How to make balyk from silver carp. The whole recipe is delicious and quick

Nutritional value, calorie content of silver carp balyk

The average protein content in the meat of large fish, both freshwater and marine, ranges from 16 to 20%, and the mass portion of fat depends on the type of fish and the conditions under which it was caught. Thus, at the end of spawning, the average fat content in a silver carp carcass (pulp only) can drop to 2%, while the same fish at the very peak of feeding contains up to 6% fat.

In order to compare silver carp of varying degrees of fattening, data were taken on the caloric content of fish raised in artificially fattened ponds and caught in the wild at the very beginning of feeding:

Such a wide spread of the given values ​​makes it difficult to estimate the caloric content of silver carp balyk.

One of the most important stages of preparing fish using these methods is removing excess moisture from the pulp; it is as a result of this that balyk acquires its characteristic taste and density. As a result of the evaporation of moisture, the mass of silver carp decreases, while the fats mainly remain. As a result, wet balyk from a fatty carcass may turn out to have less calories than a more dried one.

Salting process

• 3 kg of silver carp carcass;
• 100 g sugar;
• 700 g coarse salt;
• 3 bay leaves;
• 20 peas of allspice;
• 10 g coriander.

1. Place half of the mixture of ingredients for pickling: sugar, salt and prepared spices at the bottom of a deep enamel, ceramic or glass dish.
2. Next, pieces of silver carp are placed.
3. The fish is covered with the remaining spices, distributing them evenly, and pressed down with pressure (for example, a board with a stone or a weight).
4. The container with silver carp is put in a cold place for 5 days.
5. After this time, the resulting liquid is drained.
6. The fish is washed by pouring cooled boiled water and leaving in a cool place for 5 hours. This should be done to remove excess salt from the pieces being cooked. You can place the fish under a thin stream of running water for 2-3 hours.

How to choose ingredients for silver carp balyk

It is undesirable to use females with caviar for balyk; their flesh, as a rule, contains little fat. Males with a large amount of milk also come out a little dry, it is optimal if the fish is caught after spawning in the middle of the feeding period. The fish is chosen based on its appearance; fatty fish, as a rule, have a very wide area where the flesh meets the head.

The body of such silver carp is not elongated, but rather rounded, knocked down. If the fish is absolutely fresh, its gills have a very bright color.

Grayish and dull shades indicate that the fish, if not spoiled, was probably caught many hours ago and kept in water without sufficient oxygen. It is not recommended to use frozen carcasses for dried or smoked balyk, but you can use the oven heating method, although the result will still not be the best.

Useful tips

The following recommendations will help you prepare delicious silver carp balyk the first time. 1. The most delicious and tender balyk is obtained from large (more than 3 kg) fish.

2. To prepare balyk, it is better to take the central part of the carcass: this is where the most meat is.

3. If you come across a fish with the smell of mud, you can easily get rid of it by soaking the carcass in a vinegar solution (20 ml of vinegar per 1 liter of water). This measure will also remove parasites that may be contained in the abdomen of the silver carp.

4. The optimal size of pieces cut for salting is from 3 to 7 cm in thickness. Slices that are too thin will turn out dry and tasteless, and slices that are too thick will not be salted and may spoil.

5.To give the balyk a beautiful golden hue, as in the photo, you can add a tablespoon of turmeric or saffron to the salting container.

6. For salting, you should not use sea and iodized salt, as the taste of the finished product may deteriorate.

7.For drying, take as many pieces as you plan to eat in 4 days. This is how long you can store the finished balyk, pre-wrapped in parchment paper.

8. The remaining salted silver carp can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. This product can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

9.The composition of spices can be changed at will, adding, for example, dry parsley, fennel, cumin.

If you prepare silver carp balyk correctly, it will be easy to cut into even slices. The dish is served on a flat plate, garnished with herbs and fresh vegetables.

Secrets of making balyk from silver carp

Traditionally, it is believed that balyk should be light-colored, almost transparent, but silver carp is often prepared so that it resembles in color the more delicious fish of the salmon family. To do this, with liquid salting, add grated paprika and turmeric to the brine, and with dry salting, make do with only the second spice.

Balyk with garlic is unusual; usually the fish is rubbed with it after salting before drying. This method is not suitable if the fish is further smoked or heated in the oven. How to make balyk from silver carp if the fish catch is significant, the experience of fishing cooperatives will tell you.

Balyk carcasses can be salted in large quantities and dried or smoked, soaking as needed. Of course, the soaking will take a noticeable amount of time, as will the subsequent drying of the fish, but in this way it is good to prepare it for future use in large quantities.

Cold smoking

Cold smoked silver carp turns out incredibly tasty and aromatic. This method is often chosen for cooking, despite the fact that it takes much longer.

For cold smoking, you will need a different smokehouse: the container with smoke and the smoking tank are not combined into a single structure, but are connected by a pipe. Smoke is supplied through it, due to which its temperature is reduced to 28-35 degrees. The easiest way to buy such a device is in a store, since a self-built structure will not provide the necessary tightness and temperature support.

Traditional way

After the fish is salted, washed and ventilated, begin cooking:

1. In the smokehouse, wood chips are placed in the area where combustion occurs.
2. The grate of the smoking tank is lubricated with oil, and pieces or carcasses of pickled silver carp are also covered with it.
3. Place the smokehouse on the fire, and place the fish on the grates.
4. At a temperature of 25-28 degrees, it is smoked for 1 to 4 days.
5. Every 6-7 hours the process is stopped to improve the taste of the silver carp.

The finished dish is taken out of the smokehouse and ventilated for up to 12 hours in the fresh air, protected from flies.

Black Sea smoked silver carp

The simplest, but no less tasty cooking method requires nothing but fish and salt. For 1 kg of carcasses take 100 g of mineral.

Further:

1. Remove the entrails, place the silver carp in salted water for 30 minutes, and dry for 2-3 hours.
2. Cut the carcasses into pieces, sprinkle with salt, place in a container, and apply pressure.
3. Marinate for 2-3 days in a cool place, changing pieces of fish from time to time.
4. Take out and wash portioned slices, soak for 3-6 hours in cold water.
5. Then they hang it on hooks to let the fish dry.
6. After 12-20 hours, cold smoking begins, which lasts up to 1.5 days.

After smoking silver carp, you need to ventilate for another 1 day.

Silver carp balyk recipes

The selected descriptions include the basic methods of salting and further processing of balyk, excluding the exotic in the form of partially fermented fish. Since dried fish is traditionally considered balyk, more of these recipes are given, taking into account the variety of preliminary preparation methods.

Cold smoked balyk

Slow preparation of silver carp carcasses is the key to tenderness and wonderful taste. The fish is salted, soaked in a spicy marinade, and only then sent to the smokehouse. In this way, you can prepare both the balyk itself - the backs, cut off along with the ridge, and carcasses cut to the peritoneum.

How to make balyk from silver carp?

What to cook from:

• silver carp, weighing up to 1500 g – 2–3 carcasses;
• coarse pickling salt;
• laurel, Provençal herbs and peppercorns;
• pure vegetable oil.

How to cook:

1. Remove the scales from the selected fish and carefully remove the gills. Wipe the carcasses with a damp and then dry cloth. With extreme care, cut the head from the nostrils to the beginning of the back, along the top, with powerful culinary scissors.
2. Using a sharp and powerful knife, cut the back along the ridge, on one side. With special care, the peritoneal bones are cut off from the ridge, passing from the head to the tail itself.
3. The carcasses are unwrapped and the entrails are removed completely, very carefully so as not to damage the gallbladder. First, wipe the inside with napkins, then with a damp cloth. Very fresh fish can be washed quickly.
4. Slightly dried carcasses are sprinkled with a thin layer of salt; be sure to place it in the cavities inside the head and under the gill covers. The fish is folded in layers, adding a little salt under the first carcass, pressed under pressure and put into a room with a temperature of about +5°C for 48 hours.
5. A spicy marinade is prepared for soaking. Boil water, about 2 liters per carcass, for up to 10 minutes. boil the spices. The liquid should be aromatic, but not bitter when tasted with the tip of your tongue.
6. The salted carcasses are cleaned with a knife to remove the layer of salt, and the remaining crystals are washed off. Pour in the spicy mixture for 4 hours. Its volume can be larger if the fish is heavily salted, but only cold boiled water is added.
7. The fish is hung on a string threaded through the eye sockets. It is necessary to provide a draft, even if you need to turn on the fan, place a bowl underneath under drops of moisture, and protect the carcasses themselves with gauze from insects. Drying time – up to 12 hours.
8. Silver carp balyk of this mass is smoked for up to 4 days at low temperatures (up to +28°C), using smoke from fruit chips. Before placing the carcasses in the smokehouse, rub them with oil, and take a short break every 5–7 hours.

The practice of home smoking suggests how to make balyk from silver carp that does not smell so much of smoke. The finished silver carp balyk needs to be ventilated from too strong smoke for about 8 hours. It is convenient to do this in the same way as the fish was dried before smoking.

Classic dried balyk from the backs of silver carp

For the balyk, only the back part with the ridge will be used, so the fish must be well-fed and quite large. For silver carp, these are carcasses weighing from 3 kg, which must be fresh.

Ingredients:

• live silver carp – 1 pc.;
• coarse salt – 450 g;
• sugar – 80 g.

How to cook:

1. The gutted and scaled carcass is beheaded. The tail is cut in the middle, first to the ridge using scissors, then a powerful and sharp knife is used.
2. The peritoneum is cut off from the spine, leaving no remnants of costal bones on it. The part selected for the balyk is rinsed and dried, changing the napkins several times.
3. Salt is mixed evenly with sugar and poured onto a clean, thick cotton rag. It should be slightly longer than the balyk and 5–6 times wider than its lower part; it is convenient to use an old dish towel.
4. The back of the silver carp is placed on the salt with the bottom cut, the edges of the fabric along with the salt are placed on top of it and swaddled tightly. The package must “breathe”, so it cannot be wrapped in film.
5. The fish is put away in the cold; if it was not possible to wrap it tightly with cloth, be sure to press it with a board with a weight. After salting the balyk for 2 days, unroll the fabric, and lower the fish into a bowl of cold water and soak for up to 2 hours.
6. It is necessary to take a sample, keeping in mind that after drying, some of the moisture will leave and the fish will seem somewhat saltier. If necessary, soaking is extended.
7. Hang the balyk in a draft, tail part up. It is important to ensure air flow, so it is permissible to use forced airflow with a fan and arrange a simple gauze protection against flies.
8. Dried balyk is ready in 3 days; if desired, the fish can be left to dry longer. The finished balyk is wrapped in parchment and put in the refrigerator. The paper can be additionally oiled.

The silver carp is quite bony in the dorsal part, but in large fish the bones are quite convenient to remove from the pulp. When serving, the balyk is cut into slices so that there are 2-3 spinal bones in a piece. Balyk can be stored frozen for a long time; before doing this, it is rubbed with oil and packed together with parchment in plastic bags.

Simple spicy balyk

The fish will differ from the previous version in a noticeable taste and aroma of spices. For balyk from freshwater fish, this is a wonderful way to muffle the specific smell.

What to cook from:

• 2-kilogram fatty silver carp;
• table salt – 450 g;
• a dozen peppercorns, equal parts black and allspice;
• 15 g turmeric;
• 100 g sugar;
• a large bunch of juicy parsley;
• 10 g ground coriander.

How to cook:

1. The fish is cleaned and gutted, the belly is ripped open. After separating the head, leave the tail and wash the carcass.
2. It is necessary to cut out the ridge without breaking the skin on the back. To do this, first cut off the dorsal fin with scissors, then cut off the ridge from the costal bones, from the side of the abdomen.
3. The spinal bone is removed, trimming the flesh on both sides if necessary. The fillet is cut near the tail, but the fillet itself is not separated from the skin.
4. The carcass is quickly rinsed and dried, rubbed on all sides with a mixture of salt, crushed spices and sugar.
5. The silver carp is placed in any clean container into which the whole carcass fits. Sprinkle with the remaining flavored salt and place a load weighing up to 2 kg on top.
6. Fish for balyk is salted for 5 days in a room with a temperature of up to +8°C. Next, the silver carp is cleaned of salt crystals and soaked for 4 hours in clean water.
7. Having turned the fish along the back, sprigs of parsley, washed and well dried, are placed inside. They are placed in the cold under pressure, this time for only 6 hours.
8. Dry the balyk, removing the greens, completely unrolled. Take measures against flies and other possible pests. The fish is completely ready in 2 days.

How to make balyk from silver carp and protect it from pests is known from the practice of harvesting small fish. In hot weather, additionally moisten the gauze mesh with a vinegar solution; it repels flies quite well.

Quick balyk in the oven from silver carp

It is better to try this method first on fish weighing no more than a kilogram; the drying process in the oven for large specimens can take a long time.

Ingredients:

• a kilogram gutted carcass of silver carp;
• salt – 150 g;
• sugar – 35 g;
• pure vegetable oil.

How to cook:

1. Only fresh fish is used. After cleaning the scales and rinsing the carcass, cut open the abdomen and remove the entrails. The head is separated, and the tail is cut off along the anus.
2. The silver carp is thoroughly washed and wiped dry with clean rags. The spine is very carefully cut off from the abdominal bones and removed. To do this, the lower rear part of the carcass is simply cut.
3. The fillet is carefully cut all the way to the skin, forming slices up to 3 cm wide. Rub the fish inside and out with salt mixed with sugar and put it under pressure in the refrigerator for 2 days.
4. The fish is scraped of salt, washed under the tap and soaked in plenty of water for up to 2 hours. The balyk is dried quickly by directing an air stream from a fan. After 6 hours, proceed to heat treatment.
5. The fish is lightly rubbed with oil and placed on a wire rack on the middle shelf, with a drip tray placed underneath to catch the fat drops. Turn on the oven at minimum heat, leaving the door ajar 2-3 cm. Cook for up to 4 hours, turning on the exhaust ventilation.

It is customary to serve such balyk after it has cooled, but warm fish has a very unusual taste. Necessary clarification to the recipe: oil is applied to the slices every 2 hours, large fish takes longer to cook.

Recipe for dried silver carp with spices

Ingredients for 1 silver carp fish:

• Salt - 8 tbsp. l.
• Sugar - 2 tbsp. l.
• Bay leaves - 8 pcs.
• Turmeric to give a golden hue - 1 tsp.
• Dried basil - 1 tsp.

You can add a few peppercorns (optional), cumin, coriander and other spices.

The recipe for dried silver carp with spices differs slightly.

The bones and backbone are removed, the thin part of the abdomen is cut off (it dries out and becomes tasteless), and the heads are cut off. The fillet remains, the rest is used to prepare the fish soup. Longitudinal pieces are cut crosswise into two halves.

The prepared fish is washed and kept in cold water with 100 grams of vinegar for one hour.

For salting, prepare a mixture of the listed ingredients with seasonings. Pour it in a thin layer onto the bottom of the dish in which the salting will be carried out. Each piece is rubbed with the mixture, laid back down, adding bay leaves evenly to each row. The second row is laid out with the backs facing up. And so on they alternate. Oppression is placed on top.

The fish is kept in a cool place for 7 days, stirring occasionally and swapping pieces. Then clean off any remaining mixture and keep it in cold water for at least an hour. Remove and dry with napkins.

Dry for three days, hanging in a shady, airy place. Silver carp dried at home turns out transparent and extremely tasty.

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River and sea fish are used to prepare balyk. The product turns out healthy and tasty. The dish is served with a side dish or used as an appetizer. Balyk made from silver carp is very tender and aromatic. It can be done at home. The fish is no different from store-bought fish; it even surpasses the purchased product in taste if you follow the recipe.

How to store silver carp balyk

Balyk differs from dried fish in its high moisture content. As a result, its shelf life is shorter and the conditions are more stringent. Optimal storage at temperatures below +10°C and moderate humidity. A refrigerator is good for this, but the period still does not exceed a week at temperatures up to +5°C. Fish is stored in parchment or cloth bags.

Balyk is often rubbed with oil or a mixture of it and fish oil and frozen. In this form, at temperatures below –16°C, dried silver carp can be stored for a month or longer. In the freezer, it is important to provide conditions that are exactly the opposite of those recommended for normal storage: silver carp is first packaged in oiled paper, wrapped in cloth, and then placed in a sealed bag.

Balyk with the first signs of mold cannot be immediately considered unsuitable. The first thing they do is make sure there is no smell and other characteristic manifestations of rotting. The parts of the silver carp affected by the fungus are cut off, capturing up to 2 cm of the pulp around them. Balyk is wiped with vinegar or lemon juice, but it is recommended to use this product very quickly.

Preparing for baling

After thoroughly salting the fish for the specified time, remove the container from the refrigerator. The recipe for silver carp balyk at home involves washing pieces of pulp from brine under running water, but this procedure is not enough to effectively get rid of excess salt. It is recommended to leave the fish pieces in clean cold water for 4-6 hours, and the liquid needs to be changed from time to time. If silver carp is soaked for 4 hours, then the water must be drained from it at least twice.

After thoroughly soaking the fish, dry it and wipe it with a towel. You can leave the pieces suspended above the container for a while to drain excess water.

When the fish is completely ready, its pieces need to be strung on a fishing line or strong thread and hung to dry in a well-ventilated place. It is advisable that this room should not be too hot; depending on the weather, a balcony will work well. It is important to remember that in summer such a product must be protected from flies, so hanging pieces must be covered with several layers of loose, breathable fabric so that insects cannot lay larvae there and ruin many days of work.

The recipe for silver carp balyk provides for such drying for 2-3 days, but if the fish seems too wet, you can leave it in the air for some more time. It is important that the room is ventilated; if there is no natural draft, you will need to install a fan.

Useful properties and harm of dried fish

Silver carp meat contains a large amount of protein with balanced amino acid compositions and the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6. Their effect on the human body is of great benefit. Thus, people who regularly eat freshwater fish suffer less from cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis. The presence of essential amino acids acts as a powerful prophylactic against various types of tumors, and alleviates the condition of rheumatism, gout and hypertension.

In addition, it is recommended to consume silver carp in cases of damage to the central nervous system, as well as in poor condition of the skin, brittle nails and hair. The high content of iron and zinc helps to increase hemoglobin levels and normalizes carbohydrate metabolism, and the presence of vitamin E gives the product powerful antioxidant properties. Balyk, prepared in the traditional way without smoking, can be consumed even by people with diabetes. The product lowers blood sugar levels, but it is still recommended to consult a specialist before using it.

Along with the obvious benefits for the body, eating balyk can also cause some harm. Thus, balyk prepared using a smokehouse contains a large amount of carcinogens - substances formed under the influence of smoke that cause great harm to the body. Therefore, the use of smoked balyk should be occasional. In addition, if you are predisposed to allergic reactions to fish, you need to eat silver carp balyk very carefully.