pickled fish

[erain]

we brought back some nice northern pike from our last trip up to canada over the 4th weekend... a friend said he had the surefire recipie for pickled fish. actually we tried it out already when we got back from memorial day weekend. it really is top notch so figured would make a post out of it. this really is good stuff!!!
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Pickled Fish
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1/2 gallon water(cannot use city water... for best results buy water from store)
1 cup pickling salt
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cut up the fish into bite size chunks.

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and soak in the water/salt mixture 24-48 hours.

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drain and rinse fish, soak in vinegar 48 hours

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slice onions and lemons

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pack fish in jars layering with lemon and onions

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also add to the jars pickling spices, 1 Tablespoon per quart, these are pint jars so put 1.5 teaspoons in each. they are under the top onion so they are kinda hidden but they are in there...
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Make a brine,
2 cups white vinegar
1.5 cups white sugar
I had to make triple batch of this to have enough to cover all the fish. Bring the brine to a boil, continue to boil 1 minute. then cool in refrig. pour over fish,onion,lemon,pickling spices in the jars till full and cover with lids and rings.

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refrigerate, and let set for about a week...

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enjoy... thks for cking my pics

[Richtee]

Wow... straight vinegar? I'm kind of surprised at that. Most pickles are diluted around 50/50. SERIOUS pucker power there!

Don't suppose there'd be anything wrong with tossing a chili or maybe a chipolte in there either? ;{)

How ya eat 'em? Crackers/bread...maybe a salad?

[Bassman]

Good looking fish. I guess the bonus is that you also get pickled onion at the same time.

[erain]

Wow... straight vinegar? I'm kind of surprised at that. Most pickles are diluted around 50/50. SERIOUS pucker power there!

Don't suppose there'd be anything wrong with tossing a chili or maybe a chipolte in there either? ;{)

How ya eat 'em? Crackers/bread...maybe a salad?

straight outta the jar, or on a cracker how we eat em. yup straiht vinegar and they are awesome. hands down best pickled fish i ever made or had. dang... yup i bet a chili would be just fine!!!

Good looking fish. I guess the bonus is that you also get pickled onion at the same time.

you got that right bro... sometimes i wonder which is better, the fish or the onion

[Fishawn]

Never had pickled Northern, but love Salmon & Steelhead..... As noted, interesting soak in the straight Vinegar.... Have never used the Lemon in it before, will have to give it a try..... Great work as always ~E~

[Meat Hunter]

Looks great Erain. Very nice. Approx how much fish did you use for this recipe and how many jars did you end up with? Also, how long will these keep?

[Whisky Fish]

Sign me up for some of that too! for a great tutorial! Thanks

[Slanted88]

Man that is awesome! Louie can's shrimp....gonna try yer way on the next lot!

[erain]

Looks great Erain. Very nice. Approx how much fish did you use for this recipe and how many jars did you end up with? Also, how long will these keep?

did 8 fillets,i didnt weigh the fillets but from 4 fish which were right at about 27 inches, prolly 5-6 lbs a fish live weight. 27.5 inches is the top length you can keep up there except for one other fish.

as far as how long they keep i am not sure but looking at other recipies i see 3-4 weeks mentioned sometimes. have never had any last longer than a week myself. usually give some away and take some to work so they go fast over here.

i did forget to mention that if possible use fresh not frozen fish, frozen fish doesnt get as firm as fresh....

on edit, ended up with 12 pints

[curious aardvark]

lot of stages - but I reckon I could put a few of those jars to good use

Never had chunked pickled fish, should work just as well in slices though I would think.

Have some pickled pike pickler ;-)

[Zeeker]

Wow. that looks like a great recipe erain. On the to do list Bud...

[Gunslinger]

Oh that is gonna be good. I like pickled carp and I'm trying this recipe next batch. You sir, get the first from me since my hiatus.

[DanMcG]

Thanks for the recipe and the pm Erain. One question though can I expect the Y bones to dissolve in the vinegar or do they need to be filleted real well?

[RowdyRay]

Erain, those look very tasty. Interesting recipe. Bet those are good. May have to try this. Thanks.

Wow... straight vinegar? I'm kind of surprised at that. Most pickles are diluted around 50/50. SERIOUS pucker power there!

Don't suppose there'd be anything wrong with tossing a chili or maybe a chipolte in there either? ;{)

How ya eat 'em? Crackers/bread...maybe a salad?

Yep, vinegar. Dad's recipe, (I posted it) is the same process. Kind of lengthy but worth it. His has chilis in it too. Hehe.

Thanks for the recipe and the pm Erain. One question though can I expect the Y bones to dissolve in the vinegar or do they need to be filleted real well?

Don't mean to answer for Erain. Just don't use too big of fish, and you won't even know they're there.

[erain]

Thanks for the recipe and the pm Erain. One question though can I expect the Y bones to dissolve in the vinegar or do they need to be filleted real well?

i think unless you had a pretty dang big pike... like over 20 lbs or so maybe the vinegar may not totally dissolve the y bones, but i betcha as long as you get the ribs and the spine out you end up boneless...