Buying quality mackerel is easy, and many people know how to choose fresh fish. Those who have not had to deal with this before can be given several recommendations. To get a good product, you need to pay attention to the smell. It should not be bright and have an unpleasant smell. It is also important to look at the look. Fresh mackerel has a smooth surface without greenish spots. It is elastic, resilient and not loose.   Also, fish eyes can tell about quality. If they are cloudy, glass and sunken, then the goods have lain for a long time.

Having acquired mackerel, it will be necessary to prepare it for hot or cold smoking. It is quite simple, and the process will not take much time. Rinse the carcass thoroughly. Then you can leave it in its entirety or cut off your head and gut the insides. Now she will be completely ready for smoking.

How to Smoke Mackerel with Liquid Smoke

Liquid smoke is a flavoring that gives the product a smoky flavor and color. With it, you can cook a fish in the apartment. The standard recipe is quite simple, so even beginner cooks can cope with it without difficulty.

Ingredients:

• fish - 5 pcs.;
• salt - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• liquid smoke - 80 ml;
• sugar - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
• water - liter.

Smoked mackerel at home with liquid smoke is done as follows. First you need to prepare the brine. Pour water into a deep pan and boil, then add sugar, salt to it and turn off the burner. Now you need to pour liquid smoke and mix everything well.

After the brine has cooled, you need to lower the mackerel into it. In liquid smoke, it should remain for about 3 days. Put a press on top, and then place the container in the refrigerator.

Smoked Mackerel in Liquid Smoke

After three days, the fish smoked with liquid smoke will only be washed, and it will be possible to serve. If everything is done correctly, the taste will be excellent and will pleasantly surprise both guests and loved ones.

Mackerel Recipe in Onion Peel and Tea

People who want to cook fish with only natural ingredients can use onion husks. It, along with brewed strong tea, will give the necessary shade and taste. In order for the recipe with onion husks to work out as it should, you must clearly follow the instructions.

Ingredients:

• mackerel - 2 pieces;
• water - liter;
• onion peel - about two handfuls;
• salt - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• black tea - 2 tsp;
• laurel leaf - 3 pieces;
• allspice - 5-10 peas;
• crushed coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon;
• sugar - 1 tbsp. a spoon.

Pour water into a saucepan and mix it with onion peel. The recipe requires that the liquid is brought to a boil, and then cooked for 15 minutes. Now the broth should be turned off, allow the onion peel to cool and strain. In clean water you need to put tea, boil and turn off. It must be insisted 15-20 minutes, after which it is also filtered.

Smoking mackerel in onion husks and tea

A decoction with onion peel and tea liquid should be mixed by adding spices, salt, sugar and laurel leaves. Mix everything thoroughly, and pour the resulting brine into the fish. You will need to place a press on top, and then send the mackerel in onion husks and tea for three days in the refrigerator. It is recommended that you turn the fish from side to side once a day so that it stains equally from all sides. A decoction with onion peel and tea will give it the necessary color and taste.

Smoked Mackerel

Hot smoking of mackerel at home can be done with ordinary black tea. The recipe must be carried out strictly according to the instructions in order to achieve the necessary taste.

Ingredients:

• mackerel - 2 pcs.;
• water - 1 l;
• sugar - 2-3 tbsp. spoons;
• salt - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
• black pepper - 10 peas;
• coriander seeds - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
• black tea - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• rice - 150 g.

First you need to boil the water, adding sugar, salt, pepper, coriander and 1 tablespoon of tea to it. After 20 minutes, the brine must be turned off and allowed to cool. They will need to fill the fish and let it brew for about a day. After that, you will need to hang it by its tails so that the remaining brine drains.

About a day before cooking, you need to take rice, fill it with water and let the liquid soak. Already swollen grains should be mixed with black tea (take 1 tablespoon). The resulting mixture should be wrapped in foil, leaving a small hole for smoke. After this, foil with tea should be laid out at the bottom of a metal container, for example, a pot. Next, you need to light a fire and wait until the mixture starts to smoke, as this is necessary for the hot method.

The ingredients are mixed with black tea.

Now you need to place the grill inside, on which to put the mackerel. Cover the top so that no holes remain. Fire should be reduced to medium. The fish should first be smoked for half an hour on one side, and then turned on the other and cook for another 30 minutes. After that, the recipe with tea and rice will be completed. If necessary, time can be slightly increased, but keeping fish in a homemade smoke-cured smokehouse for too long is not recommended.

Mackerel with liquid smoke and onion husks

In order not to cook mackerel in a smoke-cured smokehouse, you can marinate the fish in onion husks and in liquid smoke. The meat will be tender, aromatic and tasteful. This recipe can be used even for the holiday has become, as the dish turns out really successful.

Ingredients for Smoked Mackerel in Liquid Smoke and Onion Whore

Ingredients:

• mackerel - 2 pieces;
• sugar - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
• onion husk - 3 full cups;
• water - 1 liter;
• salt - 3-4 tbsp. spoons;
• liquid smoke - 3 tbsp. spoons.

To properly marinate fish in onion husks, you will need to do the following. You need to pour water into the pan and put on the stove. So that there is no dirt in the husk, you will need to rinse the ingredient, and then put it to boil. Boil for about 20 minutes.

The broth should be filtered, then add salt, sugar and pour liquid smoke into it. Everything needs to be mixed and allowed to brew. Further, the recipe requires the fish to be placed in brine. It is advisable to remove the head, tail and entrails from the mackerel.

Pickle in husk for two days at room temperature. For convenience, you can keep the fish in the bank. It is even permissible to use a plastic two-liter bottle without a neck.

If you want to achieve the most unusual taste, you can add spices as you wish. They will give the dish a pleasant aroma. If all of the listed ingredients have been used, you will be able to get a real delicacy. The main thing is not to rush in this matter and not to shorten the pickling period, since it is in two days that the product will be smoked enough.

You can serve by slicing and decorating with greens along with onion rings. The fish will be a great snack, which will not be inferior to the store version.

Let's learn how to cook such a treat at home without liquid smoke, without much effort, in a short time and much cheaper. After you try this smoked mackerel, this recipe will be on your favorite list.

To cook smoked mackerel you will need:

• Of course, the soloist of the table, the mackerel, two large or three medium-sized fish;
• Four tablespoons of salt;
• Three tablespoons of sugar and tea leaves;
• Spices: bay leaf, black pepper, peas, (allspice);
• A handful of husks of onions (two handfuls can be, it will not be worse);

Cooking a marinade will not take much time and effort

To get started, prepare the fish. Most likely, you will buy frozen mackerel, because it can often be found in fresh frozen form than in fresh. Therefore, the fish should be thawed, it is best to put the fish in cold water and leave it for some time, and if you want to speed up the process, change the water with a small frequency. Next, clean the fish from the insides and cut off the head, thoroughly rinse the peeled carcasses of the fish. And now it's time to start the marinade.

Boil a liter of water, then in the water you need to pour three tablespoons of brewing black tea, pour onion husks and spices. Let the marinade boil for a couple of minutes and then turn it off. Allow to cool slightly and add four tablespoons of salt and three tablespoons of sugar. Stir vigorously and allow to cool to room temperature. The marinade is ready.

The recipe for smoked mackerel at home without liquid smoke

Take the peeled fish and put it in the marinade. Place the container with fish and marinade in the refrigerator for two days. At the end of the pickling period, take out a ready-made, golden-colored fish, rinse it with tea leaves and marinade, and hang it over the washbasin in order to allow excess moisture to drain. To give a more aesthetic appearance, wipe the fish with a rag with vegetable oil.

After that, for storage, put and wrap the fish in a paper bag and send in the refrigerator. But it is unlikely that such a delicious fish will lie there for a long time or even get stored in a refrigerator.

Boiled potatoes with slices or mashed potatoes, stewed potatoes with mushrooms, vegetable stew, and just a slice of fresh white bread will be very tasty for a side dish to such a home-made fish.

The cost of smoked mackerel is two to three times higher than freshly frozen. You can save by buying fresh fish and pickling it at home using liquid smoke. Mackerel with liquid smoke will be ready in just two days, and you will be sure of observing the technology of its preparation, as you did everything yourself.

Marinade preparation

To pickle 1 kg of fresh mackerel, you will need the following ingredients:

• 120 g of salt;
• 70 g of sugar;
• 1 liter of filtered water;
• 75 ml of liquid smoke;
• Black tea 4 teaspoons.

A saucepan with water is placed on the stove, brought to a boil and, not removing from the heat, salt and sugar are added. Tea is poured into boiling water, mixed, the saucepan is removed from the stove and set aside to cool. Liquid smoke is added to the brine, which has cooled to room temperature, everything is well mixed and filtered through a sieve to separate the tea leaf from the marinade.

It is possible to prepare a smoking brine for smoking in liquid smoke according to a similar recipe, only by replacing black tea with onion husks. The more husks you can collect, the richer the color of the finished mackerel will be. The husk is washed well, placed in a pot of water and boiled for 5 minutes. After that, the onion broth is set aside and infused for about 2 hours - during this time the water becomes brown. The husk is filtered off through a sieve, and salt and sugar are dissolved in the resulting liquid and liquid smoke is added - the marinade is ready for smoking fish.

How to prepare fish

Freshly frozen mackerel is used for smoking in liquid smoke. You need to choose whole even carcasses, without mechanical damage, with clean smooth skin. The fish is thawed and cut: the head is separated, the entrails are taken out. The defrosting process should not be delayed; fish should be cut immediately as soon as it becomes soft. Gutted carcasses are well washed first in warm water, then in cold running water.

Mackerel with liquid smoke can be smoked in an unbroken form. In this case, it needs to be washed more thoroughly, especially under the gill guards.

Smoking process

Prepared carcasses are placed in enameled or glassware, poured with brine and covered with a lid. The smoking process will take at least two days, and all this time the dishes with fish are in the refrigerator. Every 12 hours (morning and evening), the mackerel is turned over to evenly process liquid smoke. After two days, the fish is removed from the brine and washed. Its skin, after smoking, acquires a beautiful uniform bronze tint.

If smoked mackerel with liquid smoke was cooked whole, you need to gut it, and only then rinse well. At this stage, the preparation of the fish is not finished, the next step is drying.

How to dry fish

A loop of thin strong twine is tied to the tail of each fish, and suspended for drying. It is best to hang mackerel outdoors under a canopy or in the shade of trees. If this is not possible, it can be hung on the balcony or in a room in a draft, placing a container for draining the marinade under the bottom. In the summer, a thin cloth or gauze is thrown onto the dried fish, protecting it from insects. Smoked mackerel will be in limbo for 2 days, after which it can be removed.

The finished fish is rubbed with vegetable oil, it will make the mackerel skin soft and give it a mouth-watering look.

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What could be tastier than smoked fish? Despite the fact that most do not have their own smokehouse, it is not so difficult to get an excellent smoked delicacy at home. It is enough to replace the regular smokehouse with a special product called “liquid smoke”. Smoked mackerel with liquid smoke is also very popular in view of its economy, which cannot but affect the budget.

However, you still should not be deceived - treatment with "liquid smoke" is not real smoking, but only its imitation. But with the proper approach, the result of such "smoking" is very good.

Not the last place, of course, is the choice of fish. When choosing mackerel on the shelves of stores, you should, first of all, pay attention to the smell - it should show itself, but not be too strong. The fish smell is peculiar in itself, but it is noticeably different in fresh fish and in the one that started or is about to begin to deteriorate. To the touch, the fish should also be resilient and elastic, have a uniform color and smooth surface.

How to use "liquid smoke"?

“Liquid smoke” is a special flavor that mimics the present. It represents the products of decay of certain tree species dissolved in water or oil - those that are usually used for smoking. The industrial technology for making “liquid smoke” is rather complicated, but it can be easily prepared on its own. There is more confidence in the home process - many are convinced that the store flavor is “solid chemistry”.

Whether it is so or not, and how to make “liquid smoke” at home is the topic of another article. It is known, however, that its use in cooking has become so widespread that in recent years practically no smoking has been complete without it at home. Often “liquid smoke” is added even to.

Here are some recipes in your piggy bank.

Recipe number 1 Mackerel smoked in liquid smoke

To cook mackerel smoked in "liquid smoke", you will need the following:

• 4 small mackerels;
• 1.5 tablespoons of sugar;
• 2 tablespoons of tea leaves (black tea);
• 3 handfuls of onion husks;
• 1.3 liters of water;
• 3 tablespoons of salt;
• 3 tablespoons of liquid smoke.

Cooking method:

Thoroughly rinse the onion peel under water, add water to it and put on the stove, wait until the water boils, and then simmer for half an hour.

Strain the brine through a sieve, discard the remains of the husk, and add sugar, salt and liquid smoke to the liquid, then mix thoroughly and leave to infuse.

Remove the head, tail and entrails from the fish, rinse and put into the solution. Leave the fish in the onion marinade for 2-2.5 days. After a couple of days, remove the fish from the marinade, dry and serve, garnishing with onion rings and a slice of lemon. Smoked mackerel at home with liquid smoke and tea is ready! Bon Appetit!

Recipe number 2 Mackerel smoked in onion husk

If desired, onion peel can be used, so do not rush to throw it away ahead of time. This recipe will focus on how to smoke mackerel at home if there is no smokehouse. In fact, this is not a big deal.

In order to bring this dish to life, you will need the following ingredients:

• mackerel - 3 carcasses;
• 100 grams of sugar;
• 1.5 liters of cold water;
• one cup of dry brewing black tea;
• 4 handfuls of onion husks;
• 1 pinch of coriander;
• black pepper - a few peas;
• 3 bay leaves.

Cooking method:

You need to start the cooking process with the preparation of mackerel. At the carcasses, separate the head and tail, make longitudinal cuts on the abdomen and remove all the insides. You also need to pay special attention to the thin, dark film that covers the abdomen on the inside. After all unnecessary has been removed, rinse the mackerel well under cold water.

Now it's up to the pickle, or, so to speak, the marinade. Pour cold water into a pan and put on a strong fire, let the water boil. While the water is boiling, rinse the onion husk under running water, and then throw it into boiling water, reduce the heat (but so that the water continues to boil). It takes about 8-10 minutes to cook onion peel, since during this time it will have time to give its color and flavor. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and strain the onion peel through a colander or sieve.

Diluted black tea prepared in advance with another glass of boiling water and add salt, sugar, pepper, bay leaf to the resulting solution and mix thoroughly. Put this mixture on the stove and let it boil. After the solution boils on the stove for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let the solution cool. This will be the so-called “marinade”.

Mix the cooled tea marinade with onion broth, then pour into a wider container and put the mackerel there. Choose the dishes so that the tea solution completely covers the mackerel. Spread the mackerel on the bottom, and on top of it you will need to press down with a heavy plate and put in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

About one to two times a day, the mackerel will need to be turned over. After 3 days, remove the mackerel from the brine, dip in a paper towel and hang it to air for 3-4 hours. After three hours, the fish can be cut into pieces and served.

Recipe number 3 Mackerel smoked with tea and rice

Below is a recipe that will easily replace traditional multi-day smoking, and the result, at the same time, will be beyond praise.

So, for the preparation of mackerel, you will need the following components:

• medium sized mackerel - 2 pieces;
• 1 liter of boiled water;
• 3 tbsp Sahara;
• 1.5 tbsp coarse salt;
• black pepper - 12-15 peas;
• coriander - 1 tablespoon;
• black leaf tea - 2 tablespoons;
• round grain rice - 200 grams.

Cooking method:

Put the cooled boiled water on the fire again and wait until it boils. Add spices to boiling water: coriander, salt, peas and half the prepared sugar, reduce heat and boil for 25 minutes. After the specified time, remove the water from the heat and let it cool.

While the brine cools, clean the fish from the insides, cut off the tail and head and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Pour 2 carcasses of fish with cooled brine and put it in the refrigerator to insist. Fish should be in brine for at least 24 hours. After that, pull the fish out of the brine, allow the liquid to drain.

At this time, rinse the rice also under cold water, pour two glasses of water and wait until the rice absorbs the right amount of moisture. Mix the swollen rice grains with two tablespoons of black tea and lay the resulting mixture in foil. On one side of the foil wrapper, make a small hole, which will be needed to exit the smoke. Then take a metal pan or other metal container with a thick bottom, put a foil with rice - tea mixture on the bottom and put the pan on fire. Wait until the resulting mixture begins to smoke, and then put a low lattice, and on top of the grill - mackerel, reduce the fire at this time to a minimum. Smoke mackerel in total, for an hour, alternately turning it on the opposite side. If the carcasses of the fish are large, the smoking time can be slightly increased, but the main thing here is not to overdo it, otherwise the fish will turn out to be overdried and too “odorous”.

Serve the mackerel chopped! Bon Appetit!

Mackerel is incredibly tasty and healthy fish. Great for diet and baby food. Smoked mackerel can rightly be considered a table decoration. To be sure not only of beauty, but also of taste, it is better to cook smoked mackerel yourself and be sure of its benefits to the body.

Mackerel is rich in vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Fish oil is a source of health and beauty. Eating mackerel helps strengthen immunity. B vitamins have a beneficial effect on metabolism and contribute to the rejuvenation of the body.
  There are several cooking methods. Below we will talk about smoking mackerel with liquid smoke. This method saves time and is suitable for people who do not have a smokehouse.

First of all, you need to get a quality raw product. As with the choice of another fish, you should pay attention to the appearance and smell.

Fresh fish should not have extraneous, rancid odors.

The skin is smooth, shiny, slightly moist, without damage, with a rainbow tint.

Gills - without mucus. From pink to bright red.

Abdomen - flat, without spots.

Eyes are transparent. Not muddy, not yellow.

Freshly frozen mackerel should not differ in appearance and smell from fresh.

Briquettes should have a minimum of ice.

Preference should be given to even specimens of medium size.

Training

Preparing fish is not difficult. Freshly frozen mackerel must be thawed (preferably in a natural way). Wash, remove entrails and gills. Dry with a paper towel.