Bream is a tasty and healthy river fish. It is known for its fat content, expressive aroma and pleasant taste. All these qualities can be emphasized if you cook balyk from bream, that is, salt and wilt the fish in a special way. This can be done with ease even at home.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
The success of cooking a balyk directly depends on the quality of the selected fish.
When purchasing fresh or chilled bream, you should pay attention to the fact that:Important! The curved shape of the carcass, tail tail may indicate non-compliance with storage conditions or re-freezing.
- the carcass should be resilient, without external damage (cuts, bruising, cracks, etc.);
- the skin should not be dry or slippery;
- the eyes of fresh fish remain slightly bulging and unclouded;
- gills should retain a reddish tint, be slightly moist;
- scales preserve natural shine and everywhere abut on the skin;
- there is a river smell, without extraneous impurities (for example, mud or ammonia).
Fish carcasses that have been frozen should retain their “correct” shapes and should only be covered with an ice crust, and not immersed in a piece of ice.
Recipes for bream balyk
An important step in the preparation of fish balyk is the preliminary preparation, cutting and cleaning of the bream.
The sequence of actions is as follows:
- Rinse large fish thoroughly under running water.
- Chop off the head and tail fin.
- Fish should be slightly “sanded” from the scales (it is not necessary to clean completely, because the fish is better preserved in the scales).
- Cut the belly, and cut the ribs.
- Remove the insides, taking special care when removing the gallbladder, which, if damaged, can instantly soak the meat with bitter and badly smelling bile.
- Cut the fins and rinse the carcass again, cleaning the peritoneum of all the films and blood clots.
- Having made a longitudinal incision from the back, carefully separate the meat from the spine, remove it, leaving only large rib bones and opening the carcass with a “book”.
Whole
10–20 6 days
ground black pepper
20 g
Nutritional value per 100 g:
Prepare a bream carcass. Mix salt with pepper.
Pour the inside of the carcass with plenty of the mixture, then rub it into the pulp.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt the outer surface of the fish. Wrap the bream in gauze or in a natural fabric that absorbs moisture well.
Put in a suitable shape and place in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, periodically checking and draining the liquid collected in the container. Free the bream from the tissue and hang it for another day for drying.
Prepare a bream carcass. Mix salt with pepper.
Pour the inside of the carcass with plenty of the mixture, then rub it into the pulp.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt the outer surface of the fish. Wrap the bream in gauze or in a natural fabric that absorbs moisture well.
Put in a suitable shape and place in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, periodically checking and draining the liquid collected in the container. Free the bream from the tissue and hang it for another day for drying.Video recipe
Did you know? Fish oil is included in the diet of the elderly in Europe and America as a prophylactic for sclerosis.
In pieces
10–208–12 days
coriander, caraway seeds, cloves, bay leaf
taste
ground black pepper
20 g
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Prepare a fish carcass.
- Cut the fillet across into strips 3–5 cm wide (thinner pieces will be too dry and wide pieces will not wither).
- For salting, mix salt with sugar, adding pepper and spices to taste.
- Prepare a suitable enameled container or container from food grade plastic.
- At the bottom, fill the prepared mixture with a layer of 2-3 mm.
- Put pieces of bream on the “pillow”, pressing them tightly against each other and evenly “covering” with salt and sugar.
- From above, cover the fish with a plate, a lid or a plate, on which it is desirable to place a load for oppression.
- Send the container for 4-6 days to a cool place.
- Remove the fish and rinse each piece under running water.
- Soak the cake mix in a large amount of cold water for 6-10 hours to get rid of excess salt. Periodically it is necessary to change the water.
- Blot each slice with a paper towel.
- Hang pieces in a well-ventilated area, avoiding direct sunlight. It is advised to pre-treat the rope with oil in order to avoid sticking, and cover the product itself with gauze soaked in vinegar to protect it from insects and dust.
- After 5-6 days, the balyk is ready for use - it will become resilient, a characteristic aroma and amber shade will appear.
Did you know? The bream is classified as long-lived fish. Life expectancy of individuals of this species often approaches 20 years.
The main advantage of dried fish is that it is quite simple to cook, but at the same time it retains all its useful properties. Balyk is added to salads, made canapes or offered as an appetizer for beer.
