Catfish balyk is not only a tasty dish, but also quite practical. If prepared correctly, such food is perfectly stored for a long time, is easy to transport, and does not cause any trouble when serving. The original role of all balyks was precisely this. Once upon a time, people came up with the idea of ​​smoking and drying pitted fish fillets so that they could take them on a long journey and refresh themselves there without wasting time and effort on organizing a feast. It was possible to eat fish balyk without getting out of the saddle. This is the reason for its initial popularity. Times and people's needs have changed. And what was once commonplace and simple rationalism has today become a real delicacy. After all, despite all the practical aspects, catfish balyk is a real delicacy!

Huge selection

Before making balyk from catfish, let's look at the varieties of this fish. Today there are a huge number of catfish species. The smallest of them, mostly unsuitable for consumption, are aquarium catfish. However, even among them there are edible and very tasty species. For example, Angolan catfish is a medium-sized fish, suitable for baking, frying, and smoking. In our latitudes this is a rather rare and expensive product. The largest catfish caught by fishermen weighed almost 300 kilograms! It is not for nothing that since ancient times people believed in stories about cannibal catfish. These giants look so scary that when you look at them it’s easy to believe it. However, there is no evidence of their attacks on people. But for culinary specialists, it is giant catfish that are of the greatest interest. But they are an even more expensive rarity. Therefore, today we will talk about medium catfish - weighing 3-5 kilograms, which abound in fresh rivers and lakes throughout the Eurasian continent.

How to choose fish?

In order for the catfish balyk to be tasty and of high quality, we will pay attention to the choice of raw materials. All the rules that we follow when buying fish apply: clean eyes, no unpleasant odors and unnatural colors. There is one more rule - the larger the fish, the tastier the dish will be. It is advisable that the catfish be fresh and not defrosted. And the best option may be to prepare balyk from catfish caught with your own hands!

How to cook catfish balyk yourself: preparation

The process will take a lot of time and will require accuracy and careful execution of the instructions. However, do not be afraid - this is real creativity. And the result is worth it! So, let's be patient and get started.
Wash the fish and dry it with paper towels. To salt the catfish, we cut its carcass into pieces 6 centimeters wide. You can salt it whole, however, apart from a minute effect before direct consumption, this method does not have any advantages. It requires large dishes, space for drying, and cutting it into pieces before serving is extremely inconvenient. Therefore, we will prepare balyk from catfish, cut into pieces.

Place the pieces in the pan, filling it no more than two-thirds full. Let's start salting. If there is Extra salt in the house, remove it away. It is completely unsuitable for salting fish. On the contrary, the coarser the salt, the better. The ideal option is sea. Its fraction is quite large, it dissolves slowly, and its taste is much richer and brighter than the usual one. You can add a little sugar to the salt, just a little. There is no need to prepare the brine - we will simply rub the fish pieces with salt.

Place a lid of a smaller diameter in the pan with the fish and apply heavy pressure. Why is it needed? The gravity squeezes out the resulting air bubbles from the product, preventing them from accumulating between the layers of fish. If this is not done, microorganisms will begin to accumulate in the bubbles, which can lead to spoilage of the product. It takes about 3 days to salt the fish. A weight or a bottle of water will serve as pressure. The salted pieces of catfish should be washed, placed in a container with clean water and left for a couple of hours. This will remove excess salt.

Cooking balyk

Let's move on to the most difficult stage. Dry the pieces of fish by placing them in a draft. You can’t over-dry the fish! Otherwise, you will end up with an ordinary ram, and not a delicious catfish balyk, the recipe for which has come to us from time immemorial. After letting the pieces dry, we wrap each of them in a clean rag and put them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. We will have to fight the temptation to try the delicious fish for 15 days, or even better, 30. Then the fish will simply melt in your mouth!

If you are a fish lover and enjoy cooking it at home, then you will be interested in how to prepare catfish balyk, which has a very delicate taste and at the same time turns out to be quite satisfying. Ready-made balyk can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time, and it will always help you out if unexpected guests arrive.

Catfish balyk - recipe

Before you make balyk from catfish, you need to choose a good fish, this is what the final result depends on. The catfish should be the freshest and thickest fish you can find.

Take the selected carcass, skin it, remove the peritoneum and ribs. You should only have the fillet left for salting. Cut it into pieces. Pour salt into the bottom of the dish in which you will salt the fish (it is better to use a glass or enamel utensil), place the fillet on top, then salt again, and fillet again. Alternate layers in this manner until you run out of fish.

Cover the dish with a lid and refrigerate for 3 days. Then remove the fish, rinse and hang in a well-ventilated place. Leave it for 3-4 days, but make sure that the fillet does not dry out. When the fish has dried, wrap it in foil and let it lie in a cool place for 3 days.

After this, cut the fillet into thin slices and help yourself.

Cooking fish according to this recipe will take you less time, but the taste will be just as delicious.

Cut the catfish so that only one fillet remains. Cut it into pieces 5-6 cm thick and rinse. Place the fillets, cut sides down, in a marinating bowl so that the pieces fit snugly together and sprinkle coarse salt on top. If necessary, place a second layer of fish on top and also sprinkle it with salt.

Place the container in the refrigerator for 2 days, then remove the fish, rinse and hang the pieces in a cool place for several days. After this time, your balyk will be ready.

Sturgeon balyk was considered one of the most delicious fish dishes. The best was balyk, made from “blank” sturgeon (i.e. not caviar), it is fattier.

First, the abdominal cavity of the sturgeon was cut off and the organs (heart, liver, and intestines) were removed. An incision was then made in the middle of the spinal column. Having cut off the head and peritoneum, they removed the viziga (dry veins covering the spinal column) through a cut hole, washed them in water and hung them to dry. Then they tore out the glue and laid it out to dry on the boards.

The sturgeon carcass was not washed in water; it was rubbed with saltpeter and covered with salt. In the latter, the sturgeon lay for four to five days. If salted, it should be hard; if soft, then it should remain in salt for up to six or seven days. Then the balyk was soaked in water, if well salted, then for a day, and if weakly, then for twelve hours. It was important not to over-soak it. If the sturgeon was still soft, it was tied lightly in a balychnitsa and smeared with saltpeter diluted in water, from which it turned pink. In sunny weather, the balyks sang faster than in cloudy weather and had a more marketable appearance.

Cut off sturgeon and stellate sturgeon heads were salted into the root (i.e. for future use, for a long time). The cut-off sturgeon peritoneum, from which the meat was made, was also placed in the salt, where it remained for a day, no more than two. After which it was soaked for 8-12 hours, and then straightened with spacers and dried in balychniki. They also prepared balyk from beluga.

Balyk from sturgeon fish

Sturgeon fish species include: sturgeon, thorn, kaluga, beluga, stellate sturgeon, bester. These fish, living in natural conditions, are listed in the Red Book. At the same time, today there are many factories engaged in breeding fish, including sturgeon.

To prepare balyk from sturgeon fish, you can use frozen, chilled or live fish.

If there is live or chilled fish, before cutting it is necessary to bleed it by cutting the gills, and in beluga, in addition, make a longitudinal incision in the tail, below the anal fin. Rinse the bloodless fish, thoroughly clearing the belly of mucus, then cut the belly between the pectoral fins, not reaching 3-4 cm from the anus and avoiding cuts to the intestines. When gutting, carefully remove from the fish the eggshells or milt, fat deposits, intestines along with the anus, all other entrails, as well as the dorsal string (vizig). Rinse the gutted fish thoroughly with water until blood, mucus and other contaminants are completely removed.

If you have frozen fish, you must first defrost it in air at a temperature no higher than 20 degrees C or in water at a temperature no higher than 15 degrees C. There should be five times more water than fish. The fish prepared as indicated above must be cut, depending on the type and size, into sides, backs and sides.
** Salting sturgeon:
Pour a layer of salt 1-2 cm high at the bottom of the salting container, then lay the fish in tight, even rows, skin side down, sprinkling each layer of fish with a 1 cm layer of salt. After a day, pour all this with cold brine at the rate of 100 grams of salt per 8 liters of water. The fish should be completely covered with brine. Approximately, fish should remain in brine for 4 to 7 days. We take the fish out of the brine and wash it thoroughly in a saline solution prepared at the rate of 100 grams of salt per 5 liters of water. After washing, it is necessary to keep the fish in the air to equalize the salinity. This process will take 2-3 days.

Now the fish needs to be tied or stitched. When hanging the fish with twine, tie and sew the fish (backs) or just sew it (sides, sides) with twine, while making a loop for hanging the fish on slats (poles, ramrods). Now the future balyk needs to be dried under natural conditions, in the open air. In warm weather this will take from 1 to 2 days, in colder times of the year from 2 to 4 days.

Now all that remains is to smoke our balyk. The approximate time the fish spends in the smokehouse is from 30 to 40 hours. During the initial period of smoking, the temperature should be no more than 23 degrees C. By the end of smoking, the temperature should increase to 30 degrees C. Ready sturgeon balyk can be stored at a temperature of 0 - 2 degrees C for 45 days.

Balyk from carp

Balyk was prepared from carp somewhat differently than from sturgeon. They also cut across the back, took out the spinal column, took away the head, and dipped the carcass itself into boiling strong brine on the count: One, two, three?. Then the fish were hung on runners to dry. These balyks were not sold; they were eaten only by the owners themselves.

Balyk, or salted and dried meat, is an excellent snack for beer, a nutritious camp meal, and simply a very tasty dish. For balyk, chefs advise using large fish, weighing more than 5 kilograms. So, balyk made from catfish, carp, and carp is good. But it is best to use large carp for such a delicacy. Why? - you ask. There are several reasons for this: firstly, the carp is not too bony, unlike its “relative” carp, which means you don’t have to painstakingly select bones from the future balyk with tweezers. Secondly, carp, even the largest, practically does not pick up the smell of mud. Well, thirdly, carp meat is very tasty and there is a lot of it. Convinced? Then we prepare balyk from carp!

The secret to getting a delicious balyk is in the correct cutting of the fish. For balyk we need to separate the fillet. We start by cutting off the head and tail fin, removing the fins and entrails. After this, we thoroughly rinse the carp from the inside, removing the remaining entrails, blood and films from the abdominal cavity. Using a sharp knife, make an incision along the back of the fish. Then we carefully layer the fish from the tail to the belly, separating the ridge. Using a hatchet or sharp knife, chop the ribs and leave them in the fillet.

Now the future balyk from carp needs to be cut so that the fish is well salted and tasty. The optimal cutting for large fish is as follows: carefully cut off the back of each fillet half and cut crosswise into pieces of 2-3 centimeters. We cut the belly along the ribs and roll it into rolls. That's it, the fish is cut up and ready to be turned into a delicious, aromatic balyk!

To prepare balyk from carp at home, in addition to fish, we will need:

coarse salt (sea salt is best),
spices for fish - of your choice,
pickling container,
oppression,
nylon thread,
gauze.

The first stage of preparing balyk is salting. It is best to salt carp in a dry way. Place a layer of fish in a salting container and sprinkle with a handful of salt. If you want to make the taste of balyk a little sweeter, add sugar to the salt in a ratio of 4 to one (for 4 tablespoons of salt - 1 spoon of sugar). Sprinkle the fish pieces with spices. After this, place the next layer of fish and again sprinkle with salt and spices. Place the salted fish under pressure in the refrigerator for 3 days. During this time, it must be stirred at least 2-3 times.

After three days, the salted carp is ready for the second stage - washing and soaking. First, wash each piece of fish in running water. Let's try it: if the salt in the taste is strong enough, soak the fish for a couple of hours in cold water - it will draw out the excess salt. Take out the soaked pieces and dry them on a towel.

And now, the last stage is approaching: carp balyk needs to be dried at home. We string pieces of balyk onto a nylon thread and hang it in a cool, dry place where fresh air can be provided - on a glazed balcony, loggia, in a ventilated basement, cellar or pantry. If you make balyk in the summer, it is better to additionally wrap it in gauze to protect it from flies and other insects. In the meantime, while the balyk is drying, you can have time to go fishing again, or at least read about new ways of fishing on the main page of our website. It takes two days to dry the balyk, after which we remove it, wrap it in parchment or natural fabric and send it to ripen in the refrigerator.

The finished balyk turns out tender, soft, and guests and household members will surely like it.

Catfish balyk

We gut the catfish without touching the gallbladder, cut off the tail at the level of the anus, cut off the peritoneum, going onto the sides, this will be a treat. We cut the tail like sausage, in pieces of about six centimeters, this is actually balyk.

Salt in enamel or stainless steel containers. If there is none, you can cover any with a piece of plastic film, preferably one that is intended for packaging food. Polyethylene is better with a margin in terms of dimensions.

We lay them in tight rows with the cuts up and down, sprinkling the pieces of tail with salt, approximately at the rate of 1.5 kg of salt per 10 kg of fish. If cut carefully, it can be packed very tightly. We lay all these layers on top with a mahalla (end of the tail) and pieces of meat, skin side up. Flat pieces, naturally, are also salted. Sprinkle everything on top with salt, press down with pressure, if it’s polyethylene, wrap the pieces up.

Coarse salt, regular salt is fine, but in no case extra salt. finely ground. The coarser the grind, the better. The best one is the one that is transported by barges from Baskunchak. In warm weather, it is better to keep the jug in the refrigerator; when it gets colder, on the balcony, whoever has the opportunity.

We keep the fish in brine (brine), if necessary, we take out as much as necessary, wash it thoroughly under running water, and scrape the skin with a dull knife. We hang the pieces for a day or two. Once the skin has hardened, everything is ready; there is no point in drying it any further.

We use the back for cutlets, pies, etc., including hot smoking. When cutting, we use the hinges that the catfish has. Having the skill, a half-centner catfish can be cut with a pocketknife. Wash the fish only before drying; before cutting, you can only scrape it lightly; anyway, all the mucus will appear only after salting.

The fish does not lose quality for six months, until the next season.

Dried catfish is a real delicacy that is not embarrassing to serve even at the holiday table. Balyk is made from it, dried in steaks or strips, small catfish - whole. In this form, the fish is not only tasty, but can also be stored for a long time. Most often, cooks have to deal with specimens weighing from 3 to 5 kg. For drying, you need fresh catfish that has not been frozen, ideally caught with your own hands. The process of preparing a homemade delicacy is not quick or easy, so it doesn’t hurt to be patient and have information on how to dry catfish.

Balyk

Method 1
Remove the entrails from the catfish, but so as not to touch the gallbladder. Cut off the tail at the level of the anus. Cut into carcass (belly), back (balyk) and layer (the part closer to the tail). Cut the tail part into pieces 6 cm thick. For salting, prepare enamel dishes; if you don’t have one, you can line any with food-grade polyethylene, so that you can then wrap the fish on top. Sprinkle all parts with salt. For 10 kg of fish you will need approximately 1.5 kg of coarse salt. Place the top and the end of the tail on top, sprinkle with salt, and put pressure on it. Place the container with fish in the refrigerator for three days. Then remove the catfish pieces from the salt and soak them in water for about two hours.

Dry the fish and hang it to dry in a ventilated, dry place for three days.

After three days, the dried catfish should dry out. Remove the pieces of fish, wrap each piece in a separate cloth or piece of foil and put it in the refrigerator. You can try catfish no earlier than two weeks later.

It is important not to dry out the fish

Method 2
Cut the fish into balyk and tesha. Place a layer of salt about three centimeters thick at the bottom of the container. Rinse the balyks in running water, rub with salt and place them in a salting dish with their backs facing down. The amount of salt should be about 40% of the weight of the fish. You can put crushed ice on top. Salt the meat separately.

After 36 hours, pour cold brine over the fish and leave for 15-30 days, depending on the air temperature and the size of the fish carcasses. Then wash them in brine and dry for three days in the cold.

To prevent salt deposits on the balyk, they are soaked in water at a temperature of 4 degrees. Soaking time is from 5 hours to two days. Next, the pieces are tied with twine and hung for two to three days to drain. The balyks are then placed on hooks under a canopy and dried for 10-30 days, depending on humidity and temperature. In winter, the drying process is longer - up to 45 days.

You can determine the readiness of the balyk by its elastic, light yellow flesh. The fish should have a pleasant smell.

Store ready-dried catfish in wooden boxes on parchment in a well-ventilated area at 10 degrees and air humidity of about 75% for no longer than 3 months.

Steaks

This option is suitable for withering a large specimen. For a catfish weighing 20 kg, you will need 5 kg of coarse salt. Fine salt is not suitable for pickling.

Preparation procedure:

1. Clean the fish carcass from scales, scrape off the mucus, cut off the head and tail, remove the entrails and rinse well in water.
2. Cut the carcass crosswise into pieces 3 cm thick.
3. Roll the steaks in salt and place in a bowl. Sprinkle another layer of salt on top, cover the container and put it in a cool place for three days.
4. Then rinse each steak with water and dry with a napkin.
5. Place pieces of fish on paper clips and hang on a rope in a ventilated place for a day or two.
6. Remove the steaks, wrap each piece separately in thick cloth napkins and refrigerate for two days.

The dry-cured steaks are now ready to eat. They can be wrapped in foil and stored in the refrigerator.

Recipe for dried straws

Dried catfish straws will appeal to all beer lovers. A three-kilogram catfish is suitable for its preparation.

Ideally, to prepare dried catfish straws, you need a special dryer, but at home you can replace it with a dryer for fruits and vegetables, which many households have.

Preparation procedure:

1. Clean the catfish carcass, gut it and wash it.
2. Remove the fillet from each side of the fish, remove large bones from the flesh with tweezers, cut off the skin with a sharp knife.
3. Cut the catfish fillet into thin strips along the grain, taking into account that the strips will become thinner during drying. It is optimal to cut them about 1 cm thick.
4. Boil water in a separate bowl, put salt in it, stir so that it dissolves faster. The ratio of water and salt is 1:1.11.
5. Immerse the prepared fish strips in the resulting solution and put it in the refrigerator for a day.
6. Drain the brine, place the fish strips on a cloth and dry.
7. Now the straw blanks need to be withered. To do this, place them in the dryer and keep them in it for three to four hours at a temperature of 120ᵅC.
8. Cool the workpieces and turn on the dryer again for 1-2 hours.
9. Now the straw is ready for use. To store, put it in bags or wrap it in foil and put it in the refrigerator.

Dried catfish straws should be dense in consistency, moderately salty and have a beautiful amber hue

When cutting catfish for drying, the skin and excess fat must be removed.

Some lovers of dried catfish recommend adding granulated sugar to the salt: for 5 heaped tablespoons of salt - 1.5 heaped tablespoons of granulated sugar.

In addition to salt, when salting, you can add black peppercorns, coriander peas and a little cumin (on the tip of a knife).

Catfish balyk is not only a tasty dish, but also quite practical. If prepared correctly, such food is perfectly stored for a long time, is easy to transport, and does not cause any trouble when serving. The original role of all balyks was precisely this. Once upon a time, people came up with the idea of ​​smoking and drying pitted fish fillets so that they could take them on a long journey and refresh themselves there without wasting time and effort on organizing a feast. It was possible to eat fish balyk without getting out of the saddle. This is the reason for its initial popularity. Times have changed. And what was once commonplace and simple rationalism has today become a real delicacy. After all, despite all the practical aspects, catfish balyk is a real delicacy!

Huge selection

Before making balyk from catfish, let's look at the varieties of this fish. Today there are a huge number of catfish species. The smallest of them, mostly unsuitable for consumption, are However, even among them there are edible and very tasty species. For example, Angolan catfish is a medium-sized fish, suitable for baking, frying, and smoking. In our latitudes this is a rather rare and expensive product. The largest catfish caught by fishermen weighed almost 300 kilograms! It is not for nothing that since ancient times people believed in stories about cannibal catfish. These giants look so scary that when you look at them it’s easy to believe it. However, there is no evidence of their attacks on people. But for culinary specialists they are of the greatest interest. But they are an even more expensive rarity. Therefore, today we will talk about medium-sized catfish - weighing 3-5 kilograms, which abound in fresh rivers and lakes throughout the Eurasian continent.

How to choose fish?

In order for the catfish balyk to be tasty and of high quality, we will pay attention to the choice of raw materials. All the rules that we follow when buying fish apply: clean eyes, no unpleasant odors and unnatural colors. There is one more rule - the larger the fish, the tastier the dish will be. It is advisable that the catfish be fresh and not defrosted. And the best option may be to prepare balyk from catfish caught with your own hands!

How to cook catfish balyk yourself: preparation

The process will take a lot of time and will require accuracy and careful execution of the instructions. However, do not be afraid - this is real creativity. And the result is worth it! So, let's be patient and get started.

Wash the fish and dry it with paper towels. To salt the catfish, we cut its carcass into pieces 6 centimeters wide. You can salt it whole, however, apart from a minute effect before direct consumption, this method does not have any advantages. It requires large dishes, space for drying, and cutting it into pieces before serving is extremely inconvenient. Therefore, we will prepare balyk from catfish, cut into pieces.

Place the pieces in the pan, filling it no more than two-thirds full. Let's start salting. If there is “Extra” salt in the house, put it away. It is completely unsuitable for salting fish. On the contrary, the coarser the salt, the better. The ideal option is sea. Its fraction is quite large, it dissolves slowly, and its taste is much richer and brighter than the usual one. You can add a little sugar to the salt, just a little. There is no need to prepare the brine - we will simply rub the fish pieces with salt.

Place a lid of a smaller diameter in the pan with the fish and apply heavy pressure. Why is it needed? The gravity squeezes out the resulting air bubbles from the product, preventing them from accumulating between the layers of fish. If this is not done, microorganisms will begin to accumulate in the bubbles, which can lead to spoilage of the product. It takes about 3 days to salt the fish. A weight or a bottle of water will serve as pressure. The salted pieces of catfish should be washed, placed in a container with clean water and left for a couple of hours. This will remove excess salt.

Cooking balyk

Let's move on to the most difficult stage. Dry the pieces of fish by placing them in a draft. You can’t over-dry the fish! Otherwise, you will end up with an ordinary ram, and not the delicious balyk from which it came to us from time immemorial. After letting the pieces dry, we wrap each of them in a clean rag and put them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. We will have to fight the temptation to try the delicious fish for 15 days, or even better, 30. Then the fish will simply melt in your mouth!