Sea fish goby, so named for its large, characteristic shape of the head, is valued not only for its nutritional value and a large amount of vitamins and minerals useful for the human body. A properly salted and dried goby is an amazing-tasting treat that can be prepared at home.
The technology of salting gobies is not particularly difficult and does not require significant financial investments. There are two most popular ways of salting and drying this fish.
Dry salting
As a rule, freshly caught fish is used for salting. The gobies that have lain after being caught for some time have an unpleasant smell coming from the head, and the meat begins to separate from the bones during salting.
The fish must be sorted by size, large specimens are carefully gutted, the entire catch is washed well with running water. Prepared fish is tightly placed in food containers or a wide enamel pan. For greater compactness, it is recommended to lay the gobies with the head of one fish to the tail of another.
Each layer of fish is sprinkled with salt, gradually increasing its amount to the upper rows, the container is covered with a lid, pressed down with a load on top and removed to a cool place. Do not be afraid that the fish will be salted. The peculiarity of gobies lies precisely in the fact that their meat takes exactly as much salt as it needs. Salt this fish is possible in the only case - if it has been under oppression for too long.
As a rule, gobies need no more than a day for salting. After this time, the fish is washed, soaked in cold boiled water for another day - this measure will help remove excess salt and give the meat a delicate taste. In order for the gobies to be stored for a long time, it is recommended to dry them in the open air for 12-15 hours. Fish are dried in the shade, without access to direct sunlight, in a place well blown by the winds.
For those who are accustomed to strictly calculating the doses of culinary products, you can use the same recipe for salting bulls, but taking into account the amount of salt: the classic recipe for cooking recommends taking 10% of salt from the total weight of the fish.
Salting gobies in brine
The washed, gutted and sorted by size fish is placed in a prepared container and a saturated salt solution is prepared. The degree of salt concentration is checked using a raw egg - if it does not sink in a container of salt water, then the solution is suitable for use. For the preparation of brine, coarse salt is most suitable, because fine salt can form a crust on the surface of the scales and interfere with the penetration of the brine to the meat. To give the fish a more delicate taste, you can add granulated sugar to the solution: one tablespoon per kilogram of salt.
Large gobies are salted for two days, smaller fish - for a day. After that, the brine is drained, the bulls are washed in running water with the addition of a small amount of vinegar. The fish washed from excess salt is strung on a wire and hung out in a shady, well-ventilated place for drying. To speed up the drying process, you can insert small spacers into the abdomen of each fish, and open the gill covers and slightly break.
