How to cook sprats at home. Herring sprats at home: prepared in different ways Sprats at home recipe

In a huge workshop, women in blue caps are stringing small fish onto iron rods, as if they were about to fry kebab from sprat. They perform this trick a thousand times per shift, five thousand in a week, and their life count runs into millions. Residents of the small Latvian town of Salacgriva work in dynasties at a fish processing plant, from a young age until retirement.

Their hands smelled of fish, like the hold of a fishing trawler, and their eyes, trained to catch defects, were as sharp as the eyes of an albatross. The cold Baltic tickles Salacmane, the prickly sea wind blows through, and keeps the market in good shape. But women have work - and that's the main thing. A little bit of sea, soot and hard work in a report from an exemplary Latvian sprat production.

It's the off-season in Salacgriva - in mid-June, right around the time of our arrival, the company was finishing up its last days. Brīvais Vilnis is about to close for the big summer holidays. The last batches of fish are on the line. Process controller Henry Babris leads us to the pier. Just now the sea was playing with the sun, and now it was already raining. The Baltic is unstable - sometimes it gets very stormy.

We are at the starting point of the great canning journey. The enterprise does not catch fish on its own; they buy it from private owners. Fresh sprat and herring are supplied by small fishing companies - the fish live in local waters. Herring, mackerel, sardinella and other Atlantic fish are received in frozen containers from abroad.

“Classic sprats are made from sprat,” says Henry Babris immediately. - But you can also make it from small herring. By taste, however, they can be distinguished without problems. The taste of sprats from winter and summer sprat, fresh and frozen sprat differs in taste. The best ones are winter ones, from fresh catch.

At the “entrance” all raw materials are checked and samples are taken for the laboratory. If the fish is fresh, part goes to the workshop for the sorting line, and part is frozen at a temperature of minus 18 degrees. This way it can be stored for up to 9 months.

The sprat is defrosted in defrosting chambers - the temperature rises to plus 10 degrees.

The next stage - and one of the most important - is sorting. Almost ideal fish are selected for sprat. Whole, not wrinkled, without damage. Carcasses measuring 11-13 centimeters are suitable.

Our guide makes a short digression. What exactly are Riga sprats? In the mid-1990s, an association of the same name was created in Latvia, which united the largest fish processing enterprises in the country. The association is the holder of the collective trademark “Riga sprats in oil” and controls the quality of products. The requirements for it are extremely stringent. That is why sorting is carried out exclusively by hand - so as not to damage the fish. There have been attempts to automate the process. But the efficiency of female hands turned out to be higher than that of a mechanical “robot”.

The workers do not have time to look around and pose for the photographer. There is fish in a tray in front of them. A lot of fish. The master gives the command: “Let’s string the little one!” And they string it, putting the large one in a separate box, since it is impossible to smoke sprat of different sizes at the same time. Soon the master will shout: “Let’s string the big one!” And so on throughout the entire shift.

This is not an easy process. We are told that at any time the worker can get up and rest. Each person is given a certain number of baking trays. If you fill everything out, you will receive a token. The more tokens per day, the higher the salary. Anyone who gives a lot of marriage may be deprived of bonuses. Only the most experienced people work on sorting raw materials for the plant’s elite products—Tsar’s Sprats.

The skewered fish is ready for smoking. Not really though. Workers leave it for a while to allow moisture to drain. The sprat must be moved apart so that the fish do not stick together. When smoking, this can lead to marriage.

Preparing the mixture for smoking - our smoke will be made from alder.

The fish moves through tunnels, where it goes through various stages of smoking - about 15 stages. Here the smoke is prepared, there the steam is supplied. The smoker regulates the supply of mixture and the temperature in each zone. Monitors the level of moisture. The workers are all experienced, mostly men. The quality of the product that the buyer will purchase in the store largely depends on their skills.

Before us is an almost finished semi-finished product - smoked sprat with a characteristic golden color. Next, the heads of the fish will be cut off, and the carcasses will be sent for cooling. The heads will be sold as recyclables.

Laying. Already during smoking, the master will determine which raw materials will be used for Riga sprats, and which for simple ones. Or, for example, for pate. Or maybe sprat in tomato.

Each laying worker has a scale. They try to lay the sprats beautifully and figurely. To look aesthetically pleasing and presentable. Henry says:

— By opening the can, you can determine whether the manufacturer cheated or not. If the fish are laid with their bellies up, this is a good sign. After all, if the raw material is of poor quality or was poorly smoked, then it is usually placed with its back up. The bellies are opened first, the “hack workers” need to hide it. It is also important whether there is damage in the first row. By our standards there shouldn't be any.

And here the work is standardized - by the number of cans.

“We have people who work as families,” the interlocutor continues. — There are practically no places in the surrounding area where middle-aged women can find a job. But even in such a situation, it is not possible to recruit another shift of workers. However, we do not need volume, but quality.

Some kind of spell! In general, it seems to us that it is beyond idealism to put fish in a jar for the price of €1, as if it were not golden, but golden. Moreover, under the tin cover all the efforts of the workers from Salacgrīva cannot be seen by a potential buyer. The factory realized this a long time ago. It has become impossible to compete with manufacturers who throw dented semi-finished products into their cans and dump them, workers say:

— In Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus they are trying to make sprats from damaged fish. As a result, the buyer's trust in the product disappears. We went a different route.

A few years ago, a know-how was introduced here - jars with a transparent lid. Now the buyer will see exactly what they want to sell him. No more jar secrets. Here they believe that “honest” packaging, albeit more expensive, is the future of canning.

Various variations of sprat in tomato. Tomato sauce The company brews it themselves, without using cheap powder substitutes. It turns out expensive. The cost of a high-quality thick sauce is almost the same as the cost of fish.

- There is no point in saving. A curious thing: in Ukraine, our sprat in tomato is five times more expensive than local sprat, but they buy it very well. This means people are willing to pay for quality,” says Henry.

And we return to sprats. The cans are already rolled up. They are washed and then sent to autoclaves for sterilization.

— We do not add any preservatives or antioxidants: there is no need. The product is completely sterilized, the jars are sealed. Each type of canned food has its own sterilization formula. In this way, a 2-3 year shelf life is achieved.

Most of the equipment at the enterprise is still Soviet-made. Doesn't look very presentable, doesn't smell like perfume. The equipment is regularly repaired and maintained in good condition. Some things were bought with European money. It’s a strange thing: they look at modernization somewhat differently here than in Belarus. It turns out that the point is not in new lines for millions, which are so nice to receive on your account. The essence, they tell us, is in ideas and innovations - just like in the same transparent packaging.

- No matter how hard they try in Kaliningrad, they cannot get the same high quality. Even on new state-of-the-art equipment. Our smokers have decades of experience, and the bosses from above don’t shout: give us the cost price, that’s Henry’s opinion.

After sterilization, the jars are washed again, steam dried and sent for labeling. Everything can be loaded into the warehouse and sent with opportunity to the counter.

“In fact, little has changed in production technology since Soviet times,” says the controller. “Unless they looked not at where they could save money, but where they could steal.” Now all the employees of the enterprise understand perfectly well: we will survive only through high-quality work. If we give in to competitors, we will die. Nobody will help us.

Chairman of the Board of Brīvais Vilnis Arnold Babris explains how the company manages to stay afloat.

— It was a difficult period. The banker gave money - start-up capital. We talked with the team and chose a niche - to provide the highest quality on the market. And they started working. We optimized what we could to the maximum. In 2004, everyone was chasing price, and we decided to occupy the exclusive theme, the expensive segment. They began to produce "Tsar's Sprats". The first ones started working with plastic. The tear-off lid is also our invention. And there are many such innovations.

In 2006, either from sea foam or from a hidden Baltic depression, a water creature appeared. His name was Onishchenko, and he loved to find what was hidden in things. The chief inspector of the Russian Federation found benzopyrene in Latvian sprats and banned the supply of products to the Russian market.

It was in this very office, Arnold Babris shows us, that he put Onishchenko in his place.

— Immediately after the accusations were made, I ordered products from Russian manufacturers and sent them to Germany for control. It was a terrible picture. I called the TV crew and showed them: look, where is this benzopirene. Show it to Onishchenko so he knows. For several years, supplies to the Russian Federation stopped. But the plant was built according to such a model that at any moment we can “close” any country without losses by moving to another market. Now a contract has been signed with China - the minimum monthly shipment is worth at least €250 thousand. And we won’t be lost without Russia.

Traditional weekly tasting: managers and employees evaluate the quality of the products produced. In addition to sprat, these are several dozen types of various canned food

Surviving a heavy tasting is not easy. You definitely can’t call this food healthy.

What about Belarus? At one time, the Brivais Vilnis company supplied about 12% of its total production to the Republic of Belarus. After the crash of 2011, the numbers became less pleasant.

“I must be sure that in exchange for the product I will receive money without delay.” It's simple. The profitability level for canned food is 5% of turnover. Only! We cannot afford to take risks,” says Arnold Babris.

Finally, we ask the manager: is he sure that in the age healthy eating Will people continue to eat canned food?

- They will. But the question is volume. Sprats have always been a delicacy. This is by no means a consumer product, not a product for every day. In Soviet times, there was GOST, and all sprats were good. Then the product's image was undermined. During the period of perestroika, sprats turned into an exchange commodity. “Can you give me some sprats? Yes! What price?" And off we go. Due to a decrease in quality and price, the product has become virtually inedible. A person opens a can, looks at it, throws it away - this is what market oversaturation has led to. I can say for sure that sprats will not disappear anywhere. But the market will shrink. I believe that only those who produce a quality product will remain.

Having worked hard enough, Salacgriva rests. The fish factory is a city-forming enterprise. 450 people are employed here. If the plant collapses, the town will immediately collapse. And he doesn’t get fat anyway. Due to the abundance of manual labor, a third of the cost of a tin can is the salary of workers. A good stacker receives an average of €300. And this is the highest salary in the industry. People want more. But for now this is the ceiling. Nobody said it was easy in the market.

There is, of course, an important detail here. No matter what storm happens, a plant that has occupied a niche is unlikely to lose its position. Here we learned to live within our means and count every penny. Without any government support, they will survive somehow.

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It's hard to find a person who doesn't like sprats. This delicious fish is put on sandwiches, added to salads, or simply eaten for breakfast or dinner. However, industrial sprats may contain various chemical additives, and it can be difficult to find truly tasty canned food.

An excellent solution would be sprats from capelin or sprat, which are very easy to make at home. This delicacy will surely please both adults and children. And you don’t need too rare ingredients to prepare it. Let's figure out how this dish is prepared!

Sprats from herring or capelin at home

Kitchen appliances and utensils: a thick-bottomed saucepan or cauldron. Prepare another saucepan in which you will cook the marinade. You will also need a colander, a cutting board (if you will clean the fish on it), a stove, and a spoon for stirring.

Ingredients

How to choose the right ingredients

• You can prepare sprats from small sea or river fish (for example, bleak, perch, anchovy, capelin), and at home you can take not only small finger-sized fish, but also larger carcasses - up to the length of your palm. Larger fish are not suitable as their backbone remains hard. When choosing a fish variety, keep in mind that it should not have large scales.
• Black tea is required, and the grade does not really matter. The main thing is that the product is without flavors or additives.
• It is better to take refined vegetable oil - sunflower oil is quite suitable.

Step-by-step preparation

1. Start cooking with the marinade. Rinse thoroughly 7-10 g onion peel, pour it into the pan. Add 3 bay leaves, 12-15 peppercorns, and pour in 300 g of water.
   
   
2. Place the pan on the fire, and when the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for five minutes. Pour 10-12 g of tea into the mixture and mix the marinade thoroughly.
   Cover the pan with a lid, remove from heat and let the mixture stand for 20-30 minutes. During this time, the marinade will infuse.
   
   
3. Clean 1.2 kg of small fish. Remove the heads and innards from each fish. Rinse the carcasses and dry them a little with a paper towel.
   
   
4. In a thick-bottomed saucepan (you can use a casserole instead), place the fish tightly with the backs facing up. The fish should be pressed against each other.
   

   If necessary, make 2-3 layers, each of which should be dense. Place all fish with their backs up.

   
   
   
5. When the marinade is infused, strain it through a sieve. Squeeze out the onion skins and tea - they can absorb quite a lot of moisture.
   
   
6. Add 1.5-2 teaspoons of salt to the marinade and stir the liquid. If desired, pour in one tablespoon of “liquid smoke.” You can do without it, but the sprats will not have a pronounced smoked taste.
   
   
7. Pour marinade and 200-210 g of vegetable oil over the prepared fish. The liquid should completely cover the fish carcasses. As a last resort, you can add a little boiled water. Place the pan with the fish on the stove and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer the fish, covered, for two hours.
   
   
8. After two hours, turn off the heat, open the lid and let the sprats cool to room temperature. After this, you can remove the fish from the pan.
   
   

Recipe video

If you want to see how to make delicious sprats at home, pay attention to the following video. It shows all the stages of preparation.

How to decorate a dish

These sprats look very attractive and have a beautiful golden color. To make them even more elegant, use finely chopped herbs, such as dill or onions. Place the fish on a flat plate and sprinkle generously with herbs. By the way, you can decorate it this way.

If desired, the edges of the plate can be sprinkled with dry paprika. Place slices of lemon, fresh cucumber, red pepper or fresh tomato nearby. Thus, the color scheme of the dish will become even brighter.

• If you want to prepare such a dish faster, you don’t have to separate the heads from the fish - just pull out the insides.
• You can prepare the dish without onion skins. In this case, the sprats will not be as beautiful, but the taste will not be affected. By the way, delicious mackerel is also cooked in onion skins.
• The fish will lie tighter if you lay it “jack”: the tail of one to the head of the other. Manufacturers also put sprats in a jar in approximately the same way.
• If there is no “liquid smoke” or you want to make sprats that can be given to children, do without this additive.
• You shouldn’t look under the lid too often – it’s enough to check the process once or twice.
• To prevent the dish from burning, you can bring it to readiness not only over low heat, but also in the oven - make sure that the liquid does not boil too much.
• The finished sprats should cool in a saucepan or cauldron - this way they will become more elastic and will not fall apart.
• You can store the finished dish in glass containers, in containers or in the pan in which the sprats were prepared.

How and with what to serve the dish

These sprats are great for sandwiches and canapés. They can be made on a white loaf (for example, dried or regular), as well as on black grain bread.
This fish is usually served as an appetizer, before the main course.

They can be placed on a small plate lined with lettuce leaves. Vegetable salads or slices, as well as cheese dishes, are perfect for this snack. Drinks with sprats include lemonades, unsweetened juices, beer or light table wines.

Other preparation and filling options

• Try making this dish with a bouillon cube. Choose a product with a smoked flavor - this will give the fish a wonderful aroma. In this case, pepper, salt and bay leaf are not added to the marinade. Just dissolve the bouillon cube in boiling water and then add the tea.
• If you don’t have time to stew sprat, try baking it - it’s much faster, but no less tasty. Excellent holiday option will become and . By the way, excellent food is prepared from salmon and other red varieties.
• Another tasty option cooking - this is something that does not need to be stewed or heat-treated.

Homemade sprats are an excellent alternative to store-bought products, moreover, they are tastier and guaranteed to be healthier. Do you prepare such a dish, what kind of fish do you use for it? Share your marinade recipes or tell us about the intricacies of cooking!

Due to the fact that the sanitary service of the Russian Federation has imposed a ban on Latvian products, many Russians cannot buy Riga Gold sprats. And what a delicious fish it was! It can still be purchased, but much more expensive. But you can enjoy delicious small fish without any problems! To do this, you just need to prepare sprats at home. It won't take much effort or material costs. Just follow the simple instructions given in our article. Did you know that sprats can be made from river fish? So don’t rush to give all this little change that got caught in the net to the cat. Bleak is an excellent base material for sprat.

We repeat the industrial process at home

This recipe is suitable for those who have a smokehouse at their disposal. Sprats, contrary to the beliefs of inexperienced people, are not some special type of fish, but a method of preparing it. But not all inhabitants of seas and rivers are suitable for the honorable role of becoming the contents of a jar of “Riga Gold”. These must be small fish. In the Baltics, herring, sprat, sprat, and capelin are used for sprat. Herring fry will also work.

The fish, without any preliminary preparation (that is, with heads and entrails), is smoked in hot smoke. Sprats then undergo minimal processing. They simply remove their heads, place them beautifully in jars, and pour vegetable oil and canned. How to make fish sprats at home?

Pour coarse salt into a tray that allows liquid to drain. Distribute in an even layer. We lay out the gutted fish without scales, but with heads. Sprinkle it with salt. After two hours, shake off the grains and hang the fish in a home smokehouse. To create smoke we use shavings of fruit trees and alder.

Turning smoked fish into sprats

After forty minutes, the smoking process can be stopped. Cool the fish and ventilate it. We remove the heads. Now let's prepare the marinade. Brew very strong black tea. For a glass of boiling water you need to take three bags. Dissolve a teaspoon of sugar in tea and cool. Add to the drink two glasses of vegetable oil, 2 tbsp. l. salt, 4 tbsp. l. vinegar or lemon juice, a glass of cognac and spices: peppercorns, coriander, cumin, fennel. Place the fish in one layer in a fireproof dish.

Then pour in the marinade so that the liquid completely covers the contents and cover the pan with foil. We place the mold in the oven and process it at a temperature not lower than 60, but not higher than 90 degrees. Pasteurization time depends on the size of the fish, but on average it is two hours. Then the sprats prepared at home need to be cooled by opening the oven door slightly. Place in a glass jar and store in the refrigerator for no more than a week.

Recipe without a smokehouse

What to do if we cannot fumigate fish with hot smoke? It's OK! Even in an ordinary city kitchen, you can cook sprats at home. Any small fish without scales will do for this. Freshly frozen food must be given time to thaw at room temperature. Pour a glass of unrefined sunflower oil into a cast-iron frying pan or kettle (that is, into a vessel that is suitable for long-term stewing).

We put it on the fire to warm up. We will also put a kettle of water to boil. Peel and finely chop two onions. Pour a heaped tablespoon of black long tea into the brewing container (optional with bergamot). Pour a glass of boiling water and let the tea brew. Place half a kilogram of small fish and onion into the heated oil. As soon as the latter turns golden, pour in strong tea leaves (carefully straining it from the grounds), add two bay leaves, five peppercorns and sea salt.

Cover the cauldron or frying pan and turn the heat to minimum. We simmer for quite a long time - because we need the fish bones to completely soften. Stir from time to time with a wooden spatula, but carefully so that the fish do not break. If the moisture has evaporated, you need to add boiling water.

Multicooker recipe for capelin

Now let's look at how to make sprats at home, if our fish has scales and is not so small. In this case, you will have to tinker with it. We clean a kilogram of capelin, remove the entrails and cut off the heads. This type of fish requires more tea. It will not only give the capelin a beautiful bronze hue, but will also help maintain its shape and not fall apart when stewing. Take ten tea bags per glass of boiling water. Let the tea steep and cool slightly.

In a bowl, mix a quarter cup of unrefined vegetable oil, tea and a large spoon of sea salt, then stir. It’s better and faster to cook in a slow cooker. You will be spared the hassle of constantly monitoring the process. Place the fish in the multicooker bowl. Add peppercorns, bay leaves, and other seasonings. You can use the “Liquid Smoke” spice - one tablespoon is enough. Pour the tea-oil marinade into the bowl and set the “Stew” mode and the timer for two hours.

This one is pretty big fish you need to not only pre-clean, gut and cut off the heads, but also simmer for a bit in the oven. Place the herring tightly, back side up. Simmer at low temperatures. After this, the fish needs to be allowed to sit in own juice. Brew very strong black tea. When the infusion has cooled, dilute it with 100 ml of vegetable oil, add spices and salt.

Pour this marinade into the herring so that the liquid covers the fish. Place in an oven preheated to 150 degrees. After some time, lower the temperature to 120 degrees. Bake for about two hours, let cool with the oven door closed. We carefully remove the sprats and place them in clean and dry glass jars. This delicacy can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly closed, for about two weeks.

Sprat sprats

First, we remove the heads of the fish, and if the carcasses are large, then the insides. We wash half a kilo of fresh prepared sprat. Pour three tea bags with a glass of boiling water. Let it brew well for half an hour. Place the prepared fish in one layer in a duck pan or cast iron frying pan with high sides, fill with tea leaves. Sprinkle with crumbled smoked bouillon cubes.

Pour in one hundred grams of vegetable oil - refined sunflower or olive oil is suitable for home use. Bouillon cube already contains salt and spices, so they need to be added to the fish in smaller quantities than in previous recipes. Place the container with the sprat on a very low heat on the stove.

Simmer covered for about an hour. During this time, the tea should evaporate, and only fish and oil should remain in the bowl. Turn off the heat and let it cool slowly. If you immediately transfer the sprat into jars, it will immediately fall apart. Pour the fish with the oil in which it was stewed.

Beautiful sprats

The Baltic delicacy “Riga Gold” pleased not only the stomach, but also the eye. The fish in such a tin were bronze-colored, whole, and shiny. To make such sprats at home, you just need to save and not throw away the onion peels. We'll need two generous handfuls of it. We wash the husks, add a glass of water and put on fire. After boiling, cook for twenty minutes.

Then we strain and throw away the used husks. At the same time, brew very strong tea (four bags per glass of boiling water), cool. You can dissolve a large spoon of salt and a small spoon of sugar in still warm tea. Place gutted fish without a head (herring, herring fry, sprat, anchovy) very tightly on a baking sheet or in a fireproof mold with their backs up. Pour in half a glass of vegetable oil.

You need to move the mold a little so that the fat penetrates into the cracks between the fish. Place bay leaves, peppercorns, and other spices on top as desired. Mix tea and onion peel decoction and pour it over the fish. Place in a preheated oven and cook first at 150 degrees. When the liquid above the fish boils, reduce the heat to 120, then bake for two hours.

Sprats from river fish at home

Not only sea creatures are suitable as a base product for a delicacy. Sprats can be prepared from bleak, asp, pike and perch. But river fish requires a special approach. It is necessary to gut the carcasses, cut off the heads, and rinse thoroughly. We peel two onions and chop them into thin rings. Take a thick-walled saucepan or frying pan. Place a layer of onion rings on the bottom of the container.

Then we place a layer of fish. Sprinkle it with crushed bay leaf and pepper and salt. Place the onions again and place the fish on top. Add spices too. The topmost layer should be onions. We make the filling, for this we pour one hundred milliliters into four soup spoons of vegetable oil table vinegar. Shake the marinade and pour it into the contents of the saucepan. We put it in the oven and cook at 140 degrees for about five hours.

What are the benefits of a homemade product?

The recipe for sprats at home is universal. You can prepare a delicacy from any fish. Unlike a store-bought product, it will not contain any preservatives or questionable stabilizers. This is why homemade sprats are not stored as long as factory canned ones. Maximum of two weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator! But such sprats are eaten much faster than the shelf life expires.

Until recently, sprats were a mandatory attribute on our tables both on holidays and on weekdays. But now you rarely see this canned fish. The production technology raises some doubts about the benefits of the ingredients, and even in the manufacturing process itself. Price is often higher than quality. Therefore, we invite you to learn how to cook sprats yourself, at home, from quite affordable fish - herring.

A few words about herring

Herring is a small fish, but there are so many things you can cook from it!

We are accustomed to perceiving herring as an ordinary small fish suitable for feeding cats. But in fact, this fish is a subspecies of the Atlantic herring. Its main habitat is the Baltic Sea, the Curonian and Kaliningrad Lagoons, and less commonly, some freshwater lakes in Switzerland.

According to the time of spawning, fish are divided into two main types - spring and autumn herring. For industrial fishing, autumn fish is considered the most suitable - at this time it is more fleshy and larger in size. Usually the length of the fish does not exceed 15 cm, but during the autumn spawning you can meet real giants, about 35 cm in size.

Since herring differs little in taste and appearance from Baltic sprats, then manufacturers often pass it off as this delicacy, without even changing the labels on the cans. One can only guess how many resources were saved on such production. It’s better to buy fresh or frozen herring (fortunately, its fishing lasts all year round) and cook something from it yourself. For example, the same sprats, which we will turn out much tastier, and most importantly, healthier than store-bought ones. It is not at all difficult and not expensive either in terms of money or time.

Ingredients

As we have already said, preparing sprats from small fish (in our case herring) is easy and inexpensive. Set of products for basic recipe simple:

• herring;
• strong brew of black tea;
• sunflower oil for frying;
• salt.

Choose strong, medium-sized herring. You will have to clean it of the head and intestines; this is difficult to do with small fish. But too large one needs to be cooked longer, and it is not a fact that it will be stewed evenly.

To determine the strength of the tea leaves used, use this simple formula: 4 tea bags or 2 tablespoons of dry small-leaf tea per 200 g of water. This amount of liquid is enough for 1 kg of herring.

Herring sprats are an excellent addition to the festive and everyday table

Note! Herring sprats do not require strict adherence to the amount of ingredients in preparation. They can easily be added “by eye” during the cooking process.

When preparing sprat, sunflower oil is needed not only for frying, but also to soak the fish in it. Therefore, you will need a lot of oil: about ½ cup per 1 kg of fish.

In addition to salt, lovers of spicy flavors can add various spices to the dish to their taste: pepper, bay leaf, fennel, cloves. Even additional products and sauces will not be superfluous!

Housewives often use onion skins to prepare sprat, which gives the fish a pleasant golden color. Some even use liquid smoke.

Recipes for cooking sprats at home

Traditionally, herring sprats are fried in a frying pan, but modern kitchen equipped with both suitable utensils and auxiliary equipment. In our recipes we will tell you about in various ways cooking sprat.

Classic recipe

Although sprats take a long time to prepare, you will have to tinker with them for no more than half an hour. The rest of the time they simmer quietly at the desired temperature, while you go about your business.

For classic sprats you will need:

• 1 kg of fresh herring;
• 2 tablespoons (4 bags) black tea;
• 80–100 g sunflower oil;
• salt, peppercorns, bay leaf.

1. Be sure to clean the fish, removing the entrails and head. Rinse thoroughly.

   

   Clean the herring thoroughly

2. Take a deep frying pan. You can replace it with another dish with a thick bottom, for example, a duck pot. Cover the bottom of the dish with foil and place the first layer of herring on it. Place the fish tightly next to each other, be sure to place the belly down so that the carcasses do not fall apart during the cooking process. Add bay leaves and pepper. Place the second layer of herring on top in the same way. In total, layers of fish should occupy no more than 2/3 of the dish so that the oil does not boil away during cooking.

   

   Place herring tightly in rows, add spices

3. Make a strong brew from tea and 1 cup of boiling water. Strain until the liquid is clear and free of tea leaves. Dissolve salt in it. For this amount of fish you will need about 2 teaspoons of salt without topping, but this is a matter of taste. The amount you need can only be determined experimentally.

   

   Pour in tea leaves with salt

4. Pour in sunflower oil until it completely covers the fish.
5. Without covering the pan or duckpot with a lid, cook the fish over medium heat for 20 minutes.

   

   Add sunflower oil and simmer the herring over low heat for 20 minutes

6. After this, place the dish with the fish in an oven preheated to 160 degrees, cover with a lid and simmer for 4 hours. If you decide to use liquid smoke, at this stage pour 2 teaspoons into the fish, cover again and bake for 1.5 hours until cooked. Without using liquid smoke, the herring should be kept in the oven for about 6 hours without taking it out.

   

   Cover the dish with a lid and place in the oven, you can add liquid smoke

7. When the time is up, take it out. It will become golden, and the bones will be soft, completely unnoticeable. Serve with greens fresh cucumbers, tomatoes or boiled potatoes.

   

   Remove the golden butter sprats from the oven

During the cooking process, you may need to add sunflower oil, since it evaporates over time. heat treatment. And don’t forget that cooled fish tastes saltier than hot fish.

Video recipe: herring sprats

Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

Our hostesses have long been familiar with the culinary creativity of this energetic young woman, who never tires of revealing to us the secrets of dishes from peoples around the world.

For sprat from herring according to Julia Vysotskaya’s method you will need:

• 1.2 kg herring;
• 2 teaspoons of tea;
• 1.5 glasses of water;
• 200 g sunflower oil;
• 3 bay leaves;
• 1 handful of onion peel;
• 1 teaspoon salt;
• peppercorns.

1. First of all, prepare the filling. To do this, put clean onion peels, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns and tea leaves into a saucepan. Pour in 1.5 cups of water and place on the stove. After boiling, boil for 15 minutes and leave to infuse with the lid closed.

   

   Prepare a filling from onion skins, tea and spices

2. While the filling is cooling, clean the herring: cut off the heads, remove the insides and rinse thoroughly.

   

   Clean the herring from the entrails, cut off the heads

3. Place the fish in a deep dish, saucepan or frying pan, close to each other, with their backs up. It is very important to choose the right size container for the amount of fish.

   

   Place the fish in the prepared pan

4. Strain the cooled filling and pour it into the bowl with herring. Add sunflower oil there.

   

   Add the filling and vegetable oil, simmer the fish until cooked

5. Place the frying pan with the fish on the stove, and when the liquid begins to boil, reduce the heat to low. Simmer for at least 2 hours. If you have a special support for the frying pan that cuts through the fire, be sure to use it: it will prevent strong boiling.
6. After the fish has been stewed over low heat for 2 hours, remove it and let it cool directly in the bowl. Sprats are stored well in the refrigerator if you cover them with the liquid in which they were cooked.

   

   Delicious, isn't it?

During the stewing process, do not stir the fish so that it does not fall apart. It will be enough to shake the pan from time to time.

In a slow cooker

A very simple recipe, and most of the hassle in preparing it will be taken on by our constant assistant in the kitchen - the multicooker. You will need:

• 100 g of strong tea, brewed from 4 bags;
• 350 g herring;
• ¼ cup vegetable oil;
• ½ teaspoon salt.

By the way, if possible, be sure to try using not sunflower, but mustard oil. It has a subtle, slightly spicy aroma, which it will gladly share with sprats.

Option without pre-quenching

The ingredients for this recipe are the same as in any of the previous ones: herring, black tea, vegetable oil, onion peels, salt, bay leaf and pepper.

1. Clean fresh herring, cut off the heads and tails.

   

   Clean the herring, remove the heads and tails

2. Place the fish tightly in the prepared container: a special oven-safe pan or frying pan. Place tightly in even rows.

   

   Place the fish in the prepared oven dish

3. Prepare the filling. Brew strong tea and let it cool. Boil clean onion peels for 20 minutes and cool too. Strain the liquids into separate glasses and prepare the oil.

   

   Prepare tea, onion broth and vegetable oil for pouring

4. Add bay leaf and pepper to the bowl with fish.

   

   Add seasonings to the fish

5. Fill the herring with vegetable oil. Swirl the pan a little so that it spreads evenly between the carcasses.

   

   Pour vegetable oil into the bowl

6. Pour the tea leaves and onion peel infusion into one cup, add salt and stir until completely dissolved. Pour this solution over the herring. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and place the pan with fish in it. Cook until the liquid in the pan boils, then reduce the temperature to 120 degrees. The total cooking time should be 2 hours. Note: the fish is not boiled, but simmered.

   

   Pour in the tea leaves and onion broth, then put the fish in the oven

7. And here is the result of cooking: sprats in thick, oily juice.

   

   The sprats are ready!

Of course, the ingredients and their quantities can be changed as desired. For example, a larger amount of strong tea leaves will make the fish a little harder, and if you keep the herring in the oven longer, the bones in it will become completely soft. If you like spices, you can add cloves.

Video: herring sprats cooked in the oven

In a pressure cooker

If you don’t already have this modernized pan in your kitchen, be sure to purchase it - you will notice that it takes complex dishes It took quite a bit of time. Of course, I have already cooked sprats in a pressure cooker, including herring.

1. Prepare the herring, gut it, trim the heads and wash it.

   

   Clean and rinse the herring

2. While the fish is drying, prepare a tea brew from 1 tablespoon loose leaf tea and 1 cup boiling water. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

   

   Brew tea and leave to steep

3. Meanwhile, place the fish on the bottom of the pressure cooker in even rows as shown in the picture.

   

   Place the herring in the pressure cooker in even rows

4. Salt the fish, add pepper and bay leaves, pour in the strained tea and vegetable oil so that they completely cover the herring. The ratio of oil and tea should be 1:1.

   

   Add sauce and spices to the fish

5. Close the pressure cooker, set the valve to the desired position and set the cooking time to 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. The larger the herring, the longer it will take.

   

   Set the required time and wait until ready

While the pressure cooker is preparing sprats, you can drink tea, watch your favorite TV series or walk the dog. And as soon as the device notifies you with a sound signal about the end of cooking, wait until the pressure in the device drops and serve the sprats on the table!

Video recipe: herring sprats in a pressure cooker

With prunes

Prunes will give sprats a piquant aroma

It is known that the peculiarity of sprat is its taste and aroma. smoked fish. Onion peels cope with this, but still do not provide the required richness. Therefore, many housewives add liquid smoke when cooking. However, it is not to everyone's taste. Therefore, earlier, when liquid smoke was not yet on the shelves, prunes were added to sprats.

So, for this dish you will need:

• 700 g herring, cleaned of heads and entrails;
• 1 liter of water;
• 50 g smoked prunes;
• 2 tablespoons of dry black tea;
• 2 tablespoons salt;
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil;
• bay leaf, cloves, a few peppercorns.

1. Prepare tea leaves, boil it for 5 minutes, strain and leave to cool. Meanwhile, place the first layer of herring in the prepared pan.
2. Chop the prunes. Add it and spices to each new layer of fish.
3. Strain the cooled tea, add salt and stir thoroughly until dissolved. Pour the resulting liquid over the herring so that the fish is completely covered, with some room for evaporation. Shake the dishes a little so that the water spreads evenly over the layers of fish, add tea if necessary.
4. Sprats with prunes can be cooked both in the oven and on the stove. In the first case, you need to put the pan with fish in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees, wait for the liquid to boil, reduce the temperature to 120 degrees and simmer the sprats for about 2 more hours. In the second, it is enough to use a divider stand and simmer the dish for 2 hours over low heat.
5. After this time, drain the remaining liquid from the pan with sprats and immediately add vegetable oil so that it completely covers the fish. Put it back on the fire or in the oven, and after the oil boils, simmer for another 15 minutes. That's all, sprats with prunes are ready!

With soy sauce

Fashion for asian cuisine brings its spicy notes to our usual dishes. So sprats from herring did not go unnoticed. Why not cook them with soy sauce?

You will need:

• 1.2 kg of peeled herring;
• 200 g of any vegetable oil;
• 200 g of stronger tea leaves;
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce;
• 1 level teaspoon of salt;
• bay leaf and peppercorns.

A few more recipes from the forums

Brew tea in 1 glass of boiling water. At this time, I quickly cleaned the fish. That's all. Then cook at your discretion - in a slow cooker, oven or multicooker. I cooked in the slow cooker on auto mode for 6 hours, in the slow cooker and oven it cooks for 2 hours. I carefully placed the fish in a slow bowl, poured a strong infusion of tea, salt, seasonings and oil on top. It took night to prepare. I didn't expect it to be so delicious! Not troublesome and easy. I cooked half a kilo as an experiment, and now I recommend it to everyone!

fronya40

http://mooka.com.ua/topic/2016-shproty-iz-salaki/

To prepare sprats from herring you will need: herring - 1 kg, salt, pepper - to taste, a couple of peppercorns, sunflower oil - 80 ml, 3 tea bags. The first time I prepared sprats from herring, I removed the head and caviar or milk. But a lot came off, and next time I decided to try using the fish without cleaning it, it turned out well. So, decide for yourself whether to clean the fish or not. Place the herring in a cauldron or a duck pot; you can also cook it in a slow cooker. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add a few bay leaves. Pour in 80 ml of sunflower oil. Brew 3 tea bags in 0.5 liters of water. The tea should be quite strong (I brewed it for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time). Pour tea over the fish and place in a preheated oven. Simmer at 150 degrees until the water boils away. It took me about 2.5 hours. When the water has boiled away, try one fish, if the bones are well cooked, then you can take it out, otherwise add a little more water and simmer a little more. Try sprats homemade. They go great with mashed potatoes and other side dishes. My husband really liked it))

Sprats are very delicious fish, which is sold in many stores in small flat jars. They can be eaten simply with bread, or used for sandwiches and various salads. However, those sprats that many manufacturers offer us are stuffed with many harmful additives.

Therefore, it is better to learn how to cook this delicacy yourself. Moreover, now it is possible to purchase fish at any fish market specifically for this purpose. How should you prepare it before you start cooking?

Let's look at the basic rules for preparing fish for cooking sprat.

Selection and preparation of fish

The main thing is to prepare the fish correctly. Preparations are carried out as follows:

1. First, the fish needs to be defrosted, sorted and washed;
2. Next, you need to clean it and separate the heads;
3. Also, do not forget to prepare dark tea leaves, it will give the sprats the desired dark color;
4. You can add salt and granulated sugar to the tea leaves; these components will add flavor to the fish. You can also add liquid smoke and onion peels; due to these components, homemade sprats will turn out no worse than store-bought ones;
5. Well, when the fish is prepared, you can start cooking.

Herring sprats in the oven

We will need the following components:

• Herring – half a kilogram;
• 100 grams of vegetable oil;
• Lavrushka – 4 pieces;
• Allspice – 6 peas;
• 1 large spoon of table salt;
• 3 small spoons of black leaf tea;
• 5 grams of onion peel;
• Half a liter of water.

Cooking time – 2 hours 30 minutes.

1. If the fish is frozen, it must be thawed in cold water;
2. Then we cut off the heads, gut them and clean out all the insides;

Next we make the filling solution. Pour hot water into a glass and pour the tea leaves into it. Leave for a while until the solution becomes dark in color. After this, let it cool;

Place the onion skins in a saucepan and add a glass of water;

Place on the stove, bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes. Then remove and cool;

Place allspice peas in a container with fish and add a bay leaf;

Fill everything with vegetable oil and twist the mold slightly so that the oil completely penetrates into the cracks between the fish;

Pour the tea leaves and onion peel solution into a deep cup and mix;

Add salt there and stir until it is completely dissolved. Pour this mixture over the fish;

Place the mold with all the components in the oven, preheated to 150 degrees. Cook the liquid until it boils;

After the liquid boils, the temperature must be reduced to 120 degrees and cooked for 2 hours;

As a result, natural sprats should be much better and tastier than store-bought ones.

How to make sprats from capelin in a frying pan

We will need the following:

• 1 kilogram of capelin;
• Vegetable oil – 100 ml;
• 4 bay leaves;
• 70 ml soy sauce;
• 6 peas of allspice;
• 2 cloves;
• 250 ml water;
• 5 large spoons of loose leaf tea;
• Salt.

Cooking time – 2 hours.

First of all, pour the tea leaves into a glass and fill it with hot water. It should stand for a while until it becomes dark in color;

Then defrost the capelin, remove the head and entrails and rinse thoroughly in cold water;

Pour the brewed tea into a separate cup and add soy sauce, vegetable oil and salt. Since soy sauce itself is salty, you should not add too much salt;

Next, place the fish on the bottom of the frying pan in a dense layer. Sprinkle it with allspice peas and bay leaves;

Fill everything with the marinade solution and put it on the stove;

Heat to a boil and reduce heat;

Simmer under a closed lid over low heat for about 1-2 hours;

As soon as the liquid is reduced by half, the capelin sprats will be ready and can be removed from the heat;

Ready sprats can be served with boiled potatoes or rice.

Cooking traditional sprat sprats

• 600 grams of sprat;
• 100 ml vegetable oil;
• One cube for broth with smoked flavor;
• A glass of hot water;
• 3 small spoons of black tea;
• Lavrushka – 2 pieces;
• Allspice – 4-6 peas;
• Salt.

Cooking time – 2 hours.

Let's move on to cooking:

1. First, we prepare the tea leaves. Place the tea in a glass and fill it with hot water. During the preparation of the remaining ingredients, the tea will brew. Instead of tea leaves, you can use tea bags;
2. Next, defrost the sprat in cold water. We separate the head, cut the abdomen, take out all the entrails and wash thoroughly;
3. Place the cleaned fish in a frying pan with thick walls;
4. Mash the broth cube into powder and sprinkle it over the fish. Also sprinkle with salt, but do not oversalt. Do not forget that the cube contains salt;
5. Pour the brewed tea into a deep cup, add vegetable oil and stir. If desired, you can add allspice and bay leaf;
6. Then pour the marinade mixture over the sprat and place it on the stove;
7. Simmer covered over low heat;
8. After about 2 hours, all the liquid should evaporate, and only vegetable oil will remain;
9. The finished sprat will be very tasty and aromatic. It can be eaten with potatoes, vegetables and used to make sandwiches.

Cooking your favorite sprats from river fish

What we need:

• Small River fish- 1 kg;
• 200 grams of onions;
• 100 ml vegetable oil;
• Bay leaf – 3-4 pieces;
• Allspice – 5-6 pieces;
• A little salt.

Filling solution:

• 100 ml table vinegar 3%;
• 4 large spoons of vegetable oil.

Cooking time – 4 hours.

1. Small fish need to be washed cold water, cut the abdomen and remove all the entrails. We leave the caviar and milk. We wash and clean everything inside. There is no need to remove the scales; we will cook directly in them;
2. Peel the onion and cut into thin rings
3. At the bottom of an enamel base container, place a thick layer of onion rings, then a layer of fish and sprinkle it with salt, allspice and bay leaf. Place the onion on the fish again and again a layer of fish seasoned with salt, bay leaf and allspice peas. Finally, place onion rings on top;
4. In a cup, dilute a solution of marinade from vinegar and vegetable oil. Mix everything;
5. Pour marinade over all ingredients, close the lid and place in the oven;
6. Cook at a temperature of 130-150 degrees for 4-6 hours;
7. After this, the sprats can be served. Or put it in a glass jar, add vegetable oil, close it with a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator.

Technique to help: sprats in a pressure cooker

Cooking ingredients:

1 kilogram of small sea fish - sprat, capelin or herring;

A glass of olive or any other vegetable oil;

1 tablespoon table salt;

100 grams of sulfur tea;

A glass of hot water;

5-6 peas of allspice;

2-3 cloves.

Cooking time – 40-50 minutes.

1. Place the tea in any deep cup and fill it with hot water. Leave for a while so that it brews well;
2. We wash the fish, remove the heads and clean the insides;
3. Place it in a pressure cooker container, sprinkle with salt, allspice peas, and bay leaves;
4. Fill everything with the prepared dark tea leaves, cover the lid and place on medium heat;
5. As soon as the hissing starts, reduce the heat and cook for 30-50 minutes;
6. After this, remove the pressure cooker from the stove and do not open it for 30-40 minutes;
7. Then open it, take the prepared sprats out onto a dish and serve with any sauce.

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What to serve with your favorite fish?

Since sprats are not that difficult to prepare at home, they can be combined with any everyday dishes. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are great for gravies. Suitable for mashed potatoes, porridge, any pasta. They can also be used as an addition to vegetable salads from greenery.

Sprats can be used to make sandwiches. But before cooking, it is best to place them on paper napkins or a sieve so that all excess oil is drained. Then the pieces of bread or toast need to be greased butter, processed cheese or sauce. Lay out the sprats and decorate with pieces on top fresh cucumbers, pepper, sprigs of herbs and tomato slices. You can add pieces of fruit such as kiwi and avocado.

They can be used to make pates. To do this, sprats need to be mashed with boiled egg yolk, processed cheese and butter. This pate can be used for greasing slices of bread, for filling baskets and profiteroles.

• In order for the sprats not to fall apart and retain their shape, you need to use a more saturated brew;
• Cooking time directly depends on the size of the fish. For example, if it is larger, then the cooking period needs to be increased, if it is small, on the contrary, it should be reduced;
• You can store ready-made sprats in any container; first fill the fish with vegetable oil and cover with a plastic bag or lid. Then put it in the refrigerator;
• It is not advisable to remove sprats immediately after cooking, as they can be easily damaged. It's best to wait until they cool completely.

Sprats made according to these recipes will be an excellent treat for any dish. They can be used for sandwiches, salads and other side dishes. Try making them yourself, it's not difficult at all. The main thing is to do everything according to the recipe, then you will get excellent, tender and aromatic fish.