Several species of fish belonging to the herring family are called sprat. It is a small fish with silvery scales, not exceeding 15 cm in length. Its meat contains a large amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have a positive effect on the work of the heart and prevent the development of atherosclerosis. In addition, sprat is rich in vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus.
Sprat canned food is most often used as an independent snack, however, cutlets, salad, oil mixture, homemade mayonnaise can be made from them or fresh fish. You can try to make canned food with tomato sauce with your own hands. Sprat makes a very tasty and rich borscht in a slow cooker.
Borscht with sprat in a slow cooker
For borscht you will need:
- 1 can of sprat in tomato;
- 4 potatoes;
- 1 onion;
- 1 carrot;
- 300 white cabbage;
- 1 small beet;
- 1, 5 cups of mashed tomatoes;
- 1 spoon of tomato paste;
- 2 teaspoons of sugar;
- 2.5 liters of hot water;
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- salt, pepper, spices, dill to taste.
Chop the onion, put it in a multicooker bowl and pour over the vegetable oil. Select the "frying" mode and turn it on for 7-8 minutes. Then add the carrots and beets cut into strips and cook on the same setting for another 10 minutes.
Cut the potatoes into small cubes and put them in the vegetables, cover with hot water, salt and select the "stew" mode for an hour. After 45-50 minutes, add the chopped cabbage.
Combine tomato paste with tomato puree and dilute with a little water. Then pour it into a saucepan, season with spices, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Add the resulting dressing to the borscht at the same time as the cabbage. Mix everything well and put the sprat into the soup.
It remains to sprinkle the borsch with pepper and dill. Leave the finished dish in a multicooker under a closed lid for another quarter of an hour.
Spiced sprat
It's easy to make a delicious, salted sprat. For this you will need:
- 1 kg of fresh sprat;
- a quarter teaspoon of coriander seeds;
- 3 spoons with a small slide of salt;
- a teaspoon of black peppercorns;
- 5 pieces of black allspice peas;
- 3 bay leaves;
- a pinch of ground ginger;
- 4 carnation buds.
Remove the heads from the sprat, gut and rinse well with running water. Prepare the pickling mixture. To do this, grind the spices in a mortar, not very finely and mix with salt. Salt should not be iodized. Sprinkle the spices over the fish and stir. Then place it in a wide bowl, cover with a plate and place a small weight on top. Place in a cool place for 12 hours - the sprat is ready.
Keel oil
A very unusual tasty butter for sandwiches can be made from spicy salted sprat, it is also well suited for sandwich cakes.
To prepare such oil, you will need:
- 100 g of peeled sprat sprat;
- 80 g of butter softened at room temperature;
- dill and parsley;
- 1 small onion;
- salt to taste.
Chop the onion and herbs, add oil and sprat. Beat everything until smooth with a blender, salt if necessary.
