The easiest way to pickle red fish. It turns out delicious!

Good day everyone!

Our whole family loves fish – river, sea, dried, smoked, cured, fried... That's why I regularly come up with interesting recipes or refine old ones to my perfect "taste."

And this time, I want to share with you my customized recipe for salting red fish. It's delicious and, most importantly, affordable! It can't even compare to premium store-bought red fish (which costs 4,000 rubles or more)! And best of all, it's all natural, so you know what you're putting in.

We'll need any red fish (trout, salmon, chum salmon, pink salmon)—it all depends on taste. For me, I don't see any difference between salmon, chum salmon, and trout—fresh fish are all plump, fatty, and delicious. Pink salmon, however, is more dietary and "drier."

I don't recommend buying cheap frozen fish; such fish is usually old, frozen over, or even defrosted several times. The meat will be loose, falling off the bone but clinging to the skin. The color won't be juicy, red-orange, but pale beige. And the taste is like a rag. Yes, you'll save about 300 rubles, but this fish is only good for fish soup, and even then, it will have a rusty taste.

Choose chilled, fresh fish so that the meat is reddish and vibrant when cut, with visible veins (marbling). The skin is shiny, not dry or frayed. A similar fish will cost around 700 rubles per kilo at the market. In stores (Magnet, Lenta, Auchan, etc.), the same fish will cost 900-1200 rubles per kilo. There's no point in paying more.

So, we bought the fish. The remaining ingredients (based on 1 kg of fish):

• Salt (3 tbsp.).
• Sugar (1 tbsp.).
• Vegetable oil (only 1 tbsp.).

Now the preparation itself:

1. First, you need to scale the fish. Be sure to trim off any excess fins and the tail at the base.
2. Next, remove the spine and bones, dividing it into 2 fillet halves along the spine.
3. Now mix the salt and sugar. Rub the resulting mixture thoroughly into the flesh of the fish. You can also sprinkle a little salt or any remaining salt on the outside of the skin. See photo:
   
4. We place the halves together (meat to meat), straight, and assemble the fish (halves) as if it were whole again. Like this:
   
5. All that's left is to place it in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 4-5 hours. The larger the fish, the longer it takes to salt.

Before placing the fish in plastic wrap, you can wrap it in a clean cotton cloth to help the juices (which will be released from the salt) soak into the cloth and prevent the fish from getting soggy. Only then place it in the bag and refrigerate.

After the required amount of time, remove the fish and rinse it thoroughly (rinse off all the salt). Take another clean, dry cotton cloth and pat the fish dry. The final touch is to brush both sides of the fillet with vegetable oil. It's ready to slice and eat. The fish will be lightly salted, tender, and firm. It won't fall apart or crumble.