Who among us does not remember small jars of sprats, which were considered a delicacy. Those from Riga were especially valued and were saved for the festive table. Small fish, neatly laid in two rows, smoked, delicious. How to prepare sandwiches with sprats for a celebration - we immediately took out our supplies.
In fact, “sprat” is not the name of the fish. Sprat, new fish, and any small fish are placed in the jar. Today at fish markets you can buy as much of it as your heart desires, then salt it. But instead, you can try cooking sprats at home. Don’t be surprised, the process is not that complicated, and how long will it take you to get a fish no larger than 10 cm in size ready?
How to make sprats?
First, you need to clean all the fish. If you have patience, then stock up on a kilogram or two, drive the cat away and start cleaning the future “sprats”. Then you will need strong tea “a la chifir”, this is what will give the sprat or any other fish the desired color. Well, and of course, a frying pan, liquid smoke and onion skins. That's all the secrets. As you can see, making sprats is easier than enduring the obsessive meowing under the kitchen door, which is what you’ll hear while you’re cooking. Spices and additives are ingredients that you add based on your own taste.
Homemade sprats - recipe
If you have already stocked up on patience, small fresh fish and all the necessary ingredients, then let's find out how to cook sprats at home.
Ingredients:
- small fish – 1 kg;
- onion peel - 3-4 handfuls;
- vegetable oil – 0.5 cups;
- salt – 2 tbsp. spoons;
- tea leaves – 1 tbsp. spoon;
- sugar – 2 teaspoons;
- liquid smoke – 1 teaspoon;
- peppercorns, bay leaf - to taste.
Preparation
First, brew strong black tea. Then we wash the onion skins, add water and boil for about 20 minutes. We clean the small fish, cut off the head and fins, if necessary. If the fish is very small, you don’t have to cut off the fins. Strain the onion broth, discard the husks and measure out the liter of liquid that we will need to prepare the sprat. Mix the decoction, tea and oil in a separate bowl, add salt, sugar, peppercorns, black pepper, bay leaf and fish. Cook for about 1.5 hours over low heat. At the end of cooking, add liquid smoke.
Now you know how to cook homemade sprats? You can try making a larger quantity and putting the fish in the refrigerator. It will be stored for about 2 months.
Sprat recipe
It is worth noting that you don’t have to boil the fish in a pan (although it cooks much faster this way), you can try simmering it in a frying pan.
Ingredients:
Preparation
We carefully clean all small fish from the intestines, separate the head and fins. Brew strong tea in a mug (250 ml). Place onion peels on the bottom of a deep frying pan, and a layer of peeled fish on top of it. Sprinkle with salt, seasonings, add 4 bay leaves. Then again a layer of fish and spices. We do not place a bay leaf on the last layer of fish. Now pour in the oil, strained tea, vinegar, sugar, liquid smoke, cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 4 hours. Then let the home-cooked sprats cool and place on a dish.
Delicious fish in oil is known to us due to its unique taste and the fact that you can prepare almost any dish with it, from salads to sandwiches. This is a universal assistant for all housewives, and therefore there is always a lot of it in stores, however, store-bought sprats may be stored incorrectly, be expired, or simply not prepared correctly. It’s easier and safer to make sprats at home. After we provide you with three different recipes, you will see for yourself how easy it is to prepare sprats yourself.
First sprat recipe
We need:
- Half a kilo of sprat, capelin or anchovy
- One hundred grams of vegetable oil
- Bouillon cube with smoked flavor
- Three bags of black tea.
- Clean the fish. Don't forget to remove the head.
- Mash the bouillon cube
- Place the fish in a frying pan, sprinkle with a cube of broth, add oil and tea leaves. There is no need to add additional salt.
- Place the frying pan on low heat and simmer until the moisture evaporates. It's about an hour.
- You can transfer the fish to a jar and pour in the oil remaining in the frying pan. Keep refrigerated.
Second sprat recipe
- Half a kilo of the same fish
- One hundred grams of sunflower oil
- Tea leaves
- Black peas
- Bay leaf.
Cooking method:
- Prepare the fish as in the previous recipe and place it in a bowl with a heat-resistant bottom.
- Salt, pepper, add bay leaf. If the fish is laid in layers, then each layer will have to be salted.
- Add oil and tea
- Place the container in the oven, turned on at the minimum temperature, and leave for three hours maximum.
- Sprats should be stored in the same way as indicated in the first recipe.
Third sprat recipe
- Kilogram of small fish
- A few handfuls of onion peels
- One hundred grams of vegetable oil
- Two tablespoons of sugar
- Two tbsp. spoons of salt
- Tablespoon tea leaves
- A teaspoon of liquid smoke
- Black pepper
- Bay leaf
- Brew strong tea in a glass
- Boil the washed onion peels for twenty minutes. You will need a liter of onion broth.
- Prepare the fish
- Mix tea, broth, oil, spices and fish in a saucepan
- Place the pan on the fire for an hour and a half. Don't interfere.
- Ten minutes before cooking, pour liquid smoke into the pan.
- Sprats should be stored in the refrigerator.
That's all, now you can surprise your loved ones with your culinary talents and delicious dishes that are so easy to prepare.
Homemade herring sprats are one of the most profitable and delicious dishes.
Anyone who cooks it at least once will no longer want to go to the store for a can of canned food.
Homemade sprats, like store-bought counterparts, are also used for salads, sandwiches, and as an addition to potato side dishes.
But how to cook them?
Sprats from herring at home - general principles of preparation
For the dish, you can use any herring, even the smallest one. In general, sprats can be cooked with heads and tails. But we do it for ourselves. Therefore, it is better to spend a little time and get rid of everything unnecessary.
Sprats with herring are prepared at home by boiling in a dressing, stewing or simmering in the oven. You can also use a slow cooker. After cooking, the herring is cooled in its own sauce. While the fish is hot, it is better not to touch it in order to preserve the integrity of the carcass.
What is usually put in the dressing:
1. Salt, sugar. Gives taste.
2. Black tea. It gives color, and tannins help maintain the firmness of the fish and prevent it from overcooking.
3. Liquid smoke. They add it for flavor, but you can do without it.
4. Onion peel. Gives a brighter color and a golden hue. It makes sprats look more like store-bought canned food.
But they don’t add a lot of aromatic spices. Mainly limited to bay leaves and peppercorns. Moreover, they add it in limited quantities, since during prolonged heat treatment the aroma becomes rich and it is important not to overdo it.
Store prepared sprats in the refrigerator. But they often put it in jars. In this case, vinegar is added during cooking, which promotes better storage of the product.
Recipe 1: Simple herring sprats at home with tea
One of the simplest recipes for herring sprats at home. To make them you will need good tea leaves and two hours of time. The dish is prepared in the oven and can be consumed immediately.
Ingredients
500 grams of herring;
2 laurel leaves;
Salt 1 spoon;
3 peppercorns;
100 grams of butter;
1.5 spoons of tea leaves.
You will also need dishes with thick walls or simply heat-resistant. You can use a cast iron frying pan.
Preparation
1. Sprats can be prepared from whole fish, but it is better to gut them. It will be more pleasant to use this way, after all, we do it for ourselves. We clean the skin, remove the heads, cut off the lower part of the tail, taking 1 centimeter. This area is still dry and tasteless.
2. Place the fish in the mold. It is very important to lay it out tightly so that it retains its shape during cooking. We lay the ridge up in rows in one layer.
3. Brew tea with 400 ml of boiling water. Let it brew for half an hour, then strain and mix with salt. It is better not to use tea leaves from tea bags; take loose leaf tea.
4. Add peppercorns and bay leaves to the fish, add tea leaves and vegetable oil on top. It can be with or without scent, it doesn’t really matter.
5. Place the dishes in the oven. Bring the liquid to a boil at 150 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 120 degrees and cook for 2 hours. The fish should not actively boil, it will languish.
6. Take it out, cool it and send it to the table!
Recipe 2: Herring sprats at home with liquid smoke
A recipe for very aromatic herring sprats at home, to which you need to add liquid smoke. Of course, this is not entirely natural and healthy. But sometimes it’s possible?
Ingredients
1 kg herring;
200 ml oil;
1 spoon of sugar;
200 grams of tea;
2 tablespoons of salt;
10 peppercorns;
8 ml liquid smoke;
1 tsp. vinegar.
The dish is prepared on the stove in a cauldron or saucepan.
Preparation
1. Wash the herring, clean it, remove the heads.
2. Combine black tea with liquid smoke and vegetable oil. Add vinegar, add sugar and salt and mix vigorously. The grains should completely dissolve.
3. Throw peppercorns and bay leaves onto the bottom of the cauldron.
4. Place the fish. Drizzle each layer with the prepared dressing. This is necessary so that the oil and salt are distributed more evenly.
5. Now you need to take a flat plate, slightly smaller than the diameter of the cauldron. Cover the fish. You can use some kind of flat lid, but it must be heavy.
6. We place our workpiece on the stove, but do not go far.
7. As soon as the fish sprats boil, you need to reduce the heat to low. Cover the cauldron with its original lid and forget about the sprats for two hours.
8. After this time, you can open, remove the lid, and taste the fish for softness and taste. If everything is fine, then turn it off. But you can extend the time so that the bones soften.
Recipe 3: Herring sprats at home with soy sauce
Soy sauce is exactly the ingredient that will give homemade herring sprats an original note and a pleasant aroma. The dish is prepared on the stove in a cauldron, but requires marinating for a day. We take any ready-made soy sauce.
Ingredients
200 grams of tea;
200 grams of butter;
1200 grams of herring;
100 grams of soy sauce;
0.5 tablespoons of salt;
1 spoon sugar;
Bay leaf.
Preparation
1. Wash the herring, gut it, cut off all excess.
2. Add soy sauce and leave while pouring.
3. Combine strong tea with butter, add sugar and salt, and bay leaf.
4. Pour into the fish and place on the stove.
5. Boil the sprats under the lid for exactly one hour. If the herring is large, then you can increase the time by 20 minutes. During this time, we do not touch the fish so as not to damage its integrity.
6. Cool and keep the dish in the refrigerator for at least a day. And only after that you can touch it, get the herring and taste the incredibly tasty sprats.
Recipe 4: Homemade herring sprats “Golden” with onion skins
To prepare such homemade sprats from herring, you will need a decoction of onion peels. But we will also use black tea to keep the fish firm.
Ingredients
1 kg herring;
Water 1 liter;
A glass of tea;
2.5 tablespoons of salt;
40 grams of husk;
140 grams of butter;
1.5 spoons of sugar;
10 peppercorns.
Preparation
1. We sort out the husks. We immediately throw away spoiled and very dirty ones. We wash the rest of the husk, add a liter of clean water and boil for 10 minutes. Let cool and then strain.
2. Pour a glass of strong, freshly brewed tea into the decoction.
3. Add salt and sugar, butter, peppercorns.
4. We remove the heads from the fish, cut off the tails and fins, and place them in a pan.
5. Pour the prepared decoction of husks with spices.
6. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 1.5 hours. You should not stir or touch the herring, otherwise it may be damaged.
7. Cool the sprats in the broth and put them in the refrigerator for 10 hours. Then we take it out, transfer it to jars or immediately send it to the table.
Recipe 5: Herring sprats at home in a slow cooker
To prepare such sprats from herring at home, you will need a multicooker. This miracle helper will handle this dish with a bang and prepare it at its best. A classic recipe made with tea leaves.
Ingredients
1 kg herring;
1 glass of tea;
70 ml oil;
1 spoon of salt;
Any spices.
Preparation
1. Brew strong tea, put a spoonful of tea leaves on a glass of boiling water. Let it sit, then strain.
2. Add salt and vegetable oil.
3. Clean the herring. We do everything as usual. But if you are too lazy to cut off the fins, you can simply wash the carcasses and remove the heads.
4. Place the fish in the multicooker container in dense rows.
5. Now pour out the dressing.
6. Close our assistant and turn on the extinguishing mode for two hours. After the ready signal, do not forget to turn off the heating and leave it until it cools completely.
Recipe 6: Herring sprats at home in jars
A wonderful recipe for preparing sprat from herring at home. From this amount of fish you will get four 0.5 liter jars. It will not be difficult to calculate the cost of home canned food and be pleasantly surprised.
Ingredients
1.6-1.8 kg herring;
100 ml oil;
25 grams of salt;
15 ml liquid smoke;
300 ml tea;
1 spoon of vinegar.
Preparation
1. Prepare the fish. Remove the heads and tails and place them in a saucepan.
2. Mix tea with salt, vinegar and oil, immediately add liquid smoke and send the dressing to the fish.
3. Cover with a lid and simmer after boiling for two and a half hours.
4. While the herring is being prepared, you need to process the jars with lids. You can sterilize over steam, in boiling water, or in the oven. We do what is convenient.
5. Now is the most crucial moment. You need to put the herring into jars, trying to leave it whole and not damage the skin.
6. When the jars are filled, add hot dressing from the saucepan to the top and roll up the lids.
7. Cool and send to the basement for long-term storage.
Herring sprats at home - useful tips and tricks
The time indicated in sprat recipes is approximate. If the fish are large or you want to get a softer product, you can increase it. And vice versa. Small herring does not need to be kept in the oven for a long time.
If you want to get denser and harder sprats, you can simply increase the amount of tea leaves in the recipe.
Hot sprats are very easy to damage. And with the skin peeled off, they are no longer so beautiful. Therefore, it is not recommended to remove them from the container until they have cooled completely. Also, immersion in the filling increases the juiciness of the product and improves the taste.
Under-salting on the table, over-salting on the head - this is not about sprats. Over-salted sprats are still tasty, they can be put in salads, on sandwiches and added to various dishes. But unsalted preparations have all the taste and charm. Don’t be afraid to taste the dish while cooking and adjust it to the taste you want with the help of spices.
Simple step by step recipe domestic sprat from river fish with photo.
How to do it yourself cook sprats from river fish V pressure cooker.
Canned sprats from river fish.
Tags: sprat recipe, canned sprats at home.
So, how to make canned sprat at home?
Best for cooking sprat from river fish fits bleak.
Ingredients:
For 4 cans with a capacity of 500 g we will need:fish (bleak) - 1.5 kg, refined olive or sunflower oil - 8 tbsp. spoons, “Liquid smoke” - 4 teaspoons, salt - 20 g, tea leaves or onion peel decoction.
Preparation:
1. Fish clean, gut, cut off fins and heads.
2. Lay down fish into clean jars.
It is more convenient to place the fish vertically. We take jars with a capacity of 0.5 l or 0.25 l. It is better to use screw cans, but regular ones are also possible. Fill them with water at room temperature or lukewarm up to the neck and close the lids, but not tightly so that the lids do not break off when boiling. We will add salt at the next stage.
3. Place the jars in pressure cooker.
Important! Between the bottom pressure cookers and there should be a gap between the banks. If there is no gap, the glass of the cans will crack. To do this you need to put it on the bottom pressure cookers clean cloth or use a tray.
IN pressure cooker usually includes 4 cans dia. 85 mm with a capacity of 500 or 250 ml or 7 cans dia. 70 mm (250 ml).
Pour in pressure cooker water so that the water level is just below the level of the lids, close it and turn on the heat. When it hisses, time it. After 30 minutes - turn off. Steam from pressure cookers release gradually (over 3-4 minutes)
Important! If steam is released quickly, the contents of the can may splash out.
4. Remove the cans from pressure cookers using a grip.
Add salt to the jars. For a 0.5 liter jar you need 5-6 g of salt (teaspoon), a teaspoon of “liquid smoke”, olive or sunflower (refined) oil - 2 tbsp. spoons.
Add boiling water to the level of the lids.
To give the fish a golden color, instead of boiling water, you can add hot tea leaves or a decoction of onion peels. There is no need to add spices and vegetables to canned food.
5. Cover hot jars with lids. hermetically sealed. For screw caps you will need potholder And mitten. Immediately, without allowing them to cool, place the jars in pressure cooker. If necessary, top up with pressure cooker missing amount of boiling water. Close pressure cooker and turn on the heating.
You don’t have to worry about the lids; they won’t blow off when heated, since the jars are already hot, especially if they have screw lids. After pressure cooker hisses - mark the time. Turn off the fire after 1 hour. cover pressure cookers can only be opened after it has completely cooled down pressure cookers. As a last resort, you can open only with a gradual release of steam pressure for about 5 minutes, otherwise there is a risk of the lids falling off.
Canned food sprat from bleak ready.
In this case, we did not use tea leaves or onion peel to give it a golden color.
Important! Store any home canned food a long time at room temperature is only possible if all the rules canning were complied with.
If the tightness of the lids is not ensured or sterilization was not performed correctly, then there is a risk of swelling (bombing) canned food. The lids swell due to the release of gas by bacteria. There may not be an unpleasant odor. Such canned food should not be consumed under any circumstances. This is extremely dangerous.
In other words, if you are not sure about the quality of sterilization and sealing of jars, then store canned food in the refrigerator and no more than 1 week.
From canned sprats they turn out quite good sandwiches and fish salads.
Victor Dolgikh
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Sprats are one of the most popular components of table sandwiches and appetizers for boiled potatoes. To make the dish even tastier, and for the hostess to show off her skills, it’s worth trying to cook fish at home. In addition, the process itself is not as complicated as it seems at first glance.
The main secret of the fish snack is its unique color, which can be achieved with the help of strongly brewed black tea. Onions, liquid smoke and a variety of spices can also help make the dish appetizing.
Selection of fish and its preparation
Initially, it is necessary to correctly select the fish and process it for further preparation. The following types are suitable for this dish:
- sprats;
- sprat;
- herring;
- other small fish without scales.
An important step is to clean the fish from unnecessary parts. To begin with, the product should be thoroughly washed and then the insides should be removed. As a rule, the heads are also cut off, but cooking with them is also possible.
There are many recipes for preparing sprats. In any case, the homemade version is much healthier and tastier than store-bought fish, which in most cases is made using harmful and sometimes low-quality products.
Other ingredients
As we found out, the basis of the dish should be a small fish, cleaned of internal parts, fins and head. Other ingredients include
- Vegetable oil. In addition to sunflower, olive oil is also suitable. You can also mix them both or boil herbs and spices in it before pouring the fish to obtain a brighter taste.
- Black tea. You can use both tea bags (2-3 pieces in this recipe) and tea leaves (1 tbsp).
- Salt, black pepper, bay leaf.
Preparation
Follow the following cooking algorithm:
How to catch more fish?
I have been active fishing for quite some time and have found many ways to improve the bite. And here are the most effective:
- Bite activator. Attracts fish in cold and warm water with the help of pheromones included in the composition and stimulates its appetite. It’s a pity that Rosprirodnadzor wants to impose a ban on its sale.
- More sensitive gear. Reviews and instructions for other types of gear can be found on the pages of my website.
- Lures using pheromones.
You can get the rest of the secrets of successful fishing for free by reading our other articles on the site.
- make a strong tea drink, i.e. brew the specified amount of tea for about half an hour;
- place the fish in a container, for example, a thick frying pan;
- add salt and spices to taste;
- pour brewed tea over the above products, add oil;
- place the container in the oven for 2-3 hours at the lowest possible temperature;
- Place the sprats in jars and fill them with the oil in which they were cooked.
It is possible to diversify the taste and aroma of fish with the help of onions.
In this case, sprats are prepared in the following way:
- As in the first recipe, we begin preparation by making a strong drink from tea bags.
- Peel the onions and chop finely.
- Pour vegetable oil into a container, put it on medium heat, and let it warm up.
- Lay out the fish and onions, sprinkle with spices, salt, and sugar.
- Pour black tea over everything and reduce heat to low.
- Let it simmer for 1.5-2 hours.
- Before completing the process, fill it with liquid smoke for 5-20 minutes.
- Distribute into jars, pour in the oil in which the fish was simmered.
In addition, sprats can be cooked in a slow cooker, which will only improve their taste. To do this, we use all of the above ingredients, just put the products in the multicooker bowl and fill with tea leaves and vegetable oil. We place everything for 1.5 hours on the “quenching” mode. After this, place on a plate, cool and can be served.
To make the dish look even more appetizing and acquire unique taste properties, use the following tips:
- chopped onions can be additionally fried to add flavor to the sprats;
- Seasonings such as turmeric, paprika and saffron will help create a special color for the fish;
- The peculiarity of this snack is long simmering, so the container in which the sprats are prepared must be dense, with a fairly thick bottom. In such conditions, the bones will become softer, and the fish themselves will absorb all the aroma of the mixture of spices and oil.
Submission methods
Sprats are usually served as side dishes. The combination of this dish with boiled potatoes is especially popular. They are no less tasty when combined with pasta, as well as unsweetened cereals.
This fish is an ingredient in many recipes. Sandwiches with pickled cucumber are among the most beloved in Russia. Before placing on fried bread, it is advisable to allow excess oil to drain from the sprat.
In addition to cucumbers, you can decorate the dish with herbs and a slice of fresh tomatoes.
Pate is considered a very interesting dish using sprats. This recipe requires the following ingredients:
- sprats;
- egg;
- processed cheese;
- butter.
Preparation:
- Boil the egg, separate the yolk from the white.
- Chop the sprats very finely or grind them using a blender.
- Add yolk, melted cheese and butter to the fish mixture.
- Mix everything thoroughly.
This pate is suitable as a filling for pies or savory baskets, as well as a sandwich component. Sprats are a traditional appetizer on the Russian table, and if prepared at home with your own hands, they will become a unique dish that will surprise all guests.
