How to quickly remove excess salt from over-salted herring?

In fish-processing factories herring is salted in a strong water solution for better preservation. And more often than not, fish comes over-salted to the store shelves. To make a delicious appetizer with onions and vegetable oil, you have to soak the herring before serving.

How to reduce the saltiness of herring

Herring is a popular budget fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, micro and macronutrients. But its beneficial properties appear only with a minimal amount of seasoning. Salted herring increases appetite, delays the elimination of fluid from the body, increases blood pressure. To avoid health problems and gaining excess weight, use one of the options to balance the taste.

Soaking options:

Fill with milk.

Cut the fish into fillets, dip the 2 herring halves in the milk so that the liquid completely covers it. Put the container with the contents in a cold place to keep the food fresh. Soaking time depends on the strength of the salt, but on average four to eight hours is enough. If the fillets are too salty, change the milk every 2-3 hours. After soaking the herring disappears pronounced fishy smell, milk notes appear. The salted meat becomes softer and more tender.

Soak in water

If the use of milk with its further disposal is unacceptable to you, fill the pieces of herring with water. Change it every four hours, after a day a little watery, but less salty fish will be ready. To speed up the release of sodium chloride from the meat, add one part table vinegar to 10 parts of the liquid.

Prepare sweet tea.

Brew a sufficient volume of strong black tea, add sugar, stir, and cool to room temperature. Pour the drink over the halves of the carcass with the skin for 1-2 hours. If heavily over-salted, pour 50 ml of cherry syrup or vodka into the tea, take out into the cold. The herring should stay in the liquid for 2-4 hours.

Sweetened black tea, which contains tannins, preserves the elasticity of muscle fibers, improves the taste of the product.

Fix the over-salt quickly

If you don't have time to wait for the fish to give up some of its salt to cold milk, water, or tea, use the express method. Alternate dipping the herring in hot and ice water. Keep it in hot (but not boiling water) for a couple of minutes, under the tap with running water - 7-10 minutes. Herring will not become lightly salted, but the taste will soften.

How to remove salt from over-salted herring without soaking

This method is used if the fish is not too salted:

1. Chop the onion in half rings, cut the fillet into slices.
2. Mix the ingredients, stir them up, and put them in a jar.
3. Pour the contents of the container with vegetable oil.
4. Close the jar with a lid, shake to evenly distribute the oil.
5. Leave in the refrigerator until morning.

Some of the salt from the fish goes into the oil, some of it draws off the onions. The more onions you add, the better.

Salted herring recipe

The tastiest and fattest herring is an oceanic herring caught in winter. To salt two large fish you will need:

• 0.7 liters of water;
• 20 g salt;
• 5 g sugar.

Cooking algorithm:

1. Defrost freshly frozen herring on the refrigerator shelf, remove the gills, rinse the carcasses with running water.
2. Prepare a brine from the water and seasonings, and cool to room temperature.
3. Put the fish in a glass or enamel bowl, pour the solution.
4. Cover the container with a lid, put it in the fridge for 48 hours.

Lightly salted herring is eaten with onion and oil, mustard and vinegar, potatoes, cooked in any way. From fish make forshmak, rolls with vegetable stuffing. The product is added to salads (vinaigrette, herring under a fur coat).

Nutritionists do not advise to get carried away with soaking. Water and other liquids wash out not only salt, but also useful substances - proteins and minerals. Soaked fish is used immediately, as the product is not stored longer than a day.