Herring "Like smoked"

Salted herring is usually always present on the New Year's table as a simple cut or as a component of a New Year's salad. In this form, it is undeniably tasty, but if you want to bring a new trend and new tastes to the menu, you can try experimenting with the salting technology of this universal fish for all time. Today on the menu - herring like smoked for the New Year!
Due to the fact that the herring, especially from the northern latitudes, is rather fat in itself, you can pickle it in the style of smoked fish delicacy and let it airy to improve the taste and appearance. It is up to you to decide whether to use liquid smoke in the brine - in our case, you get a completely natural fish without dubious additives, which you can gladly present on any table and for any company. On weekdays, such a salty “smoked” herring will go away with a bang with potatoes and cucumbers, and on holidays it will become a table decoration and an object of increased interest to curious guests.

Ingredients:

• - fresh-frozen herring - 2 pcs.;
• - water for brine - 1 l;
• - sugar - 1 tbsp;
• - salt - 3 tbsp;
• - onion peel - 1 handful;
• - black tea - 2 tbsp .;
• - vegetable oil - 1-2 tbsp. (for lubrication).

Cooking time: 3-4 days
Servings: 5-8

Herring Recipe

1. It is advisable to start cooking with the preparation of the coloring brine, since it needs time to brew, and then insist in order to get intense pigment to color the herring and simulate the effect of smoked fish. Onion husks and strong tea brewing will act as coloring substances, if desired, use liquid smoke (100 ml of liquid smoke per 1 liter of brine). So, for starters, pour black tea with boiling water.
2. Wash onion husks from dust, sand or earth, lower them into hot tea leaves and put the pan on the stove.
3. Bring the liquid level to the required 1 liter, boil for about 5 minutes, turn it off and let it brew and cool for about 1 hour.
4. While the infusion is infused and cooled, we cut the herring thawed at room temperature: it must be washed, cut off all the excess - heads, tails, remove the insides, clean the belly and rinse thoroughly again.
5. When the liquid in the pan is completely cooled - filter it and discard the husk and tea leaves. Add salt and sugar to the filtered tea leaves, mix, dissolve the crystals - the dye brine is ready!
6. Put the chopped herring in a suitable tray so that the brine covers it completely.
7. Pour the herring with brine, and if it pops up, put the saucer on top to "drown" the fish in water for uniform coloring of the skin. We put the container in the refrigerator for 2 days, periodically you can turn it over and control whether both sides are painted the same way.
8. After 2 days, remove the herring from the brine, lightly blot it and hang it to dry. You can hook the fish by hooks / paper clips, or you can hang it by the tail with a threaded thread. We weed herring in the open air or in a ventilated kitchen at a temperature of 15-25 degrees 1-2 days.
9. As a result, part of the moisture from the herring leaves, fat is distributed more evenly in the tissues, and the fish "ripens" to perfection! We coat the sides of the fish with vegetable oil and transfer to the cold. Keep such a "smoked" herring in the refrigerator for no more than a week.
Cold smoked herring ready! Bon Appetit!