My wife comes from a culture where preparation and eating of dried fish is very common (as long as one takes the proper measures to deal with the smell). She prepared for me recently a serving of dried mackerel, but it was sooooo salty that I could only bear to eat one or two bites. Can anyone recommend some sort of preparation method to counteract this excessive salty flavor?
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The standard way to cook salt cod for dishes where you want to really remove the saltiness, such as brandade, is to soak it (for hours) in a couple of changes of water, and then simmer it in milk for half an hour to an hour. This might work with the mackerel. Not sure what you'd use it for after that, though. |
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If you don't mind the texture you could rehydrate the fish by soaking it in water for at least an hour. You could add them to a soup as well or eat with rice to help dull the saltiness. |
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Sprinkling a little lemon juice or vinegar on dried fish will mask the saltiness. |
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Spiciness is always a great way to mask saltiness. If you like spicy food, try crushed red pepper flakes in boiling vegetable oil for a flavorless spicy addition to any food. |
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As FuzzyChef indicates in his answer, the standard way is to soak in abundant cold water. The number of hours depends on the thickness of the piece. Some cod can be soaking for 48h with a change of water every 8-12h. But, there is no need for simmering the fish in milk. You can use the fish as usual once the desired saltiness is reached. |
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