A balik made from freshly caught asp is an ideal snack for a frothy beer in the evening of a hot summer day. Moreover, for its preparation, super-complex ingredients are not needed, but only the fish itself, salt and vegetable oil. Plus a little effort, which will then pay off with the delicious taste of this exquisite delicacy.
Stage one: preparing raw fish for smoking
Asp is not the most oily type of fish, besides it is rather bony, so not all housewives like to fry or stew it. But for making balyk, asp is just a great type of fish, especially if it's fresh. For this, caught specimens of any size are suitable, but still optimal with a weight of 500-700 grams.
First, the fish must be thoroughly rinsed, but not cleaned or gutted in the usual way. Then the carcass of the asp must be cut not along the abdomen, but along the ridge. The reason for this method of cutting the fish carcass is optimal salting and further storage. You just need to make a deep cut right through the dorsal fin, and then separate the head from the fish. If you can't cut it off with a knife, you can also use special kitchen scissors.
After that, the fish must be "turned" on a flat surface or board, all the insides and necessarily gills must be removed from it, which in the future can give the product a not very pleasant and completely unnecessary bitterness.
Second stage: further actions with gutted fish
In the future, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the "semi-fillet" of fish in order to get rid of any, even the smallest blood, which can spoil the product and give it a very unpleasant taste. For a more thorough cleaning, you can use a small brush.
Then the carcass must be strewn with simple coarse salt, in which the asp should lie for about 30 minutes, after which the salt must be rubbed thoroughly. After that, the asp is placed in a previously prepared container with the scales down, where it must also be sprinkled with a large amount of salt. Then a small platform is placed on the fish and oppression - for a fish weighing 700 grams, 3-4 kilograms are suitable so that the asp is tightly pressed, but not flattened.
Then you need to put the future balyk in the refrigerator and salt it from one day to three days, during which the fish is soaked in salt. After such a procedure, the asp will become just oak in the hands. This is corrected by soaking in clean water for 15-20 minutes, when the water is changed at least four times. After soaking, the fish should be suspended to drain off the liquid in a well-ventilated place with the expansion of the abdomen with a toothpick.
After airing, after 30-40 minutes, the fish should be greased with oil and wrapped tightly in paper to make it look more “pretty”. And in a day, the balyk asp is ready for use!
