home / cereals/ Dried ram. Dried Roach Recipes

Dried ram. Dried Roach Recipes

There is nothing better for beer than dried or dried fish, but it is very difficult to find a decent ram on the shelves. Fortunately, it is easy to dry it yourself. Dried fish prepared according to this recipe at home, a recipe from ram, will satisfy the taste of the most demanding beer lover and the most sophisticated fisherman.

Ingredients

fish (ram) 6 pcs.
coarse salt 2-3 cups

How to cook dried ram at home

If you don't like fish cured with viscera, you can gut it, but in this case finished product it will be dry.

In any case, it is better not to remove the scales - without it, the fish will dry out too quickly and lose a significant part of the flavor.

Therefore, just rinse the fish well, especially in the gill area.

There is no specific proportion of salt for this recipe - take enough of it to completely cover the fish. There is no need to be afraid of excess salt: if it is undersalted, it will simply go bad.
Sprinkle salt on the bottom of the salting container, fill the gills of the fish with salt, place it on the salt and sprinkle with salt. For salting, put the fish in the refrigerator for 4-5 days (the larger the fish, the longer you need to keep it in salt).

After 4 days, remove the fish, drain the resulting liquid and rinse the ram well. After that, fill the container with fish cold water and let it stand for 4 hours (the number of hours of soaking should equal the number of days of salting). Water should be changed periodically. Soaking will reduce the "salinity" of the fish to the desired level. To get exactly the kind of fish you like, do not wait all 4-5 hours, and after 2.5-3 hours of soaking, tear off the fin at the head and taste the meat.

Now it's time for hanging the ram.
Dried fish is one that has been dried for about two days, and if the fish is dried for more than a week, it is called dried.
The ram can be hung by paper clips, passing them through the head of the fish, or strung on a wire. You can simply put it on paper, but in this case it will need to be turned over periodically.

Keep the ram in paper bags in a refrigerator. It is better not to store for a very long time, because over time it begins to taste bitter. And why should a tasty fish lie idle?

Salting fish requires patience and time, as well as how much effort you need to make to find "your" recipe among those offered. Try it, maybe you will like this method of salting.

Or order crab-flavoured squid, a fabulous appetizer with a cool glass of beer in the heat of summer. It's not expensive at all and you don't have to cook.

Crab flavored squid

And for the preparation of dried rams, you will need any suitable capacity in which the ram will be salted. A basin, plastic or enameled, a bucket, a large saucepan will do. Dishes must be NOT galvanized. You will need salt only large and, of course, the fish itself - ram. By ramming, most people mean any small fish. However, in the Astrakhan region, ram is a separate type of fish. The fish according to this recipe will turn out delicious both in the first and in the second case.

The bottom of the container is generously sprinkled with salt, then the first layer of fish is laid out on it. Salt must be large. You can also use salt with the addition of herbs, but this is already at will and taste. Note that before salting, each fish must be thoroughly washed, rubbed with salt, generously pouring it into the gills. Salt is not saved in this business.

We salt the ram correctly

Then a not too heavy oppression is placed on the container, and left to be salted in a cold place. Each fish has a different salting time, for example, roach is salted for 2-3 days, scavengers 3-4 days, and bream 5-6 days.

The salting time has passed, and the fish is thoroughly washed in running water, you can simply soak it, but the water should be cold. One day of salting will be equated to an hour of soaking. At this time, of course, the water is changed every 20-30 minutes.

It is important not only to properly salt the ram, but also to dry

Drying the ram

Salted fish is ready for drying, it is advisable to hang it in a room where there is a possibility of a draft, i.e. well ventilated. - everyone decides for himself.

Getting rid of the attacks of flies

So that annoying flies do not overcome the almost ready-to-eat delicacy, you can do the following:
1. vinegar water will scare away flies, it is sprayed with fish at short intervals while the ram is hanging on a rope,
2. cover the fish with a gauze cloth,
3. use a special box with a mosquito net designed for drying fish,
4. there are no flies at night, which means you can safely hang it out in the evening, putting it in the refrigerator in the morning.

Take note, lovers of salted rams, it is best to salt and dry the fish caught in that month, in the name of which there is the letter "r". Now is exactly the time. Outside the window is September, then October will come, then November.

Ram - a kind of roach - has minor differences: fine scaly, fewer rays in the lower fin. Usually sold in outlets dried. It is a favorite fish for the Kuban people, the peoples of the Don, Azov. Ram is called mixed species of different fish species. The population of the Don region considers the Volga dried roach to be a ram.

Often rams, rams, rams are called any dried and dried fish from the carp family: the ram itself, roach, roach. Taranka is prepared from gobies, pike, crucian carp, bream.

Dried ram (snack) is a traditional Russian snack for beer lovers and dried fish lovers.

Dried ram: cooking at home

A ram is slightly smaller than a roach, wider in shape, similar to a young bream. It is caught in the spring for spawning, fishermen immediately make dried stocks for the whole year. Much tastier are large individuals that eat mollusks - zebra mussels.

For drying, it is better to take large fish, in which there is more fat. When drying, the carcasses are dehydrated, biochemical processes occur in the meat, due to which the ram matures, acquires a peculiar aroma and taste, and turns into a real delicacy. It is good without anything, in itself, does not require any heat treatment.

Easy to prepare.

What does a real dried ram, which is called dried ram, look like?

The fish is absolutely dry to the touch - all the fat is inside.
The scales are clean and pleasantly shiny.
The carcasses look transparent in the light, the skeleton is clearly visible.
The meat is dense, but not hard, pleasantly fibrous.
Saliva flows from one kind of such a seductive fish.
The taste is incomparable.
It is stored for several months without deterioration in taste and appearance - as if it had just been taken out of the dryer.

The fish has an excellent presentation:

How to cook dried ram

Recipe: on 1 kg fresh ram(medium carcasses of 200-250 grams) at least 0.5 packs of salt. Larger individuals are kept in a saturated solution - brine. The solution is saturated with salt so that a raw potato floats in it. Carcasses up to 250 g are not gutted before drying. Large fish are freed from giblets.

The generally accepted method of drying all cyprinids:

carcass rubdown,
sprinkling tightly packed layers of fish with salt or brine filling,
exposure under oppression for several days, depending on the size of the fish.
soaking, getting rid of excess salt,
hanging to dry.

Details of all methods of soaking and drying. They are well suited for drying ram.

In wet salting, fish are lowered into brine in bundles. When she starts to look out, salt is still poured into her. Small rams are kept for a couple of days, large fish - five to six. Fish in brine is often stirred to ensure that the brine evenly covers all the carcasses.

There is a lot of controversy about how to hang fish when drying: by the head or tail. Do not cling to the gills or lips, it is better to pierce through the eyes. It is more difficult to hang by the tail, but at the same time, the saline solution flows out faster through the mouth, excess salt accumulates under the gills, flies cannot lay eggs there.

In negligent owners, when drying, salt appears on the scales, the fish is unpleasant in taste, quickly rusts, insects spoil some of the fish. The fat melted from the heat quickly goes rancid, the fish acquires an unpleasant bitterness.

Winter cooking dried ram according to Astrakhan recipes

Inveterate fishermen store in basements wooden barrels in which brine is poured for salting fish. They lower the spring and autumn catch. And stored in this form until the winter dry cold. In winter, the ram is taken out of the brine, soaked, hung on the balcony or outside the windows, keeping a couple of weeks in a light frost.

In the cold, the fish does not deteriorate, the fat remains in the carcasses, there are no insects. In winter, it is more convenient to dry, the fish is well stored for a whole year in a cool place. Before use, the bundle is warmed in the house. Surplus can be sold. Hermetically packed dried ram is stored for 10 months.

About the benefits of ram dried at home

Dried and dried fish contain fatty acid"Omega 3". This means that ram is useful as a prophylactic product for:

cancer diseases,
heart disease - myocardial infarction.
senile dementia,
insufficiency and cerebrovascular accident - stroke.

With a low calorie content (88 kcal), dried ram contains a large percentage of protein, a sufficient amount of fats and carbohydrates. Microelements useful for life: fluorine, chromium, magnesium, iron, molybdenum improve the effective activity of the brain, heart, and other organs. Iodine supports the functioning of the thyroid gland. Protein regulates metabolism. The fat present in fish contributes to the rapid clotting of blood cells, lowers "bad" cholesterol. Useful vitamins A, B, E support the vitality of the body.

Harvest dried ram for future use!

Will allow you to purchase any goods for fishing at competitive prices!

Popular sections of the site:

It will allow you to understand how all the fish peck, depending on the time of year and month.

The page will tell you about many popular tackle and accessories for fishing.

We describe in detail living, vegetable, artificial and unusual.

In the article you will get acquainted with the main types, as well as tactics for their use.

Learn everything to become a real angler and learn the right choice.

Today I want to share with you the recipes for cooking one of my favorite dishes, namely - ram (ram).

Taranka (ram) - the common name for dried dried fish.

For the preparation of a ram, various fish of the carp family are mainly used: roach, ram (from the name of which the concept of “ram” arose), vobla. But in fact, you can make a ram from a larger list of fish: goby, bream, pike, perch, crucian carp, sabrefish, silver bream ...

Taranka is considered a Russian national beer snack. Cooking rams (drying in salt form) lasts from several days to several weeks, and depends on the size of the fish and the recipe, as well as the expected result, because. someone wants a dried ram, and someone very dried. The fish is salted in brine (brine) and aged for 3-4 days. Live-salted fish is obtained better taste, since, having swallowed brine, it is salted more evenly. After that, the fish is hung out in the open air and dried. Large fish are sometimes cut so that it dries well.

Training. We take enamelware(or stainless steel), sprinkle the bottom with 0.5 cm of salt. Wash the fish thoroughly. If the fish is not large up to 0.8 kg of the inside, we do not release it, if more, we release it.

Salting. We rub the fish with salt, and pour salt over the gills. If the fish is more than 1.5 kg - in addition to the released intestines, we also make a longitudinal incision on the back, and also fill it with salt. Salt is better to use large, because. fine salt makes a crust on the fish, through which the brine will not salt its body. We put the fish in a container, and when the first layer of fish is laid, sprinkle it on top with another 1 cm of salt, then lay the 2nd layer, and again sprinkle it on top with salt. When the salting is over, put some kind of lid on the fish, but so that it does not press close to the walls of the dish, and there is a small amount of air. Put something heavy on the lid to crush the fish. We put a container with salted fish at the very bottom of the refrigerator. If winter - on the balcony, but in no case in the sun. Periodically drain the juice from the container with the fish.

Salting time: small fish (up to 0.1 kg) - a day or two. Medium fish (up to 0.8 kg) 3-4 days. Large fish from 1 kg and above - 5 days to 2 weeks, depending on size and temperature environment. An indicator of a good salting of the fish is the cessation of the abundant release of juice by the fish.

Preparing for a sign. When the salt has done its job, take the fish out of the brine and rinse it thoroughly in clean water. After we collect again in a container of clean water, and soak the fish for 2-3 hours. Then we rinse again and, for example, I added 25 ml of vinegar to 3 liters of water during the second rinse. This prevents the possibility of getting into the fish when drying unnecessary living organisms (let's not talk about the bad).

Some designs of boxes for drying rams

Hanging. For hanging, we take some kind of box, you can rivet from several boards. The box must be well weathered on all sides. We cover it with gauze or mosquito net so that flies cannot sit on the ram. Which can lay their eggs there, which in turn can turn into worms. Before hanging the ram, break its gills so that they dry faster. If the fish is large, then place spacers from matches on the cut belly. We do hanging. It is better to hang the fish head up so that the brine and internal liquid do not flow out of the fish. So it will be fatter and tastier. Hanging out is best done in the evening so that the ram can become weathered and dry overnight. We completely cover the box with a hanging ram with a net, and put it in the shade, in a well-ventilated place, for example, on an open-frame balcony. If possible, do not place the box on the south side so that the temperature is not too high.

When to shoot the fish is up to you.

Another method of cooking ram

Required inventory. For salting the caught fish, it is necessary to have a special container, in which salted fish can be laid in rows. In a private house, in a dacha in the yard, you can use boxes made of wood or thick plywood with drilled holes in the bottom to drain fish juice into the ground. You can also use plastic and metal containers (the latter must be covered with a layer of enamel). Good and durable is a rectangular container made of thin stainless steel. Usually such capacious and deep containers are made to order and are rarely found on sale. In plastic, enameled and stainless steel containers for draining fish juice, a special stand is additionally made, which is used for dry salting. Such containers with a stand are especially relevant in cases where fish is salted at home, for example, on a balcony.

For home salting, the author uses a monolithic plastic container, which has the following dimensions: length - 45 cm, width - 35 cm and height - 25 cm. At the bottom of the container, according to its size, a plywood sheet 1-1.5 cm thick is cut. around the contour of the canvas at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, we drill holes with a diameter of 10 mm, as well as several holes in the center of the canvas to drain the fish juice. Two or three wooden blocks about 30 mm thick are cut out under the bottom of the canvas. Between the canvas lying on the bars and the bottom of the container, a gap is formed for the thickness of the bars. For convenience, the bars are fixed to the canvas with screws with an anti-corrosion coating. But still, it is more reliable to fix the bars with a nylon cord, tying their ends through the drilled holes, and melt them with a match (the fact is that the screw heads, in contact with salt, will darken over time and rust will form on them). After a special pallet is made of durable plywood on blocks, it is necessary to cut out of plywood (or knock down from a planed flat board) several more canvases without blocks (in the amount of three or four, depending on the height of the container) to the size of the container. Additional sheets of plywood serve to cover the rows of fish laid for salting. The first row of fish is laid on a pallet with blocks, which is first sprinkled with coarse salt, and salted fish is already placed on top. (More on this will be discussed below). The stacked row of fish is covered with a plywood sheet (in this sequence, the rest of the fish is laid to the very top of the container). Each intermediate sheet must have several drilled holes, both along the contour and in the center, to drain the fish juice to the bottom of the container. The canvases are adjusted exactly to size with a small gap of 4-5 cm from the walls of the container. The ends and edges of the cut canvases are processed with sandpaper.

For high-quality preparation of a ram, it is necessary to have loads of various weights. So, for dry salting, the author uses discs of collapsible dumbbells with an anti-corrosion coating and a small bag made of durable dense fabric, filled with dry river sand. The weight of a bag of sand is 15 kilograms. It is also necessary to have a piece of porous material or an air-permeable blanket, which is used to cover the container with fish and cargo. At the time of salting the fish, the cover is pulled together with a linen elastic band in order to completely exclude the penetration of wasps and flies into the freshly laid fish.

Equipment for drying fish. In order for the drying process to proceed normally, it is necessary to equip a special place. In the yard, they can serve as a place located under a wide roof canopy, which protects well from rain and sun. After salting and soaking, the fish is placed in specially knocked down boxes of planks, covered with a fine nylon mesh. The box has a door, rigid rods are fixed inside it, on which fish are hung with hooks made of metal wire. Another option for drying fish is also possible, which involves the use of several identical rings of thick copper wire. The diameter of the rings is 40-70 cm. The number of rings is from 5 to 7 pieces, depending on the thickness of the wire. In the upper part of the rings, a rigid rod passes, fixed to each ring with a dense winding of copper wire. The rings are equally spaced from each other. On the rod are metal hooks for hanging fish. General view - a cylinder, covered on all sides with a mesh or a double gauze canopy, fastened with buttons. A strong nylon cord is threaded along the entire length, with which the device is easily fixed at the desired height.

In apartments of multi-storey buildings, where the area is limited, you can use part of the balcony or loggia facing the street. For this purpose, it is necessary to carry out simple construction work that does not take much time. We will need some tools and the ability to handle them. (What the equipped balcony looks like can be seen in the photo brought to your attention). Required Tools: wood saw, drill, drill, hammer, punch, screw, nails, as well as: nylon cord, two wooden planks, a piece of gauze (with a margin - for double wrapping). In the extreme frame, which rarely opens and is securely fastened on metal hinges, besides it is additionally fixed with bolts, a wooden plank 2 cm thick and 5 cm wide across the frame at a height of 40 cm from the box itself is attached above and below. It is important that the bar is not less than the specified thickness and width. The bar is attached to the frame with four screws (two on each side). At the ends of the plank cut to size, points for drilling are marked with a pencil, in place of which holes are drilled with a drill. Then the bar is applied horizontally to the frame and the drilled holes are marked with dots, which will serve as screws. The diameter of the drill should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw. The marked points on the frame are carefully drilled to a depth of 2.5 - 2.8 cm into the body of the frame and away from the glass. Opposite the wooden plank on the wall, in the same sequence, the place of attachment of the second plank is marked. Holes in the wall are punched with a punch or puncher to a depth of 4-5 cm, the punched holes are lubricated with PVA glue and wooden plugs made of durable wood - oak, acacia, birch - are tightly hammered into them. Holes for screws are also drilled in wooden plugs. The second plank on the wall is also fastened with four screws. Another important point: before attaching the planks to each of them, nails are hammered into the rib at the same distance from each other and to a depth at which an incompletely driven nail will peek out one and a half centimeters above the plank. Nylon cords are stretched between the wooden planks fixed on the frame and the wall. The cord should be under slight tension. If the cord sags, it is shortened by tying a single knot on it from the edge.

Preservation and transportation of caught fish. Caught fish must be preserved and brought home unspoiled. If you fish in early spring or late autumn, then in this cool season the fish is well preserved. And if in the warm season, then you need to know the basic requirements for the preservation of the caught fish. Fish should not be in closed and airtight bags, plastic bags, etc. Fish quickly deteriorates if kept in a container of water - the water heats up quickly. Since the fish is a rather delicate product, when playing it, you need to learn how to hold it with your hands so that it is not injured. The hook should be removed carefully with tweezers or small pliers. During transportation, a wicker basket made of wicker can serve as a reliable container, in which the caught fish is necessarily shifted with nettles or reed leaves. Allow the fish to dry before laying, but in no case rinse it with water. Caught fish can be easily preserved for quite a long time if it is shifted with oak, cherry, nettle, currant leaves, walnut. During transportation, the fish must be provided with air access, otherwise its shelf life will be reduced. To keep the fish for a long time, for example, two or three days, it is necessary immediately after the catch to remove the insides, gills, wash the meat from the blood, rub it with vinegar and lower it for 10-15 minutes in salted water. Then take dry chopped wormwood or thyme, nettle or White bread, pre-soaked in vodka and put in the peribranch space of the fish. After long-term storage in the manner described, the fish is fit for consumption, but it cannot be made into a ram. It should be remembered that only freshly caught fish is suitable for making a ram, which was stored for no more than a few hours after the end of fishing. The faster the caught fish is delivered home, the better it will be preserved and the better the ram you have prepared will be.

Salting. The oldest and easiest way to preserve fish is salting. Salted fish releases water from itself, and water dissolves salt, forming a saline solution - brine. For salting, as mentioned earlier, only fresh and intact fish is used. Salt for salting should be clean, without any impurities and coarse grinding. When salting fish for drying, two main methods are used: dry and wet (brine). With the dry method of salting, cooked fish, preferably of the same size for each layer of salting, must be washed with running cold water and put in a spare container, from which it will be convenient to get it for salting. Next to this container there should be salt and the main container in which the salting will be carried out. At the bottom of this main container for salting, we put a pre-made pallet made of plywood on blocks and thickly sprinkle with salt the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe pallet (the thickness of the salt layer is up to one centimeter). We rub large and medium-sized fish with salt under the scales (from tail to head), be sure to stuff salt into the gills and put them on the pallet in dense rows - head to tail, back to stomach (With this folding of the fish, oppression will work better) Sprinkle the laid fish a layer of salt in such an amount that on top of the fish formed Smooth surface from sprinkled salt. Then we cover it with a canvas cut out of plywood and make sure that it lies strictly horizontally and is stable, if necessary, we level the surface by adding salt.

So, the first row of fish is laid and salted. The remaining fish is laid in the same sequence, which is covered with the last upper canvas. We put a load on this canvas. A few words should be said about the use of cargo. You should not put the entire load on the fish laid for salting at once. In the first 6-7 hours of salting, it is worth using a load weighing a little more than half of the weight of the total load, and then report the rest of the load. So the process of salting fish goes more evenly. The weight of the load depends on the size and quantity of the packed fish. The larger the fish, the heavier the load should be. For example, when salting large bream weighing 1-2 kg, the author uses a weight of 17-20 kg. For medium-sized fish (250-500 grams), the weight of the load is 12-15 kg. The top row of the laid fish is sprinkled with a thick layer of salt so that it covers all the fish, and when all the fish are laid, the container with the load is covered with a double layer of gauze or a porous cloth that allows air to pass through well, and wrapped with a linen elastic so that the cover is tightly pressed to the walls of the container to prevent the penetration of wasps and flies to the laid fish.

At home salting fish, depending on the size, can be under load from 2 to 7 days. Small fish are aged for two days. Not gutted fish of medium size (250-500 g) - 3-4 days. Fish exceeding the average size (600-800 g) is aged up to 5 days. Please note that in the latter case, the insides of the fish must be removed. The entrails and blood clots are removed before salting and in large-sized fish (weighing 1 kg or more). In this case, a shallow incision is carefully made along the ridge from the inside with a knife towards the dorsal fin without damaging the skin. Salt is also poured inside the abdominal cavity of the fish, then the fish is pressed down with a load from above and aged for up to 7 days.

With the brine (wet) salting method in an enameled or stainless steel container, such an amount of salt is dissolved in water (with thorough stirring) at which a raw egg floats on the surface of the brine. Fresh fish is dipped in salt brine so that the brine covers it completely. A wire mesh is placed on top (mesh wire - with an anti-corrosion coating), and a load is placed on it. For brine salting, medium-sized fish (300 - 500 g) are selected and kept in salt brine under oppression for 3 days in a cool place.

Soaking. Soaking is used to reduce the salt content in fish and to avoid the formation of salt crystals on its surface. Salted fish is washed with cold running water. The gills and belly of the gutted fish are especially thoroughly washed. Small fish are soaked in fresh water for half an hour, larger ones should be soaked for several hours (for example, the fish was salted for 5 days, which means that the process of soaking in fresh water should last 4-5 hours, and the water must be drained twice and the container filled (the author uses a plastic bath) with fresh fresh water.Note that during the soaking process, after the first water has been drained, it is useful to leave the fish for 1-2 hours without water so that salt redistribution occurs in the fish meat, and also, to reduce the salinity of the inner layers of the fish.If the fish begins to float during soaking, this indicates that the salting becomes tender.In this case, if you look at the fish "in the light", then its back will be amber-transparent.After drying, the meat becomes slightly reddish color.

Drying. Before you hang the fish for drying, you need to lay it out on paper so that it dries a little, or wipe it dry with a clean rag. The author hangs the fish on specially made stainless wire hooks, after piercing a hole for the hook with an awl. Usually such fish as blue bream, silver bream, roach, white-eye are hung upside down. Large, gutted fish - bream, ide - head up. In general, if the fish is dried gutted, it is hung upside down so that the fish oil does not flow down, but remains in the fish meat. During drying, a wooden cross strut is necessarily inserted into the belly of the gutted fish. This is done for better drying of the fish. Drying time can be different, it depends on the air temperature and the size of the fish. The drying process usually lasts from 1 to 4 weeks. If the fish is strung through the eye sockets (using a needle and a strong cord), then it is necessary that the fish be located with its backs in one direction; and so that she does not crawl towards each other, the overlap on the head is done twice. And, of course, careful control over the fish hung out for drying is necessary. The fish must be securely protected with a net or gauze from flies and wasps. At night, there are no flies, and at this time the fish can not be protected with a net or gauze so that it dries to a dry crust. Flies lay their eggs only on the wet surface of the fish. In the early morning, after drying overnight, the fish can be lightly sprayed with a solution table vinegar: its pungent smell repels flies. But it is better to immediately hang the fish in a specially equipped and protected from flies place. To do this, a gauze canopy is widely used, the ends of which must be slightly wrapped and fastened with ordinary clothespins or fastened with buttons that are previously sewn on.

Storage. It is best to store ready, well-dried (but not overdried) fish in tin cans By corking the jars with lids, large fish can be stored wrapped in parchment, but not in cellophane bags, because in this case there will be no air access to the fish. In this form, a ram, for example, blue bream, sabrefish, silver bream, can be stored for quite a long time - up to 4 months. Dried fish is also well stored in a cotton bag in a cool, dry place. If the fish is dry, you can restore the elasticity of freshly dried fish. To do this, the fish must be soaked in water and wrapped in damp paper (keep the paper moist for two days, wetting it with water as it dries).

Conclusion. To get a delicious back of dried fish of gentle salting and amber color, you need, of course, a certain experience of drying at home. But experience, as they say, is acquired, and over time you can learn how to make a ram not only from small white fish, but also from big fish, which weighs more than one kilogram. The author was preparing a ram of bream, the weight of each of which exceeded two kilograms. Dried large spring or autumn bream is something special! You can't buy these in the store!

I would like to say a few words about salt waste from dry and brine salting. If salting takes place in the yard, then a small depression must be dug under the container so that the fish juice flows into the ground through the holes drilled in the container. The salt remaining after dry salting is folded into a bag and thrown away with it into the garbage container. If there is very little salt, then it can be thrown into the toilet, but in no case should you try to drain the salt waste into the sink - the entire drain system located under it may become clogged. If the drying of fish is carried out in a specially equipped place on the balcony, then in the balcony frames of the glazed balcony there should be a window covered with nylon mesh. No matter what floor of a multi-storey building you live on, flies will still fly to the smell of fish. And ventilation is necessary in order for the fish to “ripen” well. The author got out of the situation by making a plug-in frame covered with mesh, which he uses when the doors of balcony frames open.

In a plywood sheet to overlap the rows of fish during salting, you should not drill many holes, as the strength of the sheet itself is violated. So that during the drying of fish, metal hooks do not cling to the gauze canopy, a newspaper folded several times is placed on top of the hooks.

That's how everything is. If you have interesting recipe drying rams, send it, and maybe it will get into this article.

Discuss this article on the Good Forum

Tags: ram, ram, dried fish, dried fish, how to cook ram, ram how to dry, ram for beer, ram recipes

Fragrant and delicious fish taranka (taranka, ram) from the carp family has always been popular in southern Russia and Ukraine - it was dried and served with beer. Subsequently, any dried fish, such as roach and roach, began to be called a ram. Dried ram was the most affordable and cheap snack in Rus', so it was very popular. All residents of the Kuban and the Azov region know how to make a ram: first, the fish is salted and then dried, as a result of which it acquires a special spicy taste and aroma. Better appetizers can't find beer!

How to cook a ram: choose and process fish

Since any dried fish is now called ram, for this dish you can take not only ram, roach or roach. Other varieties of fish are also suitable - bream, bream, sabrefish, pike, crucian carp, rudd, ruff and gudgeon. A very tasty ram is obtained from blue bream, silver bream, upper fryer, vomer, perch and goby. The fish should be of medium fat content and small in size, otherwise it will not salt and deteriorate. The fattest fish, bream, vomer and sabrefish, is of medium fat content, ruff is very tender and has few bones, dried perch is sweetish, and pike is richly tart and spicy.

It is not required to process the fish in a special way to salt the ram - it is enough to rinse it well and remove the insides if the fish is small. Some gourmets love whole ram - everyone has their own tastes. However, in the summer, when the inhabitants of rivers and lakes feed on greens and microorganisms, it is better to gut even small fish, otherwise an unpleasant odor will appear during the drying process, and the taste of such a ram will be bitter. By the way, it is also better to remove the gills - they can spoil the taste of the fish. How to salt the ram, if you still decide to leave the insides? To do this, before salting, pour a saturated saline solution into the throat of the fish - for this reason, many people prefer to salt the live ram. The fish opens its mouth and swallows the brine, which makes it possible to salt the internal organs with high quality.

First, the fish is salted and then dried. How to pickle a ram at home? Exist different recipes salting rams, but usually used in two ways - wet and dry. The wet method is suitable for small fish, dry - for large fish weighing more than 1 kg.

Wet salting fish

According to this recipe, the ram is salted in a fairly concentrated brine, and the degree of salt concentration is checked raw egg- it should float to the surface. A strong solution for salting fish is called brine, and the fish is kept in it for about 3–4 days, and so that it does not float and salt evenly, it is covered with a metal mesh on top or a grate is placed on which the load is placed. The bucket, basin or pan where the ram is salted should be placed in a cold place so that the fish does not deteriorate. For wet salting, fish weighing less than 0.5 kg is usually taken. In general, the question of how much to salt the ram depends on the size of the fish - the larger it is, the longer the salting process will be.

Thereafter salted fish well washed and soaked in fresh water - small for 30 minutes, and large for several hours. At the same time, it is recommended to change the water several times, and after the first change of water, let the fish lie down in the air, come to its senses and allow the salt to be evenly distributed in the tissues. Then again you can put it into the water, and when the fish starts to emerge, the soaking process can be considered complete. Don't worry about how to salt the ram without over-salting it - it is believed that it will absorb as much salt as it needs. Salted and soaked fish becomes slightly transparent and takes on a light amber hue.

How to make a ram: dry salting method

The fish is first rubbed well with salt, salt is poured into the abdomen, into the incision on the back and into the gills, if you decide not to remove them. The carcass is pierced with a fork or knife and salt is rubbed into the holes. Pour about 0.5 cm of salt into a large stainless steel metal dish, lay the ram in tight rows back down and generously sprinkle salt on top to get a real salt layer 1 cm thick. Approximately 250 g of salt is required per 1 kg of fish.

Make another layer, and then lay a plate smaller than the pan or a wooden board on top - this is necessary to provide fresh air to the fish. Put oppression on the lid and put the fish in a cold place, such as a refrigerator, cellar or balcony. At the same time, make sure that the sun's rays do not fall on the fish. By the way, at first it is better to put a small oppression, after about 6-7 hours it can be strengthened - so the fish will be salted evenly. Interestingly, in Rus' in the villages, fish was salted in a wooden box with holes, which was placed in a spacious container.

During the salting process, a liquid is formed that will have to be drained, and the salting time depends on the size of the ram. A fish weighing up to 100 g is salted for 1-2 days, medium-sized fish weighing 600-800 g need 3-4 days, and large fish will need from 5 to 14 days until completely salted. As soon as the ram ceases to secrete juice, it is ready, but first it should be washed well and soaked in cold water for 2 hours, then held in vinegar water for an hour - take about 50 ml of vinegar in a bucket of water. This is done to prevent the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms, due to which the ram deteriorates very quickly.

How to dry a ram correctly

Make a double thread and string fish on it at a distance of at least 7 cm from each other, passing it through the eyes so that valuable fat and brine do not flow out through the mouth, but remain inside. Some fishermen dry the ram on hooks, and lay the small fish on a wooden surface and turn it over as it dries. Such a ram turns out to be especially tasty, tender and rich. Fish "garlands" should be hung in a well-ventilated place, but in the shade - in the attic or on the balcony, taking care of the absence of insects. By the way, soaking in vinegar water is a reliable prevention against flies, because the smell of vinegar repels them. If the flies sit on the fish, it is better to throw it away immediately, as they can lay eggs on it. For more reliable protection against insects, it is better to put together a special box for drying fish and cover it with a fine mesh.

Many people dry fish in Isidri dryers - in this case, you need to slightly open the gills (if they are not removed), cut the belly and strengthen it open with toothpicks.

After 3 days, the fish can be considered dried. If you want dried ram, wait 2 weeks. Properly dried ram is neither soft nor hard, it has pleasant taste and smell, it is distinguished by a reddish-amber hue without yellow spots, and slightly glows in the light. Wet-salted fish becomes juicier after drying, and salting without water gives drier fish.

How to make a ram delicious: gourmet secrets

For salting, use coarse salt, which has the ability to draw moisture from the fish. The less liquid in the fish, the faster it will dry out later and turn out to be tastier. In addition, fine salt forms a crust on the surface of the carcass and prevents the fish from salting.
Adding a small amount of sugar to the brine makes the fish very tender, piquant and tasty.
What weight should be oppression during salting? Usually put a weight of 3-20 kg, depending on the size of the fish and personal preferences. If you salt fish in the summer, cover it with a cloth or gauze so that insects do not get inside.
If you want the fish to dry well, cut it slightly after salting. This applies mainly to large fish, because small fish dry out much faster.
Many housewives during dry salting drain the brine from the pan or bucket by hand, which is not very convenient. Perfect option- drill holes in the bottom of the dish, and then the liquid will drain on its own. Then this dish can always be used for salting fish.
If you dry the ram, moisten it with water and wrap it in parchment for 2 days, periodically moistening the fish. Too dry fish can be ground to the consistency of flour and sprinkled with salads, soups and main dishes.

We store the ram correctly

Dried ram is stored for up to 4 months if it is cooked according to all the rules. You can lay it in layers in sterilized jars, roll up the lid and put it in the cellar - this way it will remain fresh for up to 10 months. Often the fish is kept in a basket, bag, wrapped in parchment paper, a dried ram feels good only in a cool place in a plastic bag or foil, and it has a shorter shelf life. In the refrigerator, the ram is stored in the freshness zone - for this, the fish is lubricated olive oil and put into glass jars. You should not keep salted fish in the air for a long time, because the fish oil oxidizes, and the ram acquires a not very pleasant taste. At low humidity, the fish becomes moldy, at high humidity it dries out, therefore ideal conditions storage - humidity 80% and temperature 3–8 °С. In kraft paper, on one side covered with polyethylene, the ram is stored for 8-10 months.

Taranka - quite dietary and very useful product containing protein, valuable fish oil, iodine, chromium and many others useful substances. Dried fish protein provides a complete metabolism, and omega-3 fatty acids protect against cancer, stroke and heart attack. From a ram they turn out unusually delicious soups and snacks. Given that the calorie content of the ram is only 88 calories, you can afford to eat it at least every day without fear for your figure!