This fish, due to its prevalence, is probably one of the most popular fish delicacies in the post-Soviet space. Earlier, during the years of the USSR, it could be freely found on the shelves of fish stores. Even now, fresh frozen, it is often found in the corresponding departments of supermarkets and is relatively inexpensive. So it's time to cook such a delicious dish as spiced sprat at home. Moreover, to do it, special wisdom is not required. It is only necessary to observe a few nuances, and the food, familiar from childhood, is ready. So let's give it a try!

Little tricks and secrets

Sprat sprat at home will turn out to be especially tasty if you use the "grandmother's" secrets, formed on the basis of the experience of more than one generation. Nothing, in principle, complicated. What are these subtleties that are recommended to be heeded so that sprat sprat at home turns out well?

Sprat sprat. Recipe number 1

And now, having prepared the products, you can proceed directly to the salting process. We believe in ourselves and remember that there is nothing difficult in preparing fish in this way. And our mothers and grandmothers prepared such a delicacy many times. So you, of course, should get a spicy salted sprat at home.

Ingredients

• Sprat in the amount of a kilogram.
• Freshly ground black pepper.
• A glass of coarse salt.
• A couple of dry clove buds.
• Black peppercorns (several pieces).
• A pinch of coriander.
• Three lavrushkas.
• A pinch of ground ginger.

Cooking spicy fish step by step

Sprat sprat recipe at home # 2

Everyone is used to the fact that sprat is a rather small fish. However, sometimes in today's supermarkets there is a rather large variety of fish, which can also be salted with pleasure (and rather quickly), without being afraid of unusual sizes. So, here is a recipe for salting fish, if you are lucky and you bought large enough specimens.

Ingredients

• Large sprat - 1 kilogram.
• Freshly ground black pepper - 10 grams.
• Half a glass of salt.
• Carnation buds - 5 pieces.
• A bag of white peppercorns.
• Coriander, rosemary, nutmeg and cinnamon with ginger are all on the tip of a knife.
• A glass of sugar.
• Some add sodium benzoate to be sure - just a couple of grams.

The salting process itself

In brine

Salted sprat in brine is also quick and easy to prepare. But first, we will need to prepare the marinade itself. This is not difficult to do.

Even such a small fish as sprat can be a lot of pleasure if it is tasty and properly salted. I propose to cook sprat sprat at home and treat your household to delicious fish for a family lunch or dinner.

Do not forget to boil or fry the potatoes, as spiced sprat is in perfect harmony with them. If you are not lazy, you can make sandwiches with black bread and salted sprat. Sprinkle with chopped green onions on top. It will be delicious.

You don't need any special skills to cook spicy sprat, the main thing is that your kitchen has the right spices and, of course, fresh fish.

Taste Info Fish and seafood

Ingredients

• Fresh sprat - 1 kg;
• Black peppercorns - 1 tsp;
• Coriander, seeds - 2 tsp;
• Allspice, peas - 10 pcs.;
• Carnation - 5 buds;
• Dried rosemary - 1 tsp;
• Sugar - 1 tsp;
• Salt - 100 g;
• Ground nutmeg - 1-2 pinches;
• Ground cinnamon - 1 pinch;
• Ground ginger -1-3 pinches;
• Cardamom - 3 boxes;
• Bay leaf - 2-3 pcs.

How to cook spiced sprat at home

First of all, buy a fresh sprat. When buying, pay attention to the appearance and smell. Unspoiled fish has a pleasant fishy aroma. If the sprat is larger, if desired, it can be gutted and the head removed. If the fish is small, as in my case, it is better to salt it whole. Rinse well in cool water and leave for a while to allow excess moisture in the glass.

In the meantime, we will prepare the spices that you can adjust at your discretion. They need to be slightly chopped. For this we use a mortar.

Place the prepared sprat in a stainless or enamel container. Add chopped lavrushka, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, mix well.

Add salt and sugar, cloves, allspice, coriander seeds, dried rosemary. Stir again until all the fish layers are soaked in the seasoning.

Cover with a clean cloth, place a plate and weight on top. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours. If, during the salting process, little juice is formed, it is advisable to mix several times so that the whole sprat is well salted.

Sprat sprat at home is ready. Store in a lidded glass jar or plastic dish, not very long.

Advice:

• For such "dry" salting, only ordinary rock salt is suitable, in no case use iodized or "Extra" grade.
• If a large volume of harvesting is planned, fresh fish cannot be washed, it is best to do this immediately before use. This will significantly extend the shelf life.
• Under no circumstances use plastic salting bowls - the finished product will instantly absorb the smell and all your efforts will go to waste.

Teaser network

Lightly salted sprat in brine

Few people know that in the fishermen's jargon, the brine used to make lightly salted sprat is called "brine". In the preparation of a solution with such a funny name, water, seasonings and spices are involved, which are most suitable for fish, emphasizing its taste and allowing to extend the shelf life. Naturally fresh fish would be an ideal option, but if your places do not abound in its presence, fresh frozen will do just fine. Seasonings that need to be ground are best ground in a home coffee grinder or pounded in a mortar for the best flavor of the spices. In addition, ready-made powders do not always correspond to the name indicated on the package. Use only spring water, filtered or boiled water - the presence of chlorine in the water supply system can spoil your workpiece once and for all. By the way, the sprat brine is also suitable for other types of fish - herring, anchovy and even herring. Large specimens of the fish family should be cut into pieces before harvesting for better soaking with spices and seasonings.

Required Ingredients:

• Fresh or frozen sprat - 1 kg;
• Table salt - 2 tsp;
• Granulated sugar - 1 tsp;
• Purified water - 1 l.;
• Peppercorns - 5 pcs.;
• Mustard seeds -? tsp;
• Coriander and ditch on? tsp

From spices, clove buds, dill seeds, mustard in grains or ground, various peppers, red ground paprika, whole or ground bay leaves, coriander seeds and Provencal herbs are perfect.

Preparation:

1. Grind peppers with peas and seeds of mustard, coriander, dill in any available way.
2. Dissolve salt and sugar in boiling water, put ground spicy mixture and cloves, Provencal herbs, paprika in it.
3. Bring to a boil, refrigerate.
4. Rinse the fish, gut and cut off the heads of larger individuals, if desired, salt the small ones whole.
5. Pour the prepared raw material with cooled brine, put a lid or plate of a suitable diameter on top and press lightly with oppression. For this purpose, a can of water will do.
6. Do not overdo it with the load, so as not to crush the fish!
7. Leave the pickles at room temperature overnight, after the specified period, try the sprat and, if desired, add salt.
8. You should not store such a charm in the refrigerator for very long.

The subtleties of cooking lightly salted sprat:

• A small amount of granulated sugar added to the brine significantly improves the quality of frozen fish, even if it is not there according to the recipe - sugar will add elasticity to frozen carcasses.
• For quick salting, freshly frozen fish can be put in boiling water with a small amount of vinegar, then removed from the boiling water and dipped in brine - so the sprat will be ready for use in a few hours.

Spiced sprat with oil

An excellent substitute for industrial sprats - tender, fresh, resilient and fragrant sprat. If desired, and longing for the smoked taste, liquid smoked smoke can be added to the saline solution in the amount indicated on the package.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. Grind spices in a mortar or grind on a coffee grinder.
2. Pour the spicy mixture with vinegar and oil, let it brew.
3. Wash the fish, dry on paper towels.
4. Mix sugar and salt, sprinkle the prepared carcasses with this mixture, mix gently so that the fish is salted faster.
5. Put the sprat in an enamel container, cover with a lid, leave for 4 hours.
6. Remove the fish from the resulting brine, put it in another non-plastic dish, pour in the oil-vinegar infusion.
7. Leave warm overnight.
8. Store the prepared sprat sprat with oil in the refrigerator.

Advice:

• After working with fresh fish, lubricate your hands with vegetable oil, leave it on the skin for a few minutes. Then wash your hands with warm water and soap - the smell will disappear.
• Don't rush to throw the peels from tangerines, oranges and lemons in the trash can. Dry it and fold it into a coffee jar. After working with fish or other "fragrant" products, it is worth setting fire to a piece of dried peel and unpleasant odors will instantly disappear.
• The herring aroma in the refrigerator can be easily removed with a sponge dipped in a weak solution of green tea or lemon juice.

Sprat sandwiches

Homemade sprat of spicy salting can be used to make a tasty and inexpensive snack.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• Spicy salted sprat - 4 pcs.;
• Boiled egg - 1 chicken or 4 quail;
• Rye bread - 2 slices;
• Green onions, butter, black pepper - to taste.

Preparation:

1. Cut fish carcasses into fillets without head and back.
2. Grease the bread with butter, put a spread sprat on each slice.
3. Garnish with halved eggs, sprinkle with pepper and finely chopped green onions

In Estonia sandwiches with sprat are served with beer and sweet tea, in Russia with vodka. An appropriate sprat of a spicy salting will be on the buffet and festive table, the main thing is to serve it beautifully and tastefully.

Canapes with sprat will become the highlight of the festive table. To do this, take yesterday's baguette or brown bread, cut it across into pieces, no more than 1 cm thick, lightly fry. Put a small fish fillet in the middle, rolled into a ring. Above - a circle of boiled quail eggs and a circle of pickled cucumber. Fasten the structure with a skewer or a toothpick, squeeze mayonnaise out of the bag or pastry bag with a beautiful roller around the "slide". Sprinkle with chopped dill or garnish with parsley leaves.

Long gone are the days when in our country only sprat and gobies were caught, and caviar was thrown only by zucchini - judging by the shelves of our stores at that time. In modern supermarkets, there is a huge selection of various fish, and the once super popular small fish is by no means a hit in fish sales today.

But, salted with your own hands, it can become a real sensation of a picnic arranged with friends - provided that you know exactly how to salt a sprat.

Choosing a salting method

There are only 2 ways that you can salt the sprat at home: dry or in brine. The method of salting should be chosen depending on how long you are going to store the salted fish. If the fish is served on the table after a day or two, then salt it with a dry method. If you need to keep it longer, then it is better to salt the sprat in brine.

When salting, keep in mind that the longer the fish is in the brine, the more salty it becomes.

Therefore, be sure to adjust the amount of salt according to the storage time of the fish: the longer it is stored, the less seasoning you need to put in the brine.

In addition to salt, to give the fish a special, spicy taste, you can use some spices and seasonings:

• mustard (possible both in grains and powder);
• coriander;
• powdered red pepper;
• black pepper;
• white pepper;
• allspice (both beans and powder);
• Bay leaf;
• Carnation;
• Dill seeds.

The good thing about sprat salting is the opportunity to experiment, combining the number of different seasonings and spices to your liking. As a result, the taste of salted fish always turns out to be different, unique.

If instead of sprat you are offered sprat or sprats for salting, feel free to take it. Sprat and sprats are two subspecies of sprat, so you can salt them according to one recipe.

Even if you use one recipe, the taste of fresh and frozen, and then defrosted, salted according to it, the fish will be different - fresh salted kalechka is much tastier.

The sprat intended for long-term storage must not be washed before salting: the washed sprat is not stored for a long time. You need to rinse such a fish just before eating.

If you salt a large sprat, then it is better to salt the fillet, having removed the insides first. When salting, the insides can not be removed from small and medium fish - get rid of them immediately before serving.

For salting sprat use stone salt of the middle fraction. Fine salt will not salt the insides of the fish, and when using large fish it is easy to oversalt.

In order for the sprat to remain tight for a long time, not to "fall apart", you need to add a little sugar to the brine, even if it is not mentioned in the pickling recipe.

For salting sprat (and any fish) it is better not to use a plastic container: salt can “eat away” it, and then instead of the taste of fish you will “enjoy” the taste of plastic.

If you have to salt frozen sprat, then you need to defrost it at room temperature, otherwise the salted fish will not be stored for a long time. But, if you are waiting for guests and want to please them with lightly salted fish, then dip the frozen sprat for a minute in freshly boiled boiling water, after adding a few drops of vinegar to it, and then salt it. Two hours after salting, such a fish can already be served.

Dry method of salting sprat

Measure out 2.5-3 tbsp. tablespoons of salt, add 1 teaspoon of sugar to them, mix thoroughly and pour into a large plate or other container, the dimensions of which allow you to add 1 kg of sprat to the mixture. If desired, you can add ground pepper or mustard powder to the mixture - from a quarter to half a teaspoon. Pour the fish into this container, mix it thoroughly so that the mixture hits each fish as evenly as possible, and put it in a cool place.

Cover the freshly salted sprat on top with a lid or flat plate and press down. You can do without oppression, but in this case you will have to stir the sprat every hour for the first 3-4 hours so that it is salted evenly. After 12 hours, you will have a ready-made salted sprat, which can be served to the table, and after a day it will be completely salted.

Salting sprat in brine

Salting fish in brine can also be quick and easy if you know how to do it correctly. First, the same mixture is prepared as with the dry method, but it does not pour out into the container, but dissolves in hot water. Bring the resulting brine to a boil and immediately remove from heat.

Cool it down, fill it with a fish, pressing it down with oppression from above. Let it brew for 2-3 hours, then taste the brine. If it seems to you that it is not salty enough, add salt to it and send the fish to a cool place to infuse and wait for its finest hour.

Popular recipes for sprat sprat

The spicy ambassador of this small fish with their own hands has long been popular with housewives: the storage of fish can vary from 2-3 days to a month, and the choice of ingredients for salting is large. To make a spicy salted sprat, take:

• 1 kg sprat;
• 2.5 tbsp. tablespoons of salt;
• 1 teaspoon of sugar;
• 10 g black allspice;
• 5-6 pcs. peppercorns;
• 4-5 bay leaves;
• 1-2 pinches of coriander;
• a pinch of ginger;
• 3-5 pcs. carnations.

Rinse the fish thoroughly, discard it in a colander and leave in it to drain excess water. While the water is draining, grind and thoroughly mix all the listed spices into a homogeneous dry mixture. Sprinkle the prepared mixture on the bottom of the enamel pot, put the fish ball, sprinkle the fish ball on the mixture, add the fish ball again, sprinkle it again, and continue stacking until there are no more cooked ingredients. Cover with a plate on top, press down with oppression and send for permanent storage in a cold place. After 12 hours, the salted fish will be ready to serve.

Another version of this recipe: for 1 kg of fish, in addition to salt and sugar, which you need to take as much as in the first version, you need to take a pinch of powdered red pepper and a little dill or white mustard seeds (your choice). As in the first option, everything needs to be mixed thoroughly, but this is where the similarities end.

The second option is more laborious, since it is necessary to first clean the sprat by removing the insides from it.

Then the peeled fish is rubbed with the prepared mixture, trying to evenly distribute it on each fish. Then everything follows the pattern; cover with a plate, press down with oppression and send to a cold place for 12 hours.

Knowing what ingredients are needed and how many are needed, you can easily prepare a delicious salty sprat. And even if she is not destined to become the nail of a chic festive table, be sure that your family and friends will appreciate her taste in close friendly company.

WHAT TO COOK FROM SPRATH

Sprat are small herring fish caught in the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, and a smaller part is caught in the Azov and Black Seas. Sprat from the Baltic Sea are the most valuable, they are distinguished by their high taste due to the presence of fat. The weight of one sprat is from 10 to 15 grams, but this does not make sprat a less popular food product. Almost all the fish caught in the Baltic Sea is processed. Kilka is used to prepare canned foods such as "sprat in tomato", "sprats" and "anchovies". "Sprats" are canned food in the form of smoked kilka carcasses. "Anchovies" are made from kilka fillets, they have a peculiar aroma and excellent taste. Sprats and anchovies are used as an appetizer and for making sandwiches. Anchovies are added to salads and some dishes. What can be cooked from kilka at home? At home, you can cook from canned kilka and from fresh ones.

Sprat salted with spicy salting, and eaten with potatoes, serving them with green or onions and vegetable oil. Spicy, salty sprats are used to make sandwiches with butter, boiled egg and mayonnaise. Delicious sandwiches with sprats and sprats are obtained if they are made on toasts from a white loaf, grated with a clove of garlic.

Salted sprat can be served as a canapé appetizer at friendly parties and for corporate parties. To do this, you need to remove the head and entrails from the kilka, tear off the tail. Then roll the fish into a roll and prick it on a skewer. First, chop a piece of black bread, then pickled cucumber and then a rolled sprat, decorate with a sprig of dill. Decorate the dish with kilka canapes with lettuce and olives, lemon and pickled cucumber slices.

Fresh sprats are used to prepare various soups and main courses. Canned food "sprat in tomato sauce" and cabbage soup.

Soup with sprat in tomato sauce. For cooking, you need to boil the potatoes, mash them with a spoon, add finely chopped onions, pepper and bay leaves, salt to the pan. Then put the sprat canned in tomato sauce into the soup along with the filling. Warm up the soup for 5 minutes and can be served with dill. According to this recipe, you can make rice soup with sprat, put rice instead of potatoes.

Cabbage soup and sprat soup in tomato sauce, valuable in that they are prepared quickly and are low-calorie. Put potatoes in a saucepan, then chopped white cabbage. Cook until tender. Fry onions in a frying pan, add the contents of one jar of canned sprat, which will be the dressing. Since the sprat is in tomato sauce, you do not need to add additional tomato paste. When the potatoes are boiled and the dressing warms up, add it to the pan. Season with bay leaves, salt and pepper. Warm up for 5 minutes. Serve cabbage soup with sour cream and chopped dill.

Fresh stewed sprat. Fresh sprat can be sautéed with oil. To do this, the fish heads must be torn off and removed along with the entrails. Then wash the fish and put it in a saucepan in rows. Shift each row with onion rings and sprinkle with salt. Put bay leaf and peppercorns on the top row, pour over with vegetable oil. Simmer the kilka over low heat for 1.5-2.0 hours, add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato puree before the end of cooking. Serve hot with .

Fried sprat with onions. Sort the fish, tear off the heads, wash and dry. Fry onions in a frying pan and add fish breaded in flour to it. Fry with the onions, gently turning over high heat. Fries quickly. Serve fried sprat with boiled potatoes, cucumber and tomato salad.

Sprat stewed with potatoes. Prepare the fish. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices. Put the potatoes in a frying pan, add salt and put the sprat on top in two or three rows. Cover with onions and sprinkle with grated cheese. Dilute mayonnaise with water 1: 1, pour into a frying pan. Put in a hot oven, bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve hot with green salad.

HOW TO PREPARE SPRING AMBASSADOR SPRATCHES

Spicy salting is the preservation of fish with salt with added spices, and without preservatives. In this way, small fish are prepared at home - sprat, sprat and hamsa. With a spicy method of cooking kilka, you need to take more salt than when pickling. Spicy sprat can be cooked at home in barrels or in glass jars. To salt a sprat in a barrel, it must be rinsed well and allowed to drain. Then you need to sprinkle the sprat with salt mixed with spices in a proportion of 15% salt, 1% spices and 0.5% sugar by weight of the fish.

To make the sprat especially aromatic and spicy, products with a high content of essential oils should be used as spices. It is especially good to add bitter and allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and bay leaves, which should be placed on the bottom and between the rows of fish. Stir the sprat sprinkled with salt and spices well and pour into the barrel. Then fill with spicy fill. Sprats are prepared in jars, as well as in barrels.

You can make sprat using a different recipe. Sprinkle fresh fish with fine salt, taking salt 7-9% by weight of the fish. Keep the sprat in salt brine for 12 hours, then put it on a sieve and let the brine drain. After that, cover with a mixture of salt, spices and sugar, mix well. Prepare the mixture from the calculation - finely ground salt 12%, spices 0.5% and 1% sugar by weight of sprat. Half of the mixture is poured into the sprat after brine and the exposure is made for two weeks. Then the sprats are laid out in rows in banks, and each row is sprinkled with the prepared mixture for spicy salting. The bay leaves are placed on the bottom of the jar and on top of the jar with sprat.

Lightly salted sprat can be prepared in another way. Salt the sprat, then soak in water for a day and another 5-6 hours in 5% sugar syrup. Put the sprat prepared in this way in jars and sprinkle each row with a mixture for spicy salting. You can include pepper, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and sugar in the salting mix.

Spicy sprat, ready to eat in 14-16 days if cooked in summer. Salted fish in winter - in a month.

Sprat and other small spicy salted fish are stored at a temperature of no higher than 3-5 degrees, when it is well salted, the storage temperature should be reduced to 0 degrees.