the smell of fish. And ventilation is necessary for the fish to mature well. The author got out of the situation by making a plug-in frame covered with mesh, which he uses when the doors of the balcony frames are opened.

It is not necessary to drill many holes in a plywood canvas to overlap the rows of fish during salting, since the strength of the canvas itself is violated. To prevent the metal hooks from clinging to the gauze curtain while drying the fish, a newspaper folded several times is placed on top of the hooks.

That's how it would be. If you have an interesting recipe for drying a taranka, send it, and perhaps it will fall into this article.

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Tags: taranka, ram, dried fish, dried fish, how to cook a ram, how to dry a ram, a ram for beer, recipes for making a ram

It is better to choose a container with slots, as over time the fish will begin to secrete juices that need to go somewhere.

We place the box with fish in a cold room and keep it for at least 5-10 days (depending on the size of the carcasses).

Wet Ambassador

How to salt a ram at home if you want it to remain juicy? Then use the technology of wet salting of fish. All preparations are identical to the dry method, except for the container in which the fish will be stored. There should be no holes in it so that the juice secreted from the fish does not go anywhere.

You can add a little sugar to the brine, then the taste of the fish will be softer.

Oppression will be required again. In a day or two, brine (fish brine) will appear. The ram will be salted in about a week and a half. Then it should be removed from the brine, rinsed, dried and placed in some kind of storage container.

Today we no longer use brine again, but in the old days brine was used several times in fishing grounds.

Drying and drying of fish

Salting ram at home can be made for future use: dried and dried ram. How to salt a ram is described above, now let's consider the question, such technologies for additional processing of the product are applicable to such fish.

We wash the salted fish and soak in clean water for a couple of hours. We string fish carcasses on a wire in the tail area and hang in a well-ventilated place. Direct sunlight for drying is contraindicated. Dried fish is more moist than fully dried fish and will be ready in about a week.

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Taranka is a delicious fish. It is especially good when dried. But first, the product must be properly salted. How to do it? Of course, there are some nuances, but everything is incredibly simple. Let's take a look at the options available.

How to properly prepare a ram for salting?

It is best to salt freshly caught fish. However, this is not always possible, so you can also use frozen food, which you must first defrost at room temperature. This completes all the preparatory work. No need to wash, clean or gut anything.

How to salt a taranka correctly?

There are several ways to pickle a ram. Let's get it all in detail.

Dry method of salting the ram

In this case, there are two options. Both are simple. So choose which one you like best. So:

Option number 1

Take the prepared fish and rub it with salt from the tail to the head. Try to let the husks rise. Fill the mouth and gills of the ram with salt. After that, string the carcasses on a thick thread or wire and hang in the shade in a draft. So we salt and dry at the same time. The fish should hang in this state for at least 2 days.

Option number 2

Prepare deep enamel or glassware. Wash and dry the container. Now add some (25 g) salt to the bottom. Arrange the ram in one layer. Next is the salt. Followed by a fish. And so on until the main product ends. As for the ratio of fish to salt: from 1: 0.1 to 1: 1. It all depends on the season and conditions. If you can send the prepared semi-finished product to the refrigerator, then put less salt. And if it's summer outside and you don't have a cool place, then pour 1: 1. After that, put the oppression on top and take out the fish after 1-2 days. Then rinse off the salt. You can soak the ram a little. And again, hang in the shade in a draft.

Wet way of salting ramps

There is nothing complicated in this method of salting fish either. Just dilute water with salt in a 1: 0.1 ratio. Now fill in the prepared fish so that it is completely covered. Press down on top with something so that the carcasses do not float. Soak the ram in brine for 2-3 days. Then take it out (you can soak it for 20-30 minutes in cold water) and hang it in the same way as in other cases.

Of course, a wide variety of spices can be added to salt. For each kilogram of fish, take about 1 tablespoon of chopped spices. Sprinkle whatever you like.

Salting fish requires patience and time, as well as how much effort it takes to find "your" recipe among those offered. Try it, maybe you will like this method of salting.

Or order the crab-flavored squid, a delicious snack to accompany a cool glass of beer in the summer heat. Not expensive at all and no cooking required.

Crab-flavored squid

Any suitable capacity, in which the ram will be salted. A bowl, plastic or enamelled, a bucket, a large saucepan will do. The dishes must be NON-galvanized. You will need salt only large and, of course, the fish itself - ram... by ram, most mean any small fish. However, in the Astrakhan region, ramming is a separate species of fish. The fish according to this recipe will turn out delicious in both the first and second cases.

The bottom of the container is sprinkled with plenty of salt, then the first layer of fish is laid on it. The salt must be coarse. You can also use salt with the addition of herbs, but this is optional and to taste. Note that each fish must be thoroughly rinsed before salting, rubbed with salt, generously pouring it into the gills. They do not save on salt in this business.

Salt the ram correctly

Then a not too heavy oppression is installed on the container, and left to be salted in a cold place. For each fish, the salting time is different, for example, roach is salted for 2-3 days, for undergrowths for 3-4 days, and bream for 5-6 days.

The time for salting has passed, and the fish is thoroughly washed in running water, you can just soak it, but the water should be cold. One day of salting will be equal to an hour of soaking. At this time, of course, the water is changed every 20-30 minutes.

It is important not only to properly grease the ram, but also to dry

Drying the ram

Salted fish is ready for drying, it is advisable to hang it in the room where there is a possibility of draft, i.e. well ventilated. - everyone decides for himself.

Getting rid of the attacks of flies

To prevent annoying flies from overwhelming the almost ready-to-eat delicacy, you can do the following:
1. vinegar water will scare away flies, it is sprayed with fish at short intervals, while the ram hangs on the rope,
2. cover the fish with a gauze cloth,
3.Use a special box with a mosquito net designed for drying fish,
4. there are no flies at night, which means you can safely hang it out in the evening, putting it in the refrigerator in the morning.

Take a note, lovers of salted taranka, it is best to salt and dry the fish caught in that month, in the name of which there is the letter "r". Now is the time. Outside the window is September, then October will come, then November.

Ecology of consumption: On the Don, a ram is called a dried roach brought from the Volga. Previously, the rivers flowing into the Sea of ​​Azov were literally overflowing with rams

The ram is a species of roach. It differs from ordinary roach in its greater body height, smaller scales, thickened teeth, and the number (smaller) of rays in the anal fin. Previously, the ram came into the trade in dried form and was a favorite food for the peoples of the Kuban, Don, Azov region. Today, the name ram is understood not only for this type of fish, but also for mixed species of various species of fish.

On the Don, a ram is called a dried vobla brought from the Volga. Previously, the rivers flowing into the Sea of ​​Azov were literally overflowing with rams, and whole mountains of this dried product were brought to the fish market in the village of Gnilovskaya. Then the Chumaks delivered the goods throughout Ukraine. But over time, the ram practically disappeared from the Azov basin due to its uncontrolled fishing even before spawning and the destruction of small individuals.

Taranka fish or taranka is a common name for dried dried fish. Basically, fish is used for its preparation, which belongs to the carp family. It can be roach, vobla and, of course, ram, from which the very name “ram” came. However, you can cook a ram from other types of fish: pike, bream, crucian carp, goby. Dried ram is considered a traditionally Russian snack (snack) for a foamy drink. Its preparation (drying in a salty form) lasts from several days to several weeks. It all depends on the recipe for cooking, on what result you want to get and the size of the fish. Some people like dried ram, others prefer dried.

What kind of fish is better for drying?

Almost any. But experienced fishermen are more fond of roach, rudd, minnows, ruffs. Fish of medium fat content is best suited, such as roach, bream, sabrefish, podleschik.

Many people prefer to dry fish in natural conditions, in the fresh air, constructing numerous structures in the form of boxes with a net. But if you want to dry a tasty treat as quickly as possible or weather conditions do not allow at the moment, then a completely ordinary oven, a Russian stove, or an electric dryer purchased in a store will do. In all cases, the preliminary preparation remains the same.

In fact, drying and drying is one process, only with a different name. Its peculiarity is that pre-salted fish is dried (dried) for a certain amount of time. As a result of this process, the fish will be quite suitable for human consumption without any other thermal processing. As it is stored in dried fish, the amount of moisture and fat decreases, which is why it is called dried. Only those types of fish are dried, which acquire a special taste and aroma during processing.

In the summertime, it is better not to cook gutted fish, since at this time herbivorous fish feed on plankton and greens, which, during the drying process, will give an unpleasant smell and rancid taste. If there is a desire to withered large fish, un-gutted, then before immersing it in brine, a strong salt solution is poured into the abdomen through the mouth with a syringe or syringe.

Fully finished fish has a structure that is clearly visible to the light, salt does not emit on its surface. After removing the scales and skin, a fragrant layer of meat appears, tender and elastic and shiny fat. After drying, dried fish should ripen from three weeks to a month.

How to dry fish?

Drying and drying fish is considered one of the ways to prepare and preserve it. The pre-salted fish, after a certain time, is wilted in special devices. This can be a self-made appliance or an Isidri fish dryer. As a result, the product can be consumed without heat treatment.

Dried ram is made by salting, soaking and subsequent drying. The name comes from the fish roach (ram), which has long been used for this.

Salting is carried out in one of the ways - wet or dry. It is better to salt small fish with a wet method, and large fish weighing more than a kilogram are salted dry.

1. Method of wet salting

Usually fish is salted in a brine called brine. It takes three or four days to keep it there. With the wet method of salting (brine), a strong salt solution is made so that a raw chicken egg floats on its surface. Freshly processed fish is dipped completely into the solution. It is necessary to put an anti-corrosion wire mesh on top and bend on it. For the brine salting method, fish weighing up to 500 grams are chosen and kept under oppression for 3 days in a cool place. After this time, to reduce the amount of salt in the fish, it is necessary to soak it.

The fish is washed with cold running water, paying attention to the abdomen (if the fish is gutted) and gills. Next, the fish is soaked in fresh water (for shallow water it takes half an hour, larger specimens are soaked for several hours, the water needs to be changed periodically). In the process of soaking, after draining the first water, the fish is left dry for a couple of hours so that the salt is distributed in it and to reduce the salinity of the intestines of the fish. When, when soaking, the fish begins to float, it means that the ambassador has become tender, if you look at the fish in the light, it will become transparent amber. And after drying, it will acquire a slightly reddish color. Before being sent for drying, the fish is placed on paper or thoroughly wiped with a soft cloth. It is believed that the fish will not take more salt than it should. Salt crystals block the space between the fibers of the fish meat so that the rest of the salt cannot penetrate into the carcass.
Little tricks:

Live fish is salted better, as it will be salted more evenly after swallowing the saline solution.
Large specimens can be cut for better drying.
The purpose of salting is to remove excess moisture. To do this, use coarse salt, which draws liquid out of the fish.
Oppression is needed to prevent cavities in the fish, where putrefactive bacteria develop, and the appearance of gas bubbles.
Salting should take place in a cold place (refrigerator or cellar). If the fish is not salted, then the cold protects it from damage.

2. Method of dry salting

Salt is poured into a stainless steel dish with about half a centimeter. The fish is thoroughly washed, the insides of large specimens over 0.8 kg are carefully removed, the small fish is salted whole. With dry salting, the fish is rubbed with salt from the tail to the head, the gills are tightly stuffed with salt and folded into a container in tight rows back to the stomach, head to tail, since with this method it is better to salt the fish under pressure. Salt must be poured inside the peritoneum of the fish.

The fish is sprinkled with salt in such an amount that a dense salt layer forms. Then the second layer of fish and salt is laid in the same way. Next, a lid is placed on the fish in such a way that it does not tightly press against the walls of the dish, and there is a small flow of air to the fish. They put oppression on the lid and put the container in a cold place (it can be a refrigerator or a balcony in winter, just make sure that the rays of the sun do not fall on it). Periodically, the resulting juice should be drained from the fish. For small fish (up to 100 grams), the salting time is a day or two. For an average fish (up to 800 grams), no more than 3-4 days. Large carcasses (from a kilogram) are salted from 5 days to two weeks. You can understand that the fish is salted by stopping the release of juice from it.

To get a uniform salting, for a start, you can put a little more than half of the intended load, and after 6 hours add the rest. The weight of the oppression is selected from the amount of salted fish and its weight. For large individuals, a load of 15-20 kilograms is required. If the carcasses are medium-sized (250 grams, half a kilo), the weight of the oppression should be 12-15 kg. The top layer of the fish is sprinkled with plenty of salt so that it is all covered with salt. When all the fish is laid, the container with the yoke is covered with gauze or other porous cloth, wrapped with a rope or elastic band to avoid insects getting there.

If a ram is salted at home, then small fish are not gutted; in large individuals, all entrails are removed along with blood clots. On the inside of the fish, a shallow incision is made to the dorsal fin without damaging the skin. It is better to use coarse salt, since fine salt forms a crust on the fish, and it does not allow the carcass to be salted evenly and efficiently.

Then the fish is taken out and washed thoroughly. Then it is soaked in water for two hours and rinsed again with the addition of vinegar to prevent the appearance of living organisms in it. If the Isidri dryer is used, then before drying, the gills of the fish are squeezed so that they dry out faster. If the specimens are large, then spacers are made from matches or toothpicks on the cut belly. This way it stays greasy and tastes better.

How to store dried fish?

Store well-dried fish in tin cans with tight lids.

You can store fish in a bag or basket away from sunlight. Large specimens are wrapped in parchment. Thus, dried fish can be stored for up to 4 months. Dried fish is stored in a calico bag in a cool, dry place. If the ram has turned out to be overdried, then its elasticity can be restored by wetting it with water and wrapping it in damp paper for two days, moistening it periodically with water as it dries. The fish is stored in the refrigerator, either in a plastic bag or in foil. If you intend to keep the fish for a long time, you should periodically lubricate it with vegetable oil. The fish is also stored in sealed jars. Well-packed dried fish does not spoil up to 10 months, but sometimes it loses its taste during long-term storage.

Why is ram useful and what is better to use it with?

Fish contains many substances that a person needs, while its calorie content in 100 grams is only 88 kcal. Its protein content is 17.5 grams, fat - 2 grams, carbohydrates - 0.

The ram contains a lot of protein, which is easily absorbed by the human body. It also contains chromium, fluorine, nickel, molybdenum, sulfur, chlorine. Protein from dried fish helps regulate the body's metabolism. Fish oil regulates blood clotting, as it contains fatty acids that help lower bad cholesterol levels, so the risk of a stroke is reduced. Iodine contributes to the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Dried fish contains B vitamins, vitamins A, E, magnesium, iron, fluoride, which are important for the normal functioning of the brain and heart.

Many people prefer to consume dried fish as a beer delicacy. Cured roach is considered a classic. But not every lover can tell the difference between delicious fish in appearance. Delicious and good taranka has a pleasant dried taste, beautiful color, no mold, it is not too soft, but not too dry, without yellowness. You should block the light source with the fish and then you can see how it will light up.

Ram is perfect as a beer snack. These are integral components for each other. With moderate consumption of fish along with a frothy drink, such a combination of goodies will only bring benefits, since beer contains a lot of vitamin B from brewer's yeast. This vitamin strengthens the heart muscle. There is a lot of ascorbic acid in beer. And dried fish contains a lot of omega 3 fatty acids, which are useful for the prevention of cancer, senile dementia, stroke, heart attack.

Of course, each fish has its own taste and depends on the time it was caught, its habitat. For those who prefer oily fish, dried bream is the best choice. If it was dried with an un-gutted abdomen, then when cut, the fat begins to literally ooze, the meat will taste aromatic and tasty.

Moderately fatty fish - dried sabrefish and vomer, which are distinguished by tender and tasty meat. The sea ruff has a tender, tasty and nutritious golden meat. Such a fish is perfectly cleaned, and there are very few bones in it. Dried perch has a slightly sweetish and fibrous meat, lean. Dried pike has a rich and tart aroma, excellent taste.

You can eat dried fish in small quantities for pregnant women. Numerous tests have shown that pregnant women who ate jerky fish in the third trimester gave birth to calmer babies and a reduced risk of preterm birth.

You can use dried fish not only as snacks for beer. Sometimes it is used to make fish soup. Overdried specimens are ground into flour and used as a dressing for salads with fish, fish soups, cutlets.

There is another original recipe that uses dried fish. This is sour cream pasta. To prepare it, mix a glass of sour cream with a quarter of a glass of mayonnaise, add a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, a clove of garlic, a little black pepper, a tablespoon of parsley and a glass of crumbled dried fish. This paste can be served with dry salty cookies, cucumber or tomato slices.

Conclusion

To get a delicious back of a fish of gentle salting and a beautiful amber color, you need some experience, but gradually you can learn how to dry a taranka, which in its taste, color and aroma is many times superior to the purchased one. And then hardly anyone will refuse to enjoy the wonderful fragrant fish. Some connoisseurs of the foamy drink equate the process of drinking beer with fish to the Japanese tea ceremony. They literally savor every bite of it, recognizing dried or dried fish as an exquisite delicacy. published