getting ready for shad season, and couldn't find my pickled fish recipe on here - some may enjoy - I know I like it!
Pickled Shad (works for other fish as well)
ingredients
hope you like it - you can also adjust the pickling juice when you make it -make it to your taste, more sugar or less - add garlic, etc
Pickled Shad (works for other fish as well)
ingredients
- Shad
- onion
- water
- salt
- vinegar
- sugar
- pickling spices
- clean and cut shad into 1 inch chunks or so (no need to bone or skin but I do trim off the backbone due to size)
- mix up a salt brine - Use ½ cup salt per quart of water, mix until dissolved. (This amount will differ depending on how many fish you plan to pickle.) Note: you must cover fish in brine so make more rather than less
- put fish into a non-metallic container (bowl, pail, crock), cover with salt brine, and refrigerate for 24 hrs
- pour brine off of fish and rinse
- put fish back into the container and cover with vinegar - refrigerate for 48 hrs, stirring occasionally (gently) - this "cooks" the fish like ceviche
- pour off vinegar but don't rinse
- make pickling juice - mix 4 cups vinegar, 3 cups sugar, and a ¼ cup of pickling spice, heat till sugar dissolves but NOT boiling (some now add wine) then cool all the way down - must be cold before next step or you'll cook your fish again
- cut up onion into slices
- now pack the jars - do this in layers, fish then onions and so on till you fill the jar. You can pack them down by smacking the bottom of the jar on your hand but I just push (broke a jar once). After you have the jar full of fish and onions you fill it up with your cool pickling solution. I fill all the jars then wait awhile to let it fill all the nooks and crannies then I top them off and put the lids on. They do not need to be sealed and last for several months in the fridge.
hope you like it - you can also adjust the pickling juice when you make it -make it to your taste, more sugar or less - add garlic, etc