Pike yukola: recipes, how to cook it correctly

Classic cooking option

The traditional recipe for making delicious yukola from pike meat involves using only caught fish. Scrape the scales off the pike. Make a cut along the length of the entire carcass from the tail to the head from the back and abdomen. Remove the bones from the fish fillet using tweezers. Cut off the head.

Important! The head should not be cut off first, as it is convenient to hold on to when slicing.

Separate the unnecessary part of the fillet so that a layer of meat up to 1 cm thick remains on the skin. Transverse notches are made on the flesh in a filigree manner, without disturbing the skin. In the belly part, make the cuts thicker, since this is the fattest part of the carcass. The workpiece is hung by the tail on a hook, turned inside out. In the warm wind, the fillet on the skin will soon become crusty. A fly will not be able to overcome this barrier, so it will not introduce eggs into the meat. Continue the drying process for 6 days, depending on weather conditions.

Cooking steps

Step 1 Take a good pike and wash it under running water. Then the fish must be cleaned of scales and freed from entrails.

Step 2Next, cut the carcass in half down to the tail and remove the spinal bone. The head is also cut off. You need to try to remove all the bones from one half.

step 3 A similar operation is carried out with another part of the fish. You should end up with two halves of fish without bones, which are fastened together at the tail.

step 4After this, the spine and head must be completely removed, the fins cut off and the presence of bones checked. At least the costal bones should be removed, and you can also try to get rid of small bones using tweezers.

Step 5 Next, you need to make cuts along each half all the way to the skin. The distance between them is 1-2 centimeters; the cut should be made at a slight angle.

step 6Then you should cook the brine. To do this, in a separate container you need to mix bay leaf, sugar, basil, salt, hot red pepper. Then the spices are poured with water and the brine is sent to the stove. After boiling, you need to remove it from the stove and let it cool. Immerse the fish in the brine for at least two to three hours, preferably overnight. Then the product is allowed to dry. To do this, hang it in a ventilated room for two to three days or near a fire for two to three hours. To protect against insects, you can wrap the product with gauze.

step 7 After this, the fish is placed on a wire rack and sent to the oven. Be sure to place a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom, as juice will drip from the fish. The product should be simmered for three to four hours at a temperature of 50-70 degrees. Appetizing pike yukola, prepared according to a step-by-step recipe with photos, it’s ready, you can try it.

Bon appetit!

Spicy delicacy

You can prepare spicy pike, sun-dried until transparent amber, using the following ingredients:

pike carcass – 1.5 kg;
coarse sea salt - 3 tbsp. l.;
granulated sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
ground paprika – 1 tbsp. l.;
chili - a pinch;
laurel leaves – 2 pcs.;
dried basil - 2 tbsp. l.

Thin slits in the flesh ensure high-quality drying of the pike.

Interesting! Siberian hunters ate dried pike in small pieces, dipping it in fine salt.

How to prepare nicely seasoned yukola:

How to stew a pike

Gut the fish, scrape out the scales and wash. Cut off the head.
Divide the carcass in half along the ridge.
Remove the spinal bone, separating the pulp with your hands.
Make cuts throughout the fish along the flesh, without catching the skin.
Parallel stripes should be located at a distance of 1.5 cm from one another.
To make the brine, combine granulated sugar with salt, bay leaves, ground pepper and dried basil in a bowl.
Add chili powder to taste.
Pour the brine components with water and boil it.
Immerse the fish carcass in the cooled marinade and leave overnight.
Hang the workpieces in an open space, away from direct sunlight.
Leave the pike to dry for 3 days.
Place the carcass on a wire rack and place in the oven for 3 hours at 50 degrees.

To prevent dripping fat from burning, place a tray with a sheet of foil on the bottom of the oven. Cooked spicy pike can be eaten as soon as it has cooled slightly.

Classic pike yukola recipe

Pike yukola is a dried fish. This is a very tasty and unusual dish. Its recipe has been known for a long time. Dried pike is an ideal addition as a beer snack. The pike itself is very useful. Therefore, the dish cannot be considered harmful if consumed in moderation.

Pike yukola can be prepared in several ways. However, the most correct and classic way is to keep the spicy and salted fish carcass outside near the fire. It should be smoked a little - this is the taste of real pike yukola. The recipe for this dish came from cold Siberia. In Yakutia, they still know first-hand all the secrets of preparing dried fish. Such food saved the Yakut people from freezing cold long winters. Since fish yukola is very nutritious and contains a storehouse of vitamins. Pike is rich in protein and could save you from winter exhaustion. Dried fish easily and in its simplicity replaced canned fish. It did not need to be sealed in jars and was stored for a long time without problems. For the Siberian nomads, this was simply a godsend. It was possible to prepare dishes and nutritious fish soup from it. Which is still being done today.

Classic pike yukola was prepared without any additives and was not even salted. Left outside in the wind. Due to the fact that it froze at night and thawed again during the day under the sun, all the water left it. This was a big plus, since this process contributes to a longer shelf life of pike yukola. In some areas they added salt before felting, but rarely because the salted fish then led to severe thirst. In some regions, smoking pike over a fire was common.

Pike yukola, in addition to its rich beneficial composition, has another great advantage - it is low-calorie.

The classic yukola recipe requires only freshly caught fish for preparation. No spices, seasonings or salt are needed. The cooking recipe will be convenient for owners of private houses.

Recipe:

Remove the head of the fish. Gut and scale the fish.
Each pike carcass must be cut longitudinally from top to bottom, from the back. So that only the large bone holds the two parts together.
Then you need to remove all the large bones, and transverse cuts are made along the entire length of the fish itself.
The finished pike halves are hung in an open area, in the yard or veranda. The main thing is that the place is windy and does not receive direct sunlight. It is better to choose a shaded room. Under the sun, the fish will turn out too dry and unpleasant.
The readiness of the fish depends on its size. The larger the fish, the longer the felting process will take.
Due to the fact that the fish is in an open area, there is a high probability that flies and other insects will not attack. To avoid these unpleasant consequences, it is recommended to wrap the fish in gauze.
To give the fish an unusual taste, you can smoke it near a fire.

This fish is suitable for cooking, such as soups. You can take it with you on a long hike without fear that it may deteriorate.

Determining the readiness of a dish

The drying time is influenced by the size of the fish and weather conditions. Criteria for determining readiness:

small fish are dried for 2 days;
large carcasses should hang for 5–6 days;
It is better not to dry the fish slightly;
properly cooked meat shows through;
to the touch the flesh is very elastic and dense with greasy reflections;
the skin looks dried, feels dense to the touch and comes off easily;
After the pike is removed, it is better to wrap it in parchment or cloth.

Dry pickling

This is the easiest way to cook fish. It doesn't take much time. Therefore, if you don’t know how to salt pike at home, simply treat it with a dry seasoning mixture.

Required Products:

carcass weighing 1.5 kg;
a mixture of salt and sugar (in a ratio of 2:1);
some fish seasoning.

Step-by-step creation of a dish:

For proper salting, the prepared fish must be cut into two parts along the ridge line.
Remove the bones.
Absorb all excess moisture with towels.
Take a plastic food container or a regular enamel bowl with high sides.
Place one strip of pulp on the bottom.
Sprinkle it generously with seasonings.
Additionally, you can add a little vinegar.
Place a second strip of pulp on top and also sprinkle with the dry mixture.
To ensure that the meat is well saturated with salt and spices, you need to rub it well with your hands.
Now the dishes with pike should be put under pressure for at least two days.
During this time, the fish will have time to salt and become completely suitable for eating.

Pike is a dangerous freshwater predator. Its meat contains important microelements - phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, etc. Regular consumption of pike meat has a positive effect on the functioning of the thyroid gland and the condition of blood vessels. One of the ways to prepare it is salting; without exposure to high temperatures, the product retains maximum benefits. How to salt pike at home? Find out in this article.

Number of servings: 1
Cooking time: 48 minutes

It is not recommended to wash pike in water immediately before cooking; this must be done in advance. Before salting, moisture and mucus should be removed from it with a napkin; the scales can be left. The entrails must be carefully removed without damaging the gallbladder (this can spoil the taste of the dish). The head and gills also need to be removed; the ridge is not necessary, but it will be more convenient to eat the finished dish without it.

If you have a large pike, make several cuts in the back area, so it will salt faster and more evenly.

You can start salting.

Preparing a pike carcass

First, you should thoroughly clean the pike of scales and entrails, remove the fins, head and tail. Rinse it, wipe dry and cut into small pieces. The carcass is cut into thin pieces, and then each part is divided into two more halves. Then, so that in the future nothing distracts you from enjoying this most delicate delicacy, you need to remove all the bones and cut the pieces into fillets. The pieces should be made equal in thickness (about 2 cm) so that they are evenly salted and soaked in the marinade.

Beautifully decorated pickled pike will decorate even a festive table

Mix the fish thoroughly with your hands to rub the spices into each piece. Next, add salt mixed with sugar to the fish. Thanks to this combination, the pickled pike will turn out lightly salted.

Mix everything thoroughly so that each piece of pike is evenly coated with salt. Next, peel the onion and cut it into thick rings, add the onion and pepper - peas to the fish and mix everything thoroughly again. You need to take a clean, dry liter jar and put it in layers: first fish, then onions, then fish again, trying to compact it tightly so that all the pike fits in one jar.

Yukola. Especially for FEST.

All northern peoples have a way of preparing dried or dried fish, which is called yukkola, yukola, yurok, paci, yehul, pehe, etc. In short, every nation has its own name for this product, which is prepared without the use of salt. Firstly, salt is harmful to health, and secondly, salting itself spoils the product.

Indeed, when salting, we first remove all the juices from the fish, and then also wash them by soaking them in water. It is no coincidence that the most delicious fish is lightly salted or stroganina.

The recipe for making yukola is quite simple. We cut the pike into layers and cut out the spine. We will also cut off the head, and later we will cook fish soup from all the production waste. The thickness of the layer should not be more than 1.5 cm, otherwise it will be difficult to dry the fish. Therefore, it is best to use small pikes for these purposes - no more than 2-3 kg. Then you need to make neat transverse cuts on the fish, after about 2-3 cm without cutting through the skin. What is important is that the edges of the cuts should not become shaggy, which is ensured by a well-sharpened knife.

Now the layers of fish must be carefully hung on poles in a strong wind. And on the windward side you should light a small fire so that the smoke gently blows over the fish, giving it a pleasant aroma.

It is best to prepare yukola in late autumn in sunny, windy weather. Then there are no more flies, and the pike is very tender. At night, all the fish will have to be removed so that it does not collect dew. And the next day drying can be continued. When the entire layer is covered with a light crust, the fish can be hung in the attic.

The process of preparing real yukola is quite complex, so tourists have simplified it. Before drying, the prepared layer is placed in a concentrated salt solution for 5 minutes. Then the brine is allowed to drain and after that the layers of fish are hung. The drying process is simplified, and salt crystals formed on the surface protect the product from flies.

And now - about the most unpleasant thing. You should not prepare yukola from pike caught in densely populated areas. Firstly, the water here is not at all the same as in taiga rivers or lakes, and secondly, the pike may contain plerocercoids (cysts) of the tapeworm. And after two to three months, an unwanted lodger (worm) more than 10 meters long will appear in your intestines. Of course you can get rid of it. Now everything is being treated. But it's better not to take risks.

If you really want to try yukola, then before consuming it you should keep it for a week, or another (you really can’t stand it) in an industrial refrigerator at minus 30C. And then you can quite safely treat your friends to this unusual product called yukola. This is what I wanted to tell you about by posting my photo on the site.

Yes, I almost forgot – about the ear. Fish soup made from pike heads and giblets is extremely tasty, especially on the second day, when it turns into aspic.