Mackerel is a very useful fish, it improves brain function, normalizes metabolism and positively affects the cardiovascular system.
Smoked mackerel at home - the basic principles of cooking
The smoking process is a 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, the mackerel is treated with hot smoke, that is, it is subjected to heat treatment. This method is considered the most correct and safe, because in the process of smoking all the bacteria die.
Smoked mackerel at home can be prepared in other ways: onion peel, with black tea or liquid smoke. It will be not quite smoked, but no less tasty.
Fish for smoking buy fresh or chilled. When buying, pay attention to the appearance of mackerel. The eyes of the fish should be transparent, and on the carcass should not be any yellow or brown spots. And, of course, there should not be any foreign smell. If you buy frozen mackerel, it is better to opt for dry-frozen fish.
Before smoking fish must be gutted and rinsed. If provided by the recipe, marinate, and only then begin to smoke.
Consider all known recipes for cooking smoked mackerel at home.
Recipe 1. Hot smoked mackerel at home
Ingredients
mackerel;
spices for fish;
salt;
a mixture of peppers;
onion;
bay leaf;
dill.
Method of preparation
1. Gut fish, remove the gills and wash the mackerel under the tap. Onions free from the peel, rinse and cut into slices. Sort dill, wash and dry.
2. Lay the mackerel in a deep oval shape with the backs down. Place onions, dill, a mixture of peppers, bay leaf and salt in each belly.
3. Dissolve 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 to thread. 4. In the smokehouse lay the dry branches of the alder, the sheet, and set the grid 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 sugar;
two handfuls of onion peel;
litere of water;
80 grams of salt.
Method of preparation
1. Gut mackerel, remove the gills and rinse under the tap. Put on a board, covered with a towel, and dry.
2. Clean the onions from the husk, rinse it, put it in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Add sugar and salt here. 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 brine, press it down with a load and hold it for two days.
5. After this time, remove the fish, rinse under the tap and dry. Slice mackerel in portions before serving.
Recipe 3. Smoked mackerel at home in onion peel
Ingredients
two carcasses of mackerel;
75 g sugar;
litere of water;
incomplete glass of strong brewed tea;
three handfuls of onion peel;
pinch of coriander beans and black peppercorns;
30 grams of sugar;
two bay leaves.
Method of preparation
1. In mackerel, separate the head, cut the abdomen and clean offal. Be sure to remove from the walls of the abdomen black film, then wash the carcass under the tap.
2. Pour a liter of water into the pan and place 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 insist 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 leaf, pepper and put again on the stove. Close the container with a lid and boil the resulting solution. Then turn off the fire and cool the solution.
4. The resulting broth is poured into a deep, flat shape and lay out the prepared mackerel. Lightly press the plate over the top. We remove the fish in a cool place for three days. It is necessary to turn over from time to time. 5. After this time we take the fish out of the marinade and dip it with a paper napkin. We hang the fish by the tail on the balcony or in the cellar and leave it to weather for a couple of hours. 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 grams of smoked salt;
60 g saffron;
a pinch of curry seasoning.
Method of preparation
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, turning the tails daily, so that the coloring is even. After this time, remove the fish and hang it by tails to dry.
Recipe 5. Smoked mackerel at home on convection oven
Ingredients
two carcasses of mackerel;
5 g of turmeric;
liquid smoke;
vegetable oil;
Salt and Provencal herbs.
Method of preparation
1. Mackerel must be cleaned of viscera and separated from the carcass head. Clean the abdomen from the inside of the black film, rinse under a 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. Put the fish in the fridge for a couple of days. Remove the mackerel from the bag and smear it with vegetable oil.
3. Pour water into deep dishes, add chips 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. Lay out the mackerel on the middle grill, set the temperature of the grill to 80 degrees and smoke for 30 minutes. Turn the mackerel every ten minutes and coat it with butter. At the end of smoking, wrap the fish with foil, cool and put in the refrigerator. Cut the fish only after it has cooled completely, 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 shara;
dry tea brewing - four tbsp. l .;
four handfuls of onion peels;
allspice and black pepper - six peas;
bay leaf - three pieces.
Method of preparation
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. Place the mackerel on a towel and pat dry.
2. Put onion peel in a saucepan, add sugar, salt and dry tea black tea. Pour all with a liter of water and put on fire, boil. In the marinade, add peppercorns and bay leaves, boil on low heat for a quarter of an hour, cool and strain.
3. Cut the mackerel carcasses into three pieces, place in a deep container and cover with slightly cooled brine. Cover and marinate for two days at room temperature. Turn the fish twice a day. Then put the fish in the fridge for another couple of 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 salt;
30 grams of sugar;
allspice peas - 10 pcs.;
bay leaf - 3 pcs .;
black leaf tea - two tbsp. l .;
rice - 150 g
Method of preparation
1. Fill the rice with water so that it slightly covers it, and leave it overnight, during which time all the liquid will be absorbed into the rice. Add a tablespoon of tea to rice. This mixture is laid out in foil, wrapped and leave a small hole.
2. Boil water and add pepper, salt, bay leaf and sugar. Boil the brine for a minute and turn off the fire.
3. Cut the mackerel abdomen, clean the giblets 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 out the mackerel from the marinade and dip it with a napkin. We take the pan, fill the bottom with foil, folded in several layers, spread the rice with tea in the foil, with the hole upwards. Put the pan on the fire and heat it until a light smoke appears. 5. In the pan, place the grid on which we lay the mackerel. Cover and smoke fish for 20 minutes on each side. Cool the finished fish, cut into portions and serve to the table.
Recipe 8. Smoked Mackerel Slices at Home
Ingredients
two medium mackerel carcasses;
80 g coarse salt;
40 g sugar;
liquid smoke or smoked salt - 1 tsp;
bulb;
olive oil;
several peas allspice;
a small pinch of coriander seeds;
Bay leaf.
Method of preparation
1. On the abdomen of the mackerel we make an incision and remove the insides, separating the head from the carcass. Then we make a longitudinal section along the ridge and carefully remove the bones and the ridge. It should make two pieces of fillet.
2. Put the processed fish in a deep plate. In a separate bowl, mix all bulk 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. Remove the remaining bones, remove the skin and cut the fish into pieces. Place the mackerel in deep dishes. Peeled onion finely chopped and sprinkle them with fish, sprinkle abundantly with olive oil and serve. Mackerel can be stored in a 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.
Method of preparation
1. Soak the chips for a day. In mackerel we cut the belly 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. Sent in the fridge for half an hour.
2. In a plate, mix black pepper, lemon juice and mustard. Rub the mixture in the fillet and leave for another half an hour.
3. At the barbecue we remove the legs and kindle a light fire. Burnt coals gather in a handful. Set the grid on top. Drain the liquid from the fish, blot it with a napkin and spread it on aluminum foil, in which we first make several holes. 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 types of wood to make mackerel fragrant and tasty. Alder, poplar, mountain ash, or wood of fruit trees are suitable for this. Do not use raw or rotted wood chips.
- It is better to smoke mackerel without viscera and head.
- If you dig fish in an automatic smokehouse, then the fish in it should spend at least a day, and large carcasses - two.
- To keep smoked mackerel longer, it must be dried well beforehand.
- Before smoking, place a bunch of greenery in the belly, this will make the fish more fragrant.
- Before smoking, fish should be dried with napkins so that it is completely dry.
