Delicious fake
Why spend money on store-bought sprats if you can cook them yourself? For this we need a small freshwater fish, bleak. All fishermen are familiar with this representative of reservoirs: it is the small fish, weighing about 60 g, that makes up the main catch of those who like to throw a fishing rod into the river. It is also convenient for catching larger inhabitants of the depths.
Resourceful housewives, in order to process the men's catch, learned to prepare many dishes from bleak. The fish is salted, pickled, fried, but the most delicious option is obtained when making sprat. The traditional appetizer comes out juicy and tender; it doesn’t require fancy ingredients. And most importantly, knowing how to prepare sprats from bleak, you will be confident in the quality of the product.
Ingredients
To prepare homemade sprats from bleak, we will need the following products: a kilogram of fish, loose leaf tea - 10 teaspoons or 10 bags, 400 ml of boiling water, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, coarse salt - one tablespoon, seasonings (black pepper, cloves and bay leaf ) and optionally a couple of spoons of soy sauce. Let us immediately note that delicious sprats can be prepared not only from bleak, but also from other varieties of small fish, such as sprat, mackerel, saury, etc.
In a frying pan
Ingredients:
- 800 g fish;
- 400 ml filtered water;
- 10 tsp. loose leaf tea;
- 8 peas of allspice;
- 3 carnation stars;
- 2-3 bay leaves;
- ¼ tbsp. olive oil.
Preparation:
- We wash the fish well with running water and remove the scales.
- We make tea.
- Crush the bay leaf in a mortar.
- Place the bleak in a frying pan without oil in 2-3 layers, sprinkling each layer with salt.
- Pour in tea, add pepper, cloves and bay leaves.
- Let it boil, add oil.
- “Smoke” the sprats over low heat for 2-3 hours, periodically removing the foam.
- We take out the fish after it has cooled so that the carcasses do not fall apart.
How to cook homemade sprats from capelin: recipe
Another accessible and inexpensive fish is capelin. Sprats can be prepared from both fresh and frozen capelin. The secret to deliciously cooked sprats is the correct balance of spices and compliance with the temperature regime (this way the fish will not overcook and will be juicy).
You will need:
- Capelin (any) – 500-600 g (it should be cleaned of heads and entrails, washed).
- Refined sunflower oil – ½ cup (look at the fish, you can add more or less).
- Liquid smoke – 0.5-1 tsp. (can be omitted, or replaced with onion skins - by eye).
- Black tea without additives – 2 bags or 1 tsp. dry tea leaves.
- Bay leaf - several pieces.
- Salt (preferably sea salt) – 2 tsp. (add more or less according to taste).
- Peppercorns - a few peas
- Spicy spices - choose to taste
Cooking:
- Prepare the fish in advance: defrost the frozen fish, remove the head and entrails, rinse with running water through a colander and let it dry, you can wipe with paper towels.
- While the fish is drying, prepare the brine. First of all, make a steep brew: from 1 full tsp. tea per 100-130 ml. water and leave for up to 15 minutes. Dissolve salt in the tea leaves.
- It is recommended to cook fish in a metal container with thick walls or in a glass bowl with a lid. If the surface of the cookware is not non-stick, the bottom can be covered with foil.
- Place the fish carefully and very tightly one to one. It is advisable to place the fish tummy down so that it does not spoil its shape during the stewing process.
- Sprinkle spices on top of the fish and place bay leaves between the fish; you can do the same with onion peels. Pour the tea leaves over the fish. If you have liquid smoke, add it to the brew ahead of time. It is liquid smoke that will give sprats a smoked taste.
- Pour oil over the fish, the oil should completely cover the fish, you may need more.
- Preheat the oven to 200-220 degrees and place the dishes with sprats there without closing the lid. After the brine boils, simmer the fish at high temperature for 15-20 minutes, and then reduce it to 150-160 degrees and cover with a lid.
- In this state, the fish should languish for 2-3 hours continuously.
Homemade capelin sprats
In the duck house
If you don’t really like the taste of fried fish, then you can make sprats in a duck pot or thick-walled pan.
Ingredients:
- 750 g fish;
- 10 g coarse salt;
- 7 peas of allspice;
- 3 bay leaves;
- 1 tbsp. strong tea without additives;
- 250 ml vegetable oil.
Preparation:
- We clean the fish, tear off the head, remove the entrails.
- Mash the pepper and bay leaves.
- Sprinkle the carcasses with salt and seasonings and place them in the duckling pan.
- Pour in freshly brewed tea and butter.
- Place on low heat.
- Cooking for 2.5 hours. Homemade sprats are ready.
How to cook homemade sprat sprats: recipe
The most common and inexpensive fish that can be found on the shelves is sprat. They buy it not only to eat with baked potatoes or to feed a cat, sprat is an excellent basis for preparing tasty, fatty and soft sprats. You can use both fresh and frozen sprat.
You will need:
- Sprat (any: fresh or defrosted) – 500-600 g.
- Smoked sprat or the tail of any smoked fish is necessary to give all sprats a smoked flavor.
- Onion peel - a handful
- Vegetable (sunflower) oil – 80-120 g (depending on the number of fish).
- Steep tea brewing – 2/3 cup (without flavoring and aromatic additives).
- Pepper mixture – 1-1.5 tsp.
- Peppercorns (black and allspice) - several peas
- Bay leaf - several pieces.
- Coarse sea salt – 1-1.5 tsp.
Cooking:
- The fish should be cleaned and washed, all entrails removed, the head cut off, and dried in a colander.
- While the fish is drying, prepare the fish filling: to do this, brew and cool strong tea, dissolve salt and spices in it.
- Place the fish in a baking dish and spread bay leaves with peels over the surface.
- Pour the resulting marinade and oil over the fish. Let the fish sit (marinate) for half an hour or more.
- Cover the marinating area with foil, pinching it tightly on all sides.
- Preheat the oven to 190-210 degrees and place the mold there for 25 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to medium levels (140-150 degrees).
- Keep the pan in the oven for 2-2.5 hours without removing until done. During this time, the fish will bake, the meat and bones will become soft. After cooking, carefully remove the husks and leaves and drain off excess oil.
Homemade sprat sprats
In the oven
With the same set and quantity of ingredients, fish can be made in the oven. Only half of the tea does not need to be pre-brewed: we will need it in dry form. And don’t lose sight of one more additional component - 2 tbsp. l. liquid smoke.
Preparation:
- We wash the fish, clean it from scales, remove the entrails and tear off the heads.
- Pour the tea into a thick-walled bowl (or baking dish) and cover the top with foil.
- We place the false sprats with their bellies down.
- Sprinkle them with pepper and chopped bay leaf.
- Place a layer of bleak again.
- Brew tea using the remaining tea leaves.
- Add 2 tbsp to it. l. salt, mix.
- Pour over the fish and add oil.
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
- Cover the pan with a lid and place in the oven.
- After 4 hours, add smoke.
- After another 1.5 hours, homemade sprats are ready.
Sprats from bleak. Proven recipe
The bleak used is fresh, cleaned, without heads and tails, 1200 gr. (not frozen, or stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of one day. Size 9-15 cm.)
If you decide to cook sprats from frozen herring, capelin or sprat, then you need to slowly defrost it under natural conditions.
Remove scales, cut off heads and tails, remove entrails and swim bladder and rinse well with water.
Making the marinade:
- Wash two handfuls of onion peels, add 1-2 bay leaves, peppercorns and allspice, one teaspoon each of salt, sugar and coriander. Pour 400 grams of water over everything, stir and boil for 5-7 minutes. After this, add one tablespoon of black tea and let it brew for another 10 minutes. Strain the marinade through a fine sieve, squeeze, and discard the cake.
- In a thick-bottomed dish or cast iron pot, place the bleak with its backs up and vertical, side to side, for density, with the tails facing each other, in one layer; if necessary, place the second layer on top across the first layer. Fill the bleak with marinade. The liquid should lightly cover the fish. If the level is not enough, then add a little more water. Place on the stove and bring to a boil.
At your discretion, add two tablespoons of liquid smoke (optional) or 1 bouillon cube with Bacon.
After boiling, use a spoon to remove the foam, scale and ichor several times!
- Add 200 grams of vegetable oil! Be sure to choose high-quality refined oil (odorless)! The liquid should now completely cover the fish.
- Bring to a boil again, check the scale again and simmer with the lid tightly closed over low heat for 3 - 3.5 hours. It should not boil, but slightly bubbling. The water gradually evaporates and our fish will simmer in oil with spices.
We check the readiness - all the seeds should be completely dissolved and not felt at all! If necessary, simmer for a little more time.
- Turn off the stove and let it cool in the pan to room temperature!
- You need to lay out the cooled sprats, otherwise they will fall apart!
You can store it in the refrigerator in the container in which you prepared it, or carefully transfer it to another container along with the filling.
You can safely store prepared bleak sprats in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
The result is wonderful sprats, prepared at home, which taste very similar to those sold in stores, and are even healthier, since they do not contain preservatives.
In a slow cooker
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of fresh bleak;
- 15 g coarse salt;
- 6 peas of hot pepper;
- 7 black peppercorns;
- 2 clove buds;
- 3 bay leaves;
- 300 ml strong tea;
- 250 ml refined vegetable oil.
Preparation:
- We clean the scales, gut and wash the fish carcasses well.
- Place the “catch” on the bottom of the multicooker bowl.
- We make tea.
- Add seasonings to it and mix.
- Pour the marinade over the fish, set the “slow cooking” mode, and process for about 2 hours. Bleak sprats in the slow cooker are ready.
- After cooling, transfer the food to a container.
How to cook homemade sprats from roach: recipe
Simple small river fish is perfect for preparing delicious spicy sprats. For example, roach has a mild taste and tolerates heat treatment.
You will need:
- Roach (or any other river fish) – 500-600 g (you can use more fish, therefore, the amount of seasonings and tea leaves is doubled).
- Coarse salt (sea salt) - to taste and preference
- Sunflower oil (homemade, unrefined, aromatic) – 1 cup or a little less (depending on the amount of fish).
- Strong black tea from 1 bag - 0.5 cups
- Wine or apple vinegar – 2-3 tbsp.
- Mixed peppers - to taste
Cooking:
- For cooking you will need a thick glass or metal deck with a low bottom.
- The cleaned fish is laid out in an even layer in a bowl, sprinkled with salt and spices, and covered with bay leaves.
- Prepare strong tea and mix it with vegetable oil and vinegar. Pour the resulting liquid over the fish.
- Place the pan without a lid in a very hot oven for 35-45 minutes. The cabinet temperature should be approximately 190-200 degrees.
- After this time, reduce the temperature to 140-150 degrees and cover the pan with a lid or cover with food foil. Simmer the fish for 1.5-2 hours until fully cooked.
Homemade sprats from river fish, roach
Is it worth preparing the dish?
Sprats from bleak according to any of the recipes described above are very simple to make, and if there are quite a lot of ingredients, the finished dish will last for a long time. By using a saucepan or slow cooker at home, you can get tender, tasty fish that is in no way inferior to store-bought fish. You can make sandwiches with such sprats, supplementing them with tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, and lemon. They also make an excellent appetizer for any side dish. It could be potatoes, rice, stewed vegetables. After reading the article, in order to do everything correctly, we recommend that you watch the video, which clearly describes the cooking process.
Sprats from herring at home
Sprats at home (the recipe with photo allows you to preserve fish quickly and without errors), like the purchased version, can be used to prepare salads, sandwiches and even soups.
What ingredients will you need?
To create sprat from 1 kg of herring the following is used:
- table salt – 60 g;
- peel from 3-4 large onions;
- boiling water from filtered water – 400 ml;
- laurel leaves – 8 pcs.;
- peppercorns (you will need black) – 12 pcs.;
- ready-made strong tea leaves (3-4 tea bags are required per 200 ml) – 200 ml;
- dark granulated sugar – 15-20 g;
- non-fragrant vegetable oil (it is recommended to give preference to olive oil) – 200 ml.
Additionally, you can include about 2 g of crushed nutmeg in the recipe.
Step-by-step cooking process
The stages of canning herring are in the following order:
- The husks must be washed, after which the remaining moisture should be shaken off.
- The herring must be gutted and the head cut off from the carcasses. After this, the fish must be thoroughly washed in running water, both outside and inside.
- Next, clean onion peels need to be placed in a saucepan and filled with approximately 400 ml of filtered water.
- Place the saucepan on the stove over low heat and simmer the husks for approximately 30 minutes.
- The prepared onion broth should cool completely in the saucepan. Next you need to strain it.
- Strain the tea leaves and combine it with a decoction of onion peels. Dissolve granulated sugar and salt in the resulting mixture.
- Then you need to transfer the herring to a baking sheet in one layer (preferably laid in a jack). On average, 1 kg of fish yields 2 baking sheets.
- Place laurel leaves and peppercorns on top of the herring. Try to distribute the ingredients evenly.
- After this, the contents of the baking sheet need to be filled with oil. Approximately 100 ml is spent on a baking sheet.
- At the end, you need to carefully pour 200 ml of solution from point 6 onto each baking sheet. It should completely cover the contents.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven (temperature should be 180 degrees) and cook the fish at this temperature for approximately 15 minutes.
- Next, you need to reduce the temperature in the oven to 120 degrees and simmer the fish for approximately 1 hour.
Leave the sprats to cool in the pan. The second baking sheet needs to be decorated in the same way. For storage, the fish should be transferred to an airtight glass container and poured with marinade from a baking sheet.