Salted fish is fish that has been pickled in salt and then dried. In the past, because there was no low-temperature preservation technology, fish was prone to rot. Therefore, fishermen along the coasts of the world use this method to preserve fish.
In ancient China, salted fish was called "abalone", and there was an idiom "abalone shop" (this is not abalone, which is now a valuable seafood). Among Guangdong salted fish, the famous mackerel is a kind of plum-flavored salted fish with a strong and special smell. The Cantonese specialty dish salted fish and chicken fried rice is made from this.
There are many kinds of salted fish, some are pickled with large fish, and some are pickled with small fish. In the past, salted fish in China was a food eaten by poor people (a line from Lin Zixiang's song "I Need You Every Minute" - "Salted fish and cabbage is also delicious" is a vivid reflection of poor life). However, the price of some rare salted fish is not cheap now.
Salted fish, as a pickled food, is the main cause of nasopharyngeal cancer.
In Cantonese (Cantonese) it also means dead person
In Guangxi (vernacular) it is also said that salted fish means worn shoes.
Suitable people
The general population can eat it, but patients with high blood pressure and people who work under high temperature conditions should not eat it.
Remarks
It is not a big problem if you consume it in small amounts. If you consume it for a long time, you may easily develop nasopharyngeal cancer.
Tips for pickled fish
Soak the fish pieces, fish segments or fish fillets in milk, sprinkle with a little dry flour, or pan-fry or deep-fry them, it tastes great;
Apply the fish maw with refined salt to remove the fishy smell, wash and dry it, add a small amount of cooking wine, then add 3 to 5 slices of ginger and green onions, toss it up and down a few times to make the fish evenly seasoned, and then Cover the bowl and marinate for half an hour. The fish will taste more delicious after it is cooked.
Types of salted fish
There are two types of processed salted fish: "meixiang" and "solid meat". When making plum-flavored salted fish, the fresh fish must be fermented for one or two days. After its nutrients have changed, it is then salted for seven or eight days. After drying, it produces a unique aroma. The meat is soft and salty with fragrance; while the solid meat Salted fish does not need to be fermented. It is directly salted and dried with fresh fish. Its meat is firm, flakey, salty and fresh.
The fresh fish used for drying mainly include red fish, Spanish mackerel, sea chicken, yellow flower tube, white catfish, red striped fish, hairtail, whitebait, etc.
Salted fish made from different kinds of fresh fish have different flavors and textures, and the "meixiang" and "solid meat" made from the same kind of fresh fish also have different flavors and textures. . When purchasing, it depends on everyone's preferences. When choosing "Meixiang" or "Solid Meat", you should also choose the type of fresh fish used to make salted fish, such as mackerel, sea chicken, etc.
How to identify spoiled salted fish
If there is a brown film on the surface, cross-section and body of the fish, it is commonly known as "oil burn" or "yellow rust", which is caused by the oxidation of fish fat. result. Therefore, the fish meat is loose, producing an odor, and you will feel a bitter taste in your mouth and numb tongue when eating;
Light red dark spots appear on the head of the fish near the gills, and dark spots also appear on the inner layer of the muscles, indicating that the fish has Rotting;
The red spots on salted fish are "redness" or "red change". This is due to the salting effect of "halophiles" or "bacilli" during the pickling process. 36 Bacteria multiply rapidly in the fish body at ~38°C, and the fish body has deteriorated at this time.
Fried salted fish
Ingredients: Sequoia salted
Please click to enter the picture description
Fish (solid meat salted fish), ginger , dried chili, onion, vinegar, light soy sauce.
Features: Home-made dishes that Cantonese people love to eat.
Operation:
Cut the salted fish into sections (or whole), soak it in water for 20 minutes, let it soften, shred the ginger and pepper, and mince the green onions (salted fish is very Salty, depending on personal taste, the soaking time can be longer or shorter).
After the pot is hot, pour in the oil, shake the pot, add the fish and fry over medium heat.
Use chopsticks to flip and fry until both sides turn yellow, add shredded ginger and dried chili peppers, and continue to fry until the aroma is released.
Add an appropriate amount of vinegar, a little soy sauce, and sprinkle with chopped green onion.
Marining method
Dry curing method
The curing process of ham is to use dry salt (crystalline salt) or mixed salt, first in the food Wipe the surface thoroughly, that is, there is juice seeping out (generally, it is not necessary to wipe it thoroughly first when marinating fish), and then pile it on the marinating rack or put it in a marinating container. Sprinkle salt evenly between each layer. The layers are compacted in sequence, and the salt liquid is formed by exuding juice under external pressure or without external pressure for pickling. At the beginning of pickling, only salt is added and no salt water is added, so it is called dry pickling method.
Advantages: easy to operate; the product is dry and easy to preserve; no special care is required; the loss of nutrients is small (the amount of protein loss when marinating meat is (0.3-0.5).
Disadvantages : Uneven pickling, weight loss, too salty taste, and poor color. If sodium nitrate is added, the color can be improved.
Wet pickling method
Wet pickling method is salt water pickling. The preparation method is to immerse the food in a pre-prepared salt solution in the container, and through diffusion and water transfer, the pickling agent penetrates into the food and obtains a relatively even distribution until its concentration finally matches the concentration of the salt solution. The same pickling method.
Disadvantages: the color and flavor of its products are not as good as those of dry pickling; the pickling time is the same as that of dry pickling; the amount of labor required is larger than that of dry pickling; The meat is soft and the salt water is appropriate, but the protein loss is large (0.8-0.9); it is difficult to preserve due to the high water content.
Injection pickling method
(1) Arterial injection pickling. Method
This method uses a pump to pump brine or pickling liquid into the cut meat or leg meat through the arterial system. It is the best method for spreading the salt liquid into the carcass. The integrity of the original arterial system is not considered, so this method can only be used to pickle the front and rear legs.
Advantages: The pickling speed is fast and the shipment is fast, and the second is that the yield is higher if alkali is used. Phosphate, the yield can be further improved.
Disadvantages: It can only be used to pickle the front and rear legs, and care must be taken to ensure the integrity of the arteries when dividing the carcass; pickled products are prone to spoilage, so it is necessary to Refrigerated transportation.
(2) Intramuscular injection pickling
This method has two types: single-needle and multi-needle injection. Most of the needles used for intramuscular injection are porous, and single-needle injection is used. The pickling method can be used for various cuts of meat and has nothing to do with arteries.
Advantages: It can shorten the operation time and improve the productivity. The salt injection method can increase the yield and reduce the production cost.
Disadvantages: The quality of the finished product is not as good as that of dry pickled products because of its poor flavor and greater shrinkage when cooked.
Mixed pickling method
This is a method of pickling. This method combines dry salting and wet salting. It is often used for fish.
Advantages: It can avoid the concentration of wet salting liquid due to the leakage of food moisture, because the dry salt dissolves in the extravasated water in time. At the same time, pickling does not cause dehydration on the surface of the food like dry pickling, and the pickling process starts earlier than simple dry pickling.