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Pickled Fish?

 
Steward of piddlers
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I consider myself to be an adventurous eater, with a few rare times where I may not be able to bring myself to try something. While I have not tried pickled fish, nor have I tried to CREATE pickled fish, I am considering trying to add this preserved food item to my pantry. I enjoy pickled everything else, why not fish?

For those of you who may eat pickled fish, what are your favorite ways to consume it? For those of you who may make pickled fish, how do I not accidently give myself food poisoning!?

I recall memories of the older generation of my family mentioning pickling pike they caught in the local lakes because of all the bones they had made them not easy to fry. Its all a little bit fuzzy. My household has been getting more and more interested in fishing so I'm thinking about how I could obtain yields through this hobby. Pickling might be one way to preserve said yield!
 
pollinator
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Maybe start with ceviche - not pickled in the traditional sense but "cooked" using lemon or lime juice.  The method turns the fish white, as if it were cooked, but not for long term storage.  More salad type ingredients added before serving.  A great summer treat.
Just had an internet forage - no long term storage safe method known.
Some cultures lightly cook the fish first then add a pickle mix.  Further additions awaited with interest - it's always good to have an alternative to the boiled (ugh) steamed (better) fried (best) methods.
 
master pollinator
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Pickled herring is part of my family history, and while I cringed at it as a child (too intense) I love it now.

Of course my wife won't kiss me for 24 hours afterwards, but that's the price of tradition.
 
Rusticator
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I like pickled herring, when I'm in the mood for it. But, that's the only pickled fish I know I've had, other than the ceviche, which isn't really the same - but, I indulge in it whenever I can. .
 
pollinator
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I made gravlax once. It came out way too salty. I'm afraid to try again with less salt. I guess the answer is less time, but that, too, is a little scary. (Probably shouldn't be, I eat sushi. But this has to last longer, so I dunno.)
I just read that gravlax used to be fermented, but no longer is, so I suppose the lox I'm accustomed to is not the actual pickled variety.
I don't fish, so it was just an experiment with store-bought fish.
 
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakfisk

And don't forget fish sauce as an adjacent option.
 
pollinator
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My ancestry is Danish and my grandma and mum made pickled fish and rollmops. The fish was placed in a huge glass bowl on a bed of salt and covered with salt from 1 up to 3 months, you can layer up to the top of the container as long as salt covers everything.

When you are close to ready to eat. Take a fish out, wash thoroughly and place in a pickling mixture of vinegar, salt and a little sugar with 2 bay leaves, peppercorns, dill or onion, whichever you are used to in pickling. As a child I found it very vinegary but as an adult I love it.

Right across Russia, Baltic countries and Scandinavia this is traditionally served at our Christmas Eve 12-dish supper and at Easter.

Grandpa also used to smoke herring but I am unsure how long this process took, just that I liked it. I would guess there are a lot of tips on smoking fish on the internet though.
 
pollinator
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I am an adventurous eater.
Pickled funky fish is common and found in many cuisines.

-Nordic style pickled herring (no sugar!) is great on rye toast with a little onion
-Gravlax (not exactly pickled) can be made at home - EASY
-Greek marinato fish (have not tried) made with lemon/vinegar
-Ceviche - EASY
-Multiple fermented and pickled fish preparations from Japan and China
-Many, many, many more

I sometimes buy herring and make gravlax, ceviche regularly. These are "safe" as they are refrigerated. Most foods purchased and even factory made can be replicated at home. If I had access to more fish, I would certainly try.

My mom once had a friend that made salted dried fish (hung outdoors on a string on our balcony). Quite stinky!

 
steward & manure connoisseur
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Annette Jones wrote: rollmops.


here rollmops are a thing where there are communities of German immigrants, little filets wrapped around an onion or a small pickle. they are either pickled in a vinegar brine or submerged in oil. They have been adapted to use local sardines (good sized fish) rather than herring.
They're one of these things people eat to show off their fortitude (I assume), like natto or hot peppers, there are actually rollmops eating contests where I live (current record: 39 in 5 minutes in the men's category). I do like pickled herring (with some horseradish and pumpernickel bread....) but I would probably go for one of my dog's biscuits before I'd eat a rollmop!
 
Christopher Weeks
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If you don't have a copy (you should), you can probably get it from the library, but Sandor Katz' excelent The Art of Fermentation discusses pickled/fermented fish on pp. 354-361.
 
gardener
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To be entertained go to you tube and search for surstromming, a tasty Scandinavian treat....................
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJZYieU6Cgw
There are some good ones. I have been told they don't allow surstromming to be shipped via air, might be an old wives tale, but they mentioned that in this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-qflm0APTk
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