Mackerel is a very useful fish, it improves brain function, normalizes metabolism and positively affects the cardiovascular system.
Homemade smoked mackerel - basic cooking principles
The smoking process is smoke treatment. There are two ways: cold and hot smoking. In the first case, the fish is treated with cold smoke, so it is pre-salted. In the second case, mackerel is treated with hot smoke, that is, it is subjected to heat treatment. This method is considered the most correct and safe, since in the process of smoking, all bacteria die.
Smoked mackerel at home can be prepared in other ways: in onion husks, with black tea or liquid smoke. It will be not quite smoked, but no less tasty.
Smoked fish buy fresh or chilled. When buying, pay attention to the appearance of mackerel. The eyes of the fish should be transparent, and the carcass should not have any yellow or brown spots. And, of course, there should be no foreign smell. If you buy frozen mackerel, it is better to opt for dry-frozen fish.
Before smoking fish must be gutted and washed. If it is provided for in the recipe, marinate, and only then begin to smoke.
Consider all the well-known recipes for cooking smoked mackerel at home.
Recipe 1. Smoked mackerel at home in a hot way.
Ingredients
mackerel;
spices for fish;
salt;
a mixture of peppers;
onion;
bay leaf;
dill.
Cooking method
1. Gut the fish, remove the gills and wash the mackerel under the tap. Peel the onions, rinse and cut into slices. Sort out dill, wash and dry.
2. Put the mackerel in a deep oval shape with the backs down. In each belly, put onion, dill, a mixture of peppers, bay leaf and salt.
3. Dilute 100 g of salt in a liter of water and fill the fish with this brine. Leave the fish in the brine for six hours, then drain the water, put the fish on a towel and dry. Pin the bellies with toothpicks, or drag the carcasses with threads.
4. In the smokehouse, lay dry alder branches, a leaf, and install a grate on top. Put the fish on the grill belly up. Smoke the fish for about an hour. Then gently remove the fish from the grill, free the abdomen from greens and spices and cool.
Recipe 2. Smoked mackerel at home in a cold way
Ingredients
six carcasses of mackerel;
70 ml of liquid smoke;
50 g of sugar;
two handfuls of onion husks;
litere of water;
80 g of salt.
Cooking method
1. Gut the mackerel, remove the gills and rinse under the tap. Put on a board, covered with a towel, and dry.
2. Peel the onion, rinse it, put it in a saucepan and pour cold water. Add sugar and salt to this. Put on the fire and cook the husk mixture for 25 minutes.
3. Cool the broth slightly and strain. Mix it with liquid smoke.
4. Place the prepared mackerel in a brine, press down on top with a load and hold in this form for two days.
5. After this time, remove the fish, rinse under the tap and dry. Before serving, cut the mackerel portions.
Recipe 3. Smoked mackerel at home in onion husk
Ingredients
two carcasses of mackerel;
75 g of sugar;
litere of water;
an incomplete glass of strongly brewed tea;
three handfuls of onion husks;
pinch of coriander beans and black peppercorns;
30 g of sugar;
two bay leaves.
Cooking method
1. At the mackerel we separate the head, cut the abdomen and clean out the giblets. Be sure to remove the black film from the walls of the abdomen, then rinse the carcasses under the tap.
2. Pour a liter of water into the pan and put it on the stove. We remove the husks from the onions and rinse them well under the tap. Put the prepared husk in boiling water. Twist the fire and cook onion peel for about five minutes. Then turn off the heat and infuse the broth for ten minutes, and then filter through a sieve.
3. Brew strong tea in 200 ml of boiling water. In the filtered broth, add salt and sugar, coriander, tea leaves, bay leaves, pepper and put again on the stove. Close the container with a lid and boil the resulting solution. Then turn off the heat and cool the solution.
4. The resulting broth is poured into a deep, flat shape and lay out the prepared mackerel. Press lightly on top of the plate. We remove the fish in a cool place for three days. From time to time it is necessary to turn over.
5. After this time, we get the fish out of the marinade and dip them in a paper towel. We hang the fish by the tail on the balcony or in the cellar and leave for a couple of hours to be weathered. Then we grease the mackerel with sunflower oil, cut into portions and serve to the table.
Recipe 4. Smoked mackerel at home in a European way
Ingredients
three carcasses of mackerel;
litere of water;
60 g of sugar;
140 ml of liquid smoke;
100 g of smoked salt;
60 g of saffron;
a pinch of seasoning curry.
Cooking method
1. Gut the mackerel, remove the heads and clean the inside of the abdomen from the black film. Wash the fish under the tap, place on a towel and dry.
2. Boil a liter of water in a saucepan. Saffron pour boiling water, when the grass is drawn, pour the resulting tincture into the pan. Add to the slightly cooled broth table salt, curry and sugar.
3. For a two-liter plastic bottle, cut the neck. Fish dipped in a bottle so that the tails were at the top. Pour mackerel in the cooled marinade. Pour in liquid smoke.
4. Leave the fish for four days, daily turning it over its tails so that the coloring is uniform. After this time, remove the fish and hang it by its tails to dry.
Recipe 5. Smoked mackerel at home on aerogrill
Ingredients
two carcasses of mackerel;
5 g of turmeric;
liquid smoke;
vegetable oil;
salt and olive herbs.
Cooking method
1. Mackerel must be cleaned from the insides and separate the head from the carcass. Clean the abdomen from the inside of the black film, rinse under the tap and dry slightly.
2. Mix 50 g of salt with herbs and turmeric, add two caps of liquid smoke and mix. The resulting mixture to coat fish carcasses. Put the mackerel in a bag, close tightly and bandage. Remove the fish for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Remove the mackerel from the bag and smear it with vegetable oil.
3. Pour water into deep dishes, add shavings of alder or apple with liquid smoke. Stir, put on the bottom of the aerogrill and sprinkle with steamer. Turn on convection oven, and warm the chips.
4. Put the mackerel on the middle grill, set the temperature of the air grill at 80 degrees and smoke it for 30 minutes. Turn the mackerel every ten minutes and coat it with butter. At the end of smoking, wrap the fish in foil, cool and put in the refrigerator. Cut the fish only after it has completely cooled, otherwise it may fall apart.
Recipe 6. Smoked mackerel at home "Golden"
Ingredients
three carcasses of mackerel;
water - liter;
100 g of salt;
80 g of scara;
dry tea leaves - four tbsp. l .;
four handfuls of onion husks;
allspice and black pepper - six peas each;
bay leaf - three pcs.
Cooking method
1. Gut carcasses of mackerel, remove heads and tails. Clean the black film from the inside of the abdomen and wash the fish under the tap. Put the mackerel on a towel and pat dry.
2. Put onion husks in a pan, pour sugar, salt and dry brewing black tea. Pour all with a liter of water and put on fire, boil. Add peas and bay leaves to the marinade, simmer for a quarter of an hour over low heat, cool and strain.
3. Cut the carcasses of mackerel into three parts, put in a deep container and fill in with slightly cooled brine. Cover and marinate for two days at room temperature. Turn the fish over twice a day. Then put the fish in the refrigerator for a couple more days. Take the fish out of the pickle, dip it in a napkin and put it in another dish. Keep refrigerated.
Recipe 7. Smoked mackerel at home in a frying pan
Ingredients
two large carcasses of mackerel;
water - liter;
75 g of table salt;
30 g of sugar;
allspice peas - 10 pcs.;
bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
black loose tea - two tbsp. l .;
rice - 150 g.
Cooking method
1. Pour rice with water so that it slightly covers it, and leave it overnight, during which time all the liquid is absorbed into the rice. Add a tablespoon of tea to the rice. We lay out this mixture in foil, wrap it up and leave a small hole.
2. Boil the water and add pepper, salt, bay leaf and sugar to it. We boil the brine for a minute and turn off the heat.
3. Cut the mackerel abdomen, clean the offal and rinse well under the tap. Immerse the prepared fish in the marinade, set the load on top and put it in the fridge for a day.
4. We take the mackerel out of the marinade and dip it with a napkin. We take the pan, cover the bottom with foil folded in several layers, spread the rice with tea in the foil, with the hole up. Put the pan on the fire and heat it until a light smoke appears.
5. In the pan, place the wire rack on which we spread the mackerel. Cover with a lid and smoked fish for 20 minutes on each side. Cool the finished fish, cut into portions and serve.
Recipe 8. Smoked Mackerel Slices at Home
Ingredients
two medium carcasses of mackerel;
80 g of coarse salt;
40 g of sugar;
liquid smoke or smoked salt - 1 tsp;
bulb;
olive oil;
a few peas of allspice;
a small pinch of coriander seeds;
Bay leaf.
Cooking method
1. On the abdomen of a mackerel, make an incision and take out the insides, separate the head from the carcass. Then we make a longitudinal section along the ridge and carefully remove the bones and the ridge. You should get two pieces of filet.
2. Put the processed fish in a deep plate. In a separate bowl, mix all the loose ingredients with pepper and bay leaf. Sprinkle the mackerel fillet with the mixture. We cover with cling film and send to the fridge for eight hours.
3. After this time, take out the fillet, clean it from salt and spices and rinse it under the tap. We take out the remaining bones, remove the skin and cut the fish into pieces. Place the mackerel in deep dishes. Chopped peeled onions finely and sprinkle them with fish, sprinkle abundantly with olive oil and serve. Mackerel can be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container for three days.
Recipe 9. Smoked mackerel at home on the grill
Ingredients
four carcasses of mackerel;
according to Art. l lemon juice and mustard;
2 tbsp. l ground black pepper;
0.5 cups of sugar and salt.
Cooking method
1. Soak the sliver for a day. In mackerel, we cut the abdomen and free it from the entrails, remove the tails and heads, make an incision along the ridge and remove the ridge and bones. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and salt and rub this mixture with the peeled carcasses from all sides. We send it to the refrigerator for half an hour.
2. In a plate, mix black pepper, lemon juice and mustard. Rub the resulting mixture into the fillet and leave for another half hour.
3. At the barbecue we remove the legs and kindle a light fire. We collect the burned-out coals in a heap. Install the grill on top. Drain the liquid from the fish, blot it with a napkin and put it on aluminum foil, in which we make several holes beforehand.
4. Place a sheet of foil with fish on the grid. After a quarter of an hour, we check the condition of the fish, the crust should be shiny, and the mackerel itself is dense, opaque and not dry inside. We turn over so that the fish smoked evenly.
Smoked mackerel at home - tips and tricks from professionals
- For smoking, use wood of certain species of wood to make mackerel aromatic and tasty. Alder, poplar, mountain ash, or wood of fruit trees are suitable for this. Do not use raw or rotted wood chips.
- Mackerel is better to smoke without viscera and head.
- If you smoke fish in an automatic smokehouse, then the fish should spend at least a day in it, and two large carcasses.
- For smoked mackerel to be stored longer, it must first be well dried.
- Before smoking, put a bunch of greens in the abdomen, this will make the fish even more flavorful.
- Before smoking, it is necessary to dry the fish with napkins so that it is completely dry.
