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  • Sportsman's Kitchen Forum
    Snowbird pickled fish - 19 Jan, 2021

    I'm probably gettin' out on a limb here in the deep south, but pickled fish is a go-to appetizer across frozen tundra land. Homemade is so much better than the pickled herring stuff from the store - no comparison. Everybody's got their own version, this is mine.

    Back home we use mostly northern pike, because pickling dissolves all the Y bones. But when we're fishing the 10K islands we look forward to getting into some silver trout and whiting, so we can pickle 'em up!

    Here you go...
                                                                             Bob’s Pickled Fish

     

    Cut fillets into bite sized pieces.

    Add ½ cup salt for each 2 lbs fish. (2 cups fish pieces = ~ 1lb)

    Cover with cider vinegar, stir well, store in fridge for 5 days.

    Rinse well with cold water, let soak for a few minutes.

    Loosely pack fish in jars with alternating layers of sliced onion.

    2lbs fish = 4 cups fish = 3 pint jars – make 1.25 qt pickling solution

    Add 3-4 whole allspice per jar. Add crushed red pepper flakes for a hot version.

    Cover with pickling solution:

    1 1/4 cup sugar

    1 ¼ TBS pickling spice

    2 ½ cup white vinegar

    1 ¼ cup water

    1 ¼ cup white Port wine

    (I had trouble finding white Port in south Florida, so I bring it along now. You could substitute with any sweet white wine. Go with the highest alcohol content, white Port is 18%. - it’s a flavor thing)

    Simmer pickling solution for 5 minutes, cool before covering fish in the jars.

    Let stand in fridge for at least a week before serving. Will keep up to a year in the fridge.

    Once they're ready to eat a variation we really love involves adding sour cream. Just drain the pickling liquid, pick out the allspice balls, and add enough sour cream to just coat all the fillets.

    Eat right out of the jar or on your favorite cracker. Enjoy!