Recipes for the diligent mistress: we prepare fish for the winter

There are many ways of storing fish: it can be dried, marinated, salted, wilted, frozen or cooked. Each of the selected options will save the product for a long time, while maintaining good taste. We want to tell you how to prepare fish for the winter, and also to share tasty and simple recipes.

Frozen fish for the winter: rules and subtleties of the freezing process

With proper processing frozen fish can be stored for a long time - from 3 to 12 months. To ensure the product has a long shelf life, it is important to follow certain rules:

1. Before placing in the freezer, the fish should be cleaned, thoroughly washed and dried.
2. The product should then be placed in an airtight bag. It is desirable to use vacuum packing for this purpose.
3. Prepare fish better in small portions. For each package or container it is better to mark with the date of freezing.
4. Sometimes for better storage the product is covered with glaze. For this, the fillets are dipped in salted water and put in a freezer. After a while the procedure is repeated, this way creating several layers of ice.

To the product does not lose its useful qualities, it is also important to defrost it properly before eating. Thawing should be slow, in no case should you put fish in hot water or defrost it in a microwave oven, otherwise the product will lose most of the liquid and after cooking becomes dry and tasteless.

The process of preparing frozen fish for the winter can be seen in more detail on the video:

A classic recipe: canned mackerel in a fragrant marinade

Mackerel is considered to be one of the most favorite and popular varieties of fish in our country. Her tender flesh melts in her mouth, and the delicious smell is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. We offer you a simple recipe for harvesting fish for the winter, for this dish you will need very few ingredients and 4 glass jars with a capacity of 0.5 liters.

List of products for canned mackerel:

• mackerel fresh or freshly frozen - 4 carcasses
• carrots - 2 pcs.
• onions - 2 pcs.
• bay leaves - 4 pcs.
• black pepper - 7-8 peas
• sunflower oil - 4 tbsp.
• salt - 4 tsp

Step-by-step recipe for cooking:

1. If you use frozen fish to prepare canned food, then it must be defrosted beforehand, and after gutting and cutting into pieces with a thickness of about 4 cm.
2. Prepare the vegetables. Brush the onions with carrots, chop the onions into half rings, and cut the carrots into strips.
3. Sterilize the cans in which you will close the fish, as well as the lids.
4. Put on the bottom of each can of bay leaf and a few peas of black pepper.
5. On top of the spices, lay layers of fish, half-rings of onions and crushed carrots.
6. In each container, pour 1 tsp. salt and pour 1 tbsp. sunflower oil. Then fill the container with cold boiled water.
7. Cover each jar with a lid, not forgetting to remove the rubber ring from it first. Then put the canned food in the oven, turn it on, warm it to 150 ° C and cook the mackerel for 1 hour.
8. When the time runs out, remove the jars from the oven, close the lids, cover the cans with a warm blanket and leave until they cool.

Prepare the mackerel for storage in a cool and dark place.

Three in one: homemade canned food "Tourist breakfast"

Preparing the fish for the winter, you can create a full dish, consisting of garnish, a second and vegetables. Such canned food is an ideal option for a hiking trip.

Necessary products for cooking fish:

• pike perch - 1,5 kg
• tomatoes - 1 kg
• onion - 400 g
• Bulgarian pepper - 3 pods
• carrots - 3 pcs.
• boiled rice - 300 g
• sunflower oil - 200 ml
• sugar - 4 tbsp.
• black pepper - to taste
• salt - 1 tbsp.
• apple cider vinegar - 2 tbsp.

Step-by-Step Recipe:

1. Remove fish from scales and viscera, remove head, tail, fins. Cut the pike perch in large pieces, fold them into a saucepan, pour water, salt, add spices and braise for about 20-30 minutes.
2. Rinse rice thoroughly in several waters and boil until cooked.
3. Wash tomatoes, cut the peel and put in boiling water for 2 minutes. Then remove the top film from the vegetables and scroll them through the meat grinder.
4. Add in the tomato puree half of the vegetable oil, pour into an enameled container and boil on the stove for 10 minutes.
5. From the boiled fish select the bones, add the product to a container with tomato and cook the dish on low heat for 1 hour.
6. Wash, clean and chop the vegetables. Fry them in a frying pan in the remainder of the vegetable oil until soft.
7. Transfer the fried vegetables into a fish tank, season with salt, sauté the dish and pour in the vinegar. Cook the pike-perch in a sauce for 20 minutes. Then add the rice and continue to stew the dish for another 15-20 minutes.
8. In sterilized jars, place the pike perch, close the lid and close it.
9. Wrap the canned food with a warm blanket and leave it on for a while. When the banks cool down, hide them for storage in a cool dry place.

Appetizing fish to any garnish: sprat in tomato sauce

Buying a sprat in a tomato sauce in the store, you never know how good and delicious the product will be to you. But if you close this dish for the winter on your own, you can be sure that in the end you will get excellent canned food.

Ingredients for sprat in tomato:

• sprat freshly frozen or fresh - 1 kg
• carrot - 0,5 kg
• tomatoes - 1 kg
• onion - 0.5 kg
• table vinegar - 3 tablespoons
• vegetable oil - 4 tbsp.
• bay leaves - 2 pcs.
• cloves - 3 buds
• sugar, salt, pepper - to taste

The recipe for cooking:

1. When harvesting sprats for the winter, frozen fish must be defrosted beforehand, but it is best to use fresh raw materials.
2. Cut the head and tail from the sprat and rinse the fish thoroughly.
3. Wash tomatoes, scald them with boiling water and peel. Grind the vegetables in the meat grinder.
4. Peel the onion, cut it into small cubes. Peel the carrots on a large grater.
5. Pour into the saucepan the sunflower oil, warm it, fry the onions and carrots until golden, then add the tomato, salt, pepper and sugar. Wait until the sauce boils, and then put the fish into it.
6. Cover the sauté pan with a lid and simmer the sprat for 1.5 hours. For 20 minutes before the end of cooking, add the bay leaf and cloves to the dish.
7. Pour into the saucepan table vinegar and boil the sauce for another 5 minutes.
8. Distribute the sprat in tomato according to previously sterilized jars, roll them with covers, cover with a blanket and let the preserves cool.

Cool the banks in storage in a cool place.

The process of preparing canned fish at home can be seen on video:

We hope that our advice on preparing frozen fish for the winter, as well as recipes for canned fish, will be useful to you.