Spohie's Pickled Fish

Sophie's Pickled Fish - Seriously... THE BEST!

This recipe is extremely easy and delicious. Just follow the detailed, step-by-step instructions and you will be enjoying mouth-watering pickled fish before you know it!

For this recipe, we use 5 pounds of fish (weight before cleaning).

Yield: 1 1/2 quarts pickled fish

Ready to eat in 3 weeks

Full ingredients list:

• 4 cups Water
• 1 cup Pickling salt (not iodized salt)
• Approx 5 cups White vinegar
• 2 cups Cider vinegar
• 2 Tbs Pickling spice
• 1 tsp Mustard seed
• 2 cups Sugar (can cut in 1/2 or use even less if you prefer)
• 4 Bay leaves
• 2 Dried Chile or Cayenne peppers
• 5 Whole cloves
• 1/2 tsp Whole black pepper corns
• 1 medium White Onion
• 1 Lemon 

Instructions:

• Clean & filet fish (we use Northern Pike)
       (No need to worry about the Y-bones. They dissolve.)
• Cut fish into cracker-sized chunks
       (1 1/2" or so, fish will shrink a little during the pickling process)
• Freeze fish in water (This step is very IMPORTANT!)
       (For whatever reason, this prevents fish from getting a 'slimy' texture.)

To pickle the fish:

• Let fish defrost
• Drain water
• Mix the following until dissolved in a large non-reactive bowl:

          4   cups   water
          1   cup     pickling salt (not iodized salt)

• Put fish into salt water (make sure pieces are not stuck together)
• Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours

After the 48 hours is up:

• Drain and rinse fish.
• Put fish back into bowl and pour white vinegar over it to cover.
• Stir fish around so pieces are not stuck together (do not pack in tight)
• Add more vinegar if needed to cover fish completely
• Cover, refrigerate, and let soak for 24 hours (stir a couple times - every 8 hours or so - to make sure all sides of each piece get exposed to the vinegar) 

After 24 hours is up:

• Mix ingredient for the brine (recipe below), boil brine for 1-2 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool completely. (Do not pour hot brine over fish. We are pickling it, not 'cooking' it.)

Pickling Brine:

• 2 cups Cider vinegar
• 2 Tbs Pickling spice
• 1 tsp Mustard seed
• 2 cups Sugar
• 4 Bay leaves
• 5 Whole cloves
• 1/2 tsp Whole black pepper corns
• 2 Dried Chile or cayenne peppers [This ads flavor, not heat.] 

When brine is cool:

• Peel lemon (be sure to remove as much of the white part of the rind as possible)
• Slice lemon and remove seeds
• Peel and thinly slice onion

• Layer into the jar: Onion, fish, lemon (repeat)

• Remove the Chile pepper and whole Bay Leaves from the brine.
• Cover layered fish with cooled brine
  (TIP: The spices all float to the top while the brine is cooling. To get all the spices into each jar equally, I pour the brine in a large measuring cup and stir it while I pour.)

• Remove air bubbles with a non-metallic utensil (a wooden chop stick works great).
• Wipe the rim of the jars.
• Place lids on jars, label and mark a date on lid 3 weeks from processing so you know when it is ready to eat.
• Give the jar a little tumble to distribute the spices if needed.

ENJOY!