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

Taranka (ramming) - a common name for dried dried fish.

To prepare ram, various fish of the carp family are mainly used: roach, ram (from the name of which the concept “ram” arose), roach. 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 snack for beer. Cooking taranka (drying in salted form) lasts from several days to several weeks, and depends on the size of the fish and the cooking recipe, as well as the expected result, because some people want dried taranka, while others want it very dried. The fish is salted in brine (brine) and aged for 3-4 days. Live salted fish has a better taste, since after swallowing the brine, it is salted more evenly. After this, the fish is hung out in the open air and dried. Large fish are sometimes cut so that they dry well.

Preparation. Take an enamel dish (or stainless steel), sprinkle the bottom 0.5 cm with salt. Wash the fish thoroughly. If the fish is small, up to 0.8 kg, we do not release the entrails; if it is larger, we release it.

Salting. 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 cut on the back, and also pour salt into it. It is better to use coarse salt, because... fine salt creates a crust on the fish, through which the brine will not salt its body. We place the fish in a container, and when the first layer of fish is laid, sprinkle another 1 cm of salt on top of it, then place the 2nd layer, and again sprinkle salt on top of it. When the salting is finished, put some kind of lid on the fish, but so that it is not pressed tightly against the walls of the dish, and there is access for a small amount of air. Place something heavy on the lid to weigh down the fish. Place the container with salted fish at the very bottom of the refrigerator. If it’s winter, go on the balcony, but under no circumstances 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 the size and ambient temperature. An indicator of good salting of fish is the cessation of copious secretion of juice by the fish.

Preparing for the sign. When the salt has done its job, remove the fish from the brine and rinse it thoroughly in clean water. Then fill the container with clean water again 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 fish becoming infected when drying unnecessary living organisms (let's not talk about bad things).

Some designs of boxes for drying rams

Hanging. For hanging, we take some kind of box; you can rivet it from several boards. The box should be well aired on all sides. We cover it with gauze or a mosquito net so that flies cannot land 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 made of matches on the cut belly. We carry out hanging. It is better to hang the fish head up so that the brine and internal liquid do not leak out of the fish. So it will be fatty and more tasty. It is better to hang it in the evening so that the ram can weather and dry overnight. We completely cover the box with the suspended battering ram and place it in the shade, in a well-ventilated place, for example on a balcony with an open frame. If possible, do not place the box on the south side to prevent the temperature from becoming too high.

It’s up to you to choose when to remove the fish.

Another method of preparing rama

Necessary equipment. To salt caught fish, you must 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 should be covered with a layer of enamel). A rectangular container made of thin stainless steel is good and durable. Typically, such capacious and deep containers are made to order and are rarely found on sale. In plastic, enameled and stainless steel containers, a special stand is additionally made for draining fish juice, 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 the 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 sheet of plywood 1-1.5 cm thick is cut out. We drill holes with a diameter of 10 mm along the entire contour of the canvas at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, 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 blocks and the bottom of the container, a gap is formed for the thickness of the blocks. For convenience, the blocks are fixed to the canvas with screws with an anti-corrosion coating. But it is still safer to secure the blocks with a nylon cord, tying their ends through the drilled holes, and melt them with a match (the fact is that the heads of the screws, in contact with salt, will darken over time and rust will form on them). After a special pallet is made from durable plywood on blocks, it is necessary to cut out several more canvases without blocks from plywood (or knock down from a planed flat board) to the size of the container (three or four, depending on the height of the container). Additional plywood sheets are used to cover the rows of fish laid for salting. The first row of fish is placed on a tray with cubes, which is first sprinkled with coarse salt, and the salted fish is placed on top. (More on this below). The laid row of fish is covered with a sheet of plywood (the rest of the fish are laid in this order 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 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 the battering ram, it is necessary to have loads of different weights. So, for dry salting, the author uses discs of dismountable dumbbells with 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 a breathable blanket, which is used to cover the container with fish and cargo. While the fish is being salted, the blanket is tightened with an elastic band in order to completely prevent 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 a place located under a wide roof canopy, which provides good protection from rain and sun. After salting and soaking, the fish is placed in specially made boxes made of planks, covered with a fine nylon mesh. The box has a door and rigid rods are fixed inside it, on which fish are hung using hooks made of metal wire. Another option for drying fish is possible, which involves the use of several identical rings made 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. At the top of the rings there is a rigid rod, attached to each ring by means of a dense winding of copper wire. The rings are spaced the same distance from each other. There are metal hooks on the rod for hanging fish. The general appearance is a cylinder covered on all sides with a mesh or double gauze canopy, fastened with buttons. A strong nylon cord is threaded along the entire length, with which the device is easily secured at the desired height.

In apartments of multi-storey buildings, where space is limited, you can use part of the balcony or loggia facing the street. For this purpose, you need to carry out simple construction work that does not take much time. We will need some tools and the ability to use them. (You can see what an equipped balcony looks like in the photo below). Necessary tools: wood saw, drill, drills, hammer, punch, screw, nails, and also: nylon cord, two wooden strips, a piece of gauze (with a reserve for double wrapping). In the outer frame, which rarely opens and is securely fastened on metal hinges, and is also additionally secured with latches, a wooden plank 2 cm thick and 5 cm wide is attached to the top and bottom across the frame at a height of 40 cm from the box itself. It is important that the bar is no less than the specified thickness and width. The plank is attached to the frame with four screws (two on each side). At the ends of the strip cut to size, points for drilling are marked with a pencil, in place of which holes are drilled with a drill. Then the plank 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, the place where the second plank is attached is marked in the same sequence. Holes in the wall are punched with a punch or perforator to a depth of 4-5 cm, the punched holes are smeared with PVA glue and wooden plugs made of durable wood - oak, acacia, birch - are tightly driven into them. Holes for screws are also drilled in wooden plugs. The second plank on the wall is also secured with four screws. Another important point: before attaching the planks to each of them, nails are driven into the rib from above 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 wooden slats fixed to the frame and the wall. The cord should be under slight tension. If the cord sags, shorten it by tying a single knot on its edge.

Preservation and transportation of caught fish. The caught fish must be preserved and brought home unspoiled. If you fish in early spring or late autumn, then the fish is well preserved during this cool time of year. And if in the warm season, then you need to know the basic requirements for preserving caught fish. Fish should not be kept in closed and airtight bags, cellophane bags, etc. Fish quickly deteriorates if kept in a container with water - the water heats up quickly. Since fish is a rather delicate product, when fishing you need to learn how to hold it with your hands so that it is not injured. The hook should be carefully removed with tweezers or small pliers. When transporting, a reliable container can be a wicker basket made of wicker, in which the caught fish must be arranged with nettles or reed leaves. Before placing the fish, you need to let it dry, but under no circumstances rinse it with water. It is easy to preserve caught fish for quite a long time if you arrange it with oak, cherry, nettle, currant, and walnut leaves. When transporting fish, access to air must be provided, otherwise its shelf life will be shortened. To preserve fish for a long time, for example, two or three days, immediately after catching it is necessary to remove the entrails and gills, wash the blood from the meat, wipe with vinegar and immerse it in salted water for 10-15 minutes. Then take dry crushed wormwood or thyme, nettle or white bread, previously soaked in vodka, and place it in the peribranch space of the fish. After long-term storage in the described way, the fish is suitable for eating, but it cannot be used to make a ram. It should be remembered that only freshly caught fish, which have been preserved for no more than a few hours after the end of fishing, is suitable for making rams. The faster the caught fish is delivered home, the better it will be preserved and the better quality the ram you prepare will be.

Salting. The oldest and simplest way to preserve fish is salting. A fish sprinkled with salt releases water, and the water dissolves the salt, forming a brine solution. For salting, as mentioned earlier, only fresh and undamaged fish is used. Salt for pickling must be pure, without any impurities and coarse grinding. When salting fish for drying, two main methods are used: dry and wet (brine). With the dry salting method, cooked fish, preferably the same size for each layer of salting, must be rinsed with running cold water and placed in a spare container from which it will be convenient to remove it for salting. Next to this container there should be salt and the main container in which salting will be carried out. At the bottom of this main salting container we place a pre-made plywood tray on blocks and thickly sprinkle the entire area of ​​the tray with salt (the thickness of the salt layer is up to one centimeter). Rub large and medium-sized fish with salt under the scales (from tail to head), be sure to stuff salt into the gills and place them on the pallet in dense rows - head to tail, back to belly (With this folding of the fish, oppression will work better) Sprinkle the laid fish a layer of salt in such an amount that a flat surface of sprinkled salt is formed on top of the fish. Then we cover it with a sheet cut from 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 top sheet. We place a load on this canvas. A few words should be said about the use of cargo. You should not place 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 the weight of the total load, and then add the rest of the load. This way the process of salting fish goes more evenly. The weight of the load depends on the size and quantity of fish packed. The larger the fish, the heavier the load should be. For example, when salting large bream weighing 1-2 kg, the author uses a load weighing 17-20 kg. For medium-sized fish (250-500 grams), the weight of the load is 12-15 kg. The top row of laid fish is sprinkled with a thick layer of salt so that it covers all the fish, and when all the fish is laid, the container with the load is covered with a double layer of gauze or porous fabric that allows air to pass through well, and wrapped with an elastic band so that the blanket is pressed tightly to the walls of the container to prevent wasps and flies from penetrating the laid fish.

When salting at home, fish, depending on the size, can be under load from 2 to 7 days. Small fish are aged for two days. Uneviscerated medium-sized fish (250–500 g) – 3-4 days. Fish larger than average size (600-800 g) is aged for up to 5 days. Please note that in the latter case, the insides of the fish must be removed. Entrails and blood clots are removed before salting and in large fish (weighing 1 kg or more). In this case, a shallow cut is carefully made with a knife along the inside of the ridge 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 weight on top and kept 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) that a raw egg floats on the surface of the brine. Fresh fish is dipped into a salt brine so that the brine covers it completely. A wire mesh is placed on top (the mesh wire is coated with an anti-corrosion coating), and a load is placed on it. For brine salting, select small fish (300 - 500 g) and keep them in salt brine under pressure for 3 days in a cool place.

Soaking. To reduce the salt content in fish and to avoid the formation of salt crystals on its surface, soaking is used. The salted fish is washed with cold running water. The gills and belly of gutted fish are washed especially thoroughly. Small fish are soaked in fresh water for half an hour, larger fish should be soaked for several hours (for example, the fish was salted for 5 days, this means that the soaking process 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 is redistributed in the fish meat, and also, to reduce the salinity of the inner layers of the fish. If, during soaking, the fish begins to float, this indicates that the salting is becoming tender. In this case, if you look at the fish “in the light”, its back will be amber-transparent. After drying, the meat becomes slightly reddish color.

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

Storage. It is best to store prepared, well-dried (but not overdried) fish in tin cans, sealing 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, ram, for example, blue bream, sabrefish, and silver bream, can be preserved for quite a long time - up to 4 months. Dried fish can also be stored well in a cotton bag in a cool, dry place. If the fish is dry, it can be restored to its freshly dried elasticity. To do this, the fish needs to be soaked in water and wrapped in damp paper (keep the paper damp for two days, moistening it with water as it dries).

Conclusion. To get a delicious back of dried fish that is delicately salted and amber in color, you need, of course, some experience in 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 large fish that weigh more than one kilogram. The author prepared a ram of bream, each of which weighed more than 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 during dry and brine salting. If salting takes place in the yard, then you need to dig a small hole under the container so that the fish juice flows into the ground through holes drilled in the container. The salt remaining after dry salting is put into a bag and thrown into the trash container with it. If there is very little salt, then you can throw it into the toilet, but in no case should you try to drain the salt waste into the sink - the entire drainage system located under it may become clogged. If fish is dried in a specially equipped place on the balcony, then a window covered with a nylon mesh should be provided in the balcony frames of the glazed balcony. No matter what floor of a multi-storey building you live on, flies will still come to the smell of fish. And ventilation is necessary for the fish to “ripen” well. The author got out of the situation by making an insert frame covered with mesh, which he uses when the doors of the balcony frames open.

In a sheet of plywood to cover rows of fish during salting, you should not drill many holes, as the strength of the sheet itself is compromised. To prevent the metal hooks from clinging to the gauze while drying the fish, newspaper folded several times is placed on top of the hooks.

That's all. If you have an interesting recipe for drying taranka, send it, and perhaps it will end up in this article.

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

Salted fish is an ideal snack for beer. And to be sure of its quality and taste, it is better to salt it yourself. Find out how to salt ram.

What kind of fish is suitable?

Small and medium-sized fish are suitable for salting, since large ones will not be salted completely and will remain raw inside, which will affect the taste and increase the likelihood of contracting intestinal infections when eaten.

Instead of ramming, you can use any other small fish for salting, for example, rudd, white bream, ruffe, sabrefish, and minnows. Medium fat content is optimal, since at low fat content the fish will turn out very dry, and at high fat content it will have an unpleasant taste.

Should I gut the fish?

Opinions about gutting fish before salting are divided. But if the ram was caught in the summer, then in the reservoir it probably fed on freshwater microorganisms and greens, and in this case, if the insides are not removed, an unpleasant odor may arise. In addition, the pulp will acquire a characteristic aroma and bitter taste, so gutting is still advisable.

There is no need to cut off the tail and head; just make a small cut in the abdomen and remove all the excess. Next, the fish is thoroughly washed and dried. This completes the preparation, and you can proceed directly to the ambassador.

How to salt?

How to salt ram at home? The process is simple, but requires patience. In addition, there are three main methods: drying, dry method and wet. All options are discussed in detail.

Dry method

This option is simple and requires a suitable container (it can be a wooden box or an enamel basin), salt and the fish itself.

Description of the method:

1. Place a layer of salt about 7-10 millimeters thick at the bottom of a clean container.
2. Rub salt all over the fish, pushing it into the mouth and gills. You can also make several holes for better salting.
3. Place the fish on the salt, sprinkle it with a centimeter layer of salt. Laying for better compaction is done with heads to tails and backs to bellies, so that there are no free spaces left.
4. Having laid all the fish in layers and sprinkled it with salt, cover it, for example, with thick cardboard, a perforated board, or a lid with a diameter smaller than the container itself. Place a weight of about 7-10 kg.
5. Send the container to a cool place, such as a refrigerator, cellar or balcony (during the cold season).
6. How long should you salt fish using this method? The duration depends on the weight of one carcass: about 100-150 grams - two days, 500-700 g - three to four days, more than 800 grams - from five to seven days to two weeks (for large specimens).
7. During the salting process, juice will be released, which must be drained daily. You can determine readiness by the absence of liquid.
8. Now wash the salted fish and soak it in water to remove excess salt, and then in a vinegar solution (50 ml of 9% table water per 10 liters) to destroy bacteria and repel flies.
9. All that remains is to hang the carcasses in a ventilated room and dry them to the desired condition. You can also dry fish in wooden open boxes or on trays, turning them regularly.

Advice! If the weight of pressure is increased after a day or two, the fish will be salted more fully and well.

Wet method

This recipe involves salting in a concentrated saline solution. And here's what you'll need:

• fish;
• water;
• table salt (100-150 g for each liter of water).

Instructions:

1. Immerse the washed and, if desired, gutted fish in the prepared salt solution so that it completely covers the carcasses.
2. Press the fish down on top to prevent it from floating up.
3. After two to five days (depending on size), remove the carcasses, rinse thoroughly or keep in cold water for half an hour and dry.

Drying

This method is also easy. All you need is fish and salt. The process is also simple:

1. Rub the fish very thoroughly on all sides with salt. Make holes and tamp the salt into them.
2. Prepare a wire or rope and string the salted carcasses onto it.
3. Now hang the strung fish in the courtyard of a private house, on a balcony or in a constantly ventilated room. To protect against flies, you can cover the structure with gauze or make something like a tent or dome out of this material.
4. The ram will be salted for at least two days. And the longer the period, the drier the pulp will be, so adjust the timing at your discretion, taking into account your taste preferences.

Finally, some useful tips:

1. If you decide not to gut the fish, then for high-quality salting inside you should pour a strong salt solution through the mouth through a syringe. Some fishermen do this immediately after receiving their catch.
2. You can optionally add various seasonings to the salt to add flavor and piquancy to the finished salted rama.
3. It is best to use coarse salt, as fine salt will increase the salting period and can form a crust on the surface.
4. If, when using the wet method, you add a little granulated sugar to the brine, the finished fish will be more tender and even more pleasant to the taste.
5. If you plan to dry large fish, then to speed up the process, make several longitudinal cuts in it. And small carcasses will dry out anyway.
6. If the fish is very dry, it can be made softer by moistening it with a brush or sponge and then wrapping it in parchment. Next, periodically wet the paper so that the pulp absorbs moisture. You can also correct the situation with under-dried ram by wrapping it in newspaper, which will absorb excess liquid.
7. Properly salted ram is stored for up to 3-5 months, and in cold and sealed packaging for up to 9-10.

Salted ram will be a success if you choose the appropriate recipe and follow all the salting rules.

To achieve an unusual and interesting taste, experts advise adding a little sugar.

After the roach has been carefully laid and salted, it must be covered with a flat lid and pressed down with a heavy weight to prevent the formation of gas bubbles and cavities in the roach, which contribute to the rotting of the fish. The brine that is released after several hours is called brine, which is why the method itself received the name “brine.”

It is important that during salting, the fish is stored in a cold place, preferably in the refrigerator, since table salt penetrates into the fish itself slowly, and the cold helps prevent spoilage of the fish. Depending on the size of the roach, it must be salted for several days.

To check readiness, you need to take out one of the fish and try to bend it.

In prepared salted roach, the back becomes hard, the meat becomes dark gray, and the caviar becomes yellowish-red.

The finished salted fish must be removed from the container, rinsed thoroughly under cold running water, strung on twine, or bent paper clips threaded through the eye hole, then hung in a dry, ventilated room, covered with gauze so that insects do not land on the fish. It’s not difficult to guess how to dry roach correctly. It is worth noting that some fishermen advise not to place it in the sun, but in a dry room with a draft, because that is when it will be juicy and fleshy.

How to salt roach for dry drying

For large specimens of roach, the dry salting method is used. Each fish must be cut along the back, cleaned of the insides and wiped with a dry rag or paper towel. Rub the inside with salt and place the carcasses in rows in a wooden box, namely, belly-to-top.

The scales of the fish also need to be sprinkled with salt, and the box itself should be left in a hole previously dug in a cool place and covered with cling film.

After the advice on how to properly salt roach is put into practice, however, it is best to soak it in clean, preferably ice water for several hours, while not forgetting to change the water, preferably 2-3 times. The fish is considered ready for drying when it begins to float in clean water, because it is then that the salting will be gentle, and the back will become amber-transparent, which is considered to be the “standard” for salting fish.

Almost every fisherman knows how to salt roach for drying, so if an experienced fisherman who knows a lot about salting fish advises you to add something of your own to the recipe, you should listen to his instructions.

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The aromatic and tasty fish taranka (ram, ram) from the carp family has always been popular in the south of Russia and Ukraine - it was dried and served with beer. Subsequently, any dried fish, such as roach and roach, began to be called ram. Dried taranka was the most accessible and cheapest snack in Rus', so it was very popular. All residents of Kuban and the Azov region know how to make ram: first, the fish is salted and then dried, as a result of which it acquires a special spicy taste and aroma. You won't find a better snack to go with beer!

How to cook ram: selecting and processing fish

Since ram is now called any dried meat, for this dish you can take not only ram, roach or roach. Other varieties of fish are also suitable - bream, white bream, saberfish, pike, crucian carp, rudd, ruff and gudgeon. Very tasty ram is obtained from blue bream, silver bream, whitefish, womer, perch and goby. The fish should be of medium fat content and small in size, otherwise it will not be salted and will spoil. The fattest fish are bream, vomer and sabrefish have a medium fat content, ruff is very tender and has few bones, dried perch is sweetish, and pike is richly tart and piquant.

It is not necessary to process the fish in a special way to salt the ram - it is enough to rinse it well and remove the entrails if the fish is small. Some gourmets like ungutted 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 ram will be bitter. By the way, it is also better to remove the gills - they can ruin 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 salt solution into the throat of the fish - for this reason, many people prefer to salt the ram live. The fish opens its mouth and swallows the brine, which makes it possible to properly salt the internal organs.

First, the fish is salted and then dried. How to pickle taranka at home? There are different recipes for salting ram, but usually they use two methods - wet and dry. The wet method is suitable for small fish, the dry method is suitable for large fish weighing more than 1 kg.

Wet salting of fish

According to this recipe, the ram is salted in a fairly concentrated brine, and the degree of salt concentration is checked with a 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 is salted evenly, it is covered with a metal mesh on top or a grate is placed on which a weight 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 spoil. 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.

After this, the salted fish is washed well and soaked in fresh water - small fish for 30 minutes, and large fish for several hours. In this case, it is recommended to change the water several times, and after the first change of water, let the fish lie in the air, come to its senses and allow the salt to be evenly distributed in the tissues. Then you can put it in the water again, and when the fish starts to float, the soaking process can be considered complete. Don't worry about how to salt the ram without oversalting it - it is believed that it will absorb as much salt as needed. Salted and soaked fish becomes slightly transparent and acquires a light amber hue.

How to make taranka correctly: dry salting method

First, rub the fish well with salt, pour salt into the belly, into the cut 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, place the ram in dense rows with the back facing down and sprinkle generously with salt on top to create a real salt layer 1 cm thick. For 1 kg of fish, approximately 250 g of salt are required.

Make another layer, and then place a plate smaller than a pan or a wooden board on top - this is necessary to provide fresh air to the fish. Place a pressure 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 fish does not get exposed to sunlight. By the way, at first it is better to apply a little pressure, after about 6-7 hours you can increase it - this way the fish will be salted evenly. It is interesting that in Rus', in villages, fish was salted in a wooden box with holes, which was placed in a spacious container.

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

How to dry ram correctly

Make a double thread and string the fish on it at a distance of at least 7 cm from each other, passing it through the eyes so that the valuable fat and brine do not flow out through the mouth, but remain inside. Some fishermen dry the ram on hooks, and place the small fish on a wooden surface and turn it over as it dries. This kind of 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, making sure there are no insects. By the way, soaking in vinegar water is a reliable preventive measure against flies, because the smell of vinegar repels them. If flies land on your fish, it is best to discard it immediately as they may 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 ram's gills (if they have not been removed), trim the belly and secure it in the open form with toothpicks.

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

How to make ram delicious: secrets of gourmets

• For salting, use coarse salt, which has the ability to draw moisture from the fish. The less liquid there is in the fish, the faster it will dry out and be more tasty. In addition, fine salt forms a crust on the surface of the carcass and prevents the fish from becoming salty.
• Adding a small amount of sugar to the brine makes the fish very tender, piquant and tasty.
• How much weight should be pressed when salting? Typically a weight of 3-20 kg is placed, depending on the size of the fish and personal preference. If you salt fish in the summer, cover it with cloth or gauze to prevent insects from getting 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.
• During dry salting, many housewives drain the brine from a pan or bucket manually, which is not very convenient. The ideal option is to 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 out the ram, moisten it with water and wrap it in parchment for 2 days, periodically moistening the fish. Fish that is too dry can be ground to the consistency of flour and sprinkled on salads, soups and main courses.

We store the battering ram correctly

Dried taranka can be stored for up to 4 months if it is prepared according to all the rules. You can put 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, or wrapped in parchment paper, but dried fish only feels good 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 greased with olive oil and placed in glass jars. You should not keep salted fish in the air for a long time, because 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, so ideal storage conditions are 80% humidity and a temperature of 3-8 °C. In kraft paper, covered with polyethylene on one side, the batter is stored for 8-10 months.

Taranka is a completely dietary and very healthy product, containing protein, valuable fish oil, iodine, chromium and many other useful substances. Dried fish protein ensures proper metabolism, and omega-3 fatty acids protect against cancer, stroke and heart attack. Taranka makes incredibly tasty soups and snacks. If you consider that the calorie content of taranka is only 88 calories, you can afford to eat it every day without fear for your figure!

Self-prepared dried roach is a healthy and very tasty snack for foamy drinks and boiled potatoes. This fish can be consumed without fear for your own health and figure: the calorie content of 100 g of roach is only 88 kcal, and its meat is rich in vitamins and minerals valuable for the body. It is rarely used for preparing fish soup and main courses and is never smoked. The size of the roach is ideal for drying. Anyone can prepare such a snack at home; it is only important to strictly follow the rules for salting and drying roach.

Preparing the fish

You can catch this fish in almost any body of water in Russia. It is best to dry roach in the spring, when the fish is most tasty, fatty and does not yet have the smell of mud. It is during this period that many individuals with eggs are caught.

If it is not possible to catch fish on your own, when purchasing, you need to pay attention to the appearance of the roaches. Fresh specimens have shiny scales without mucus and mud, transparent eyes, and red moist gills. High-quality roach smells like river water and freshness.

Before salting the roach, it is sorted by size. Small carcasses (up to 0.5 kg) are dried whole: unpeeled fish has a more pronounced taste. Larger specimens must be gutted so that they do not spoil during the cooking process. You can leave milt or caviar in the roach's abdomen.

Prepared carcasses are washed in cold water and left without wiping to dry naturally.

Salting methods

To prepare dried roach at home you will need:

• 2 kg of fresh fish;
• 300 g coarse salt.

Step by step recipe:

1. Carcasses are rubbed with salt from the outside, especially carefully near the gills; when gutted, they are also rubbed from the inside.
2. The remaining salt is poured onto the bottom of a large plastic or enamel bowl.
3. The roach is placed tightly on the salt. If there are too many carcasses, sprinkle salt on each layer.
4. A press is placed on top: a board, a lid with a stone or dumbbells so that the fish is constantly in the brine.
5. To dry the roach, you need to salt it in the refrigerator for 2–4 days. The period depends on the size of the individuals. The readiness of roach is determined by its shade and density: they become dark and difficult to bend.

To salt roach using the wet method, prepare a strong salt solution called brine. To determine whether there is enough salt, a raw chicken egg is dipped into the solution: if it floats, you can salt the fish. The cleaned and gutted roach is lowered into the brine, a wire mesh is placed on top and pressure is applied. In this way, the fish is salted in a cool place for 3 days.

It is better to salt especially large roach using the dry method. To do this, the fish is gutted, washed, several transverse cuts are made at the ridge, then rubbed with salt, and the belly is stuffed with salt crystals. The carcasses are placed in an enamel basin with their backs down and covered with salt. The container is covered with several layers of gauze. How much to salt a large roach? Large carcasses are completely salted in the refrigerator in 4 days.

The container with roach is periodically removed from the refrigerator to drain the resulting liquid.

Advice: in this way you can also pickle other subspecies of roach: roach or ram.

Soaking

Salted fish must be soaked in cold water before drying. The average time for this procedure is 2 hours. You need to focus on the period of salting the fish: if a large fish has been salted for 4 days, it needs to be soaked for 4 hours.

It is believed that a roach, filled with plain water for soaking, is ready when it begins to float. However, if you don’t like fish that are too salty, you don’t have to wait for this effect. The soaked fish is laid out on sheets of paper or towels and dried. You can hang the roach over the sink for a couple of hours.

Drying process

The prepared roach is hung upside down on a strong cord. If the fish is cooked with its entrails, it is hung by the tail so that liquid or stomach contents do not leak out onto the meat. There should be enough space between individuals for ventilation.

If drying occurs in the summer, flies can damage the fish. To prevent this from happening, the carcasses are first dipped in a solution of 3% vinegar. For the same purpose, the roach is lubricated with vegetable oil. You can cover the hanging carcasses with gauze, and apply a vinegar solution on top using a spray bottle. You should also dry the fish at night so that by noon it will dry out and become unattractive to flies.

It is convenient to hook the ram behind the eyes with straightened paper clips

In hot weather, it is not recommended to hang roaches in the sun. To make it soft and juicy, it is placed on a drying rack, which is placed indoors in a draft. It is convenient to use special wooden boxes on which a special mesh is stretched. You can prepare such a device yourself by using a piece of gauze instead of a mesh. In winter, fish can be hung in the kitchen or in the hallway.

The ideal temperature for drying roach is 18–20 degrees. Depending on the size of the carcasses, the fish needs to be dried for 7 to 28 days. After this, the roach is placed in fabric bags and left to mature for another 3 weeks.

Fish storage conditions

Dried roach should not be kept in rooms with high humidity, as it can quickly deteriorate. It is best to store the product in gauze or fabric bags in a suspended state. First you need to make sure that the roach has been completely dried, otherwise it will soon go rotten.

At low humidity and temperatures close to zero, dried roach can be stored for about a year. The condition of the product should be checked periodically. If you get rid of fish that have started to spoil in time, you can save the entire batch.

The recipe for dried roach can be changed by adding new ingredients. The taste of the fish will be more delicate if you add 30 g of sugar to the salt. Fans of spicy dishes can not only salt the roach, but also season it with black or red pepper. The same spice can be sprinkled on cooked fish. To ensure that the roach acquires a pleasant sourness and becomes softer, the carcasses are sprinkled with fresh lemon juice before drying.