Our Daddy's Pickled Northern Pike Fish Recipe
Hey everyone, it's Sheena's sister Shannon, from The Sota Stitcher, here today with a "secret" family recipe! :)
You fabulous readers are pretty lucky to be privy to this amazing recipe that our dad has made since we little! Ha!
Now that I'm a big girl... you know all married and everything, my husband makes this and every time he does, it's like a flashback into my childhood!
Now before you get all weirded out, because a lot of time pickled fish does that to people, I gotta tell you.... this is nothing like pickled herring that you buy in a grocery store.
Because this is a white fish, the consistency is firm... and the flavor of the brine is out of this world!
Our Daddy's Pickled Northern Pike
Note: Typically my husband uses a couple good-sized northern pike... this time he used two 24 inch fish. When you cut the fish up, don't worry about cutting out the Y-bones because they will dissolve during the pickling process.
Step One:
- Cut fish up into small pieces and use about 4-5 heaping cups of the cut up fish.
- Combine 2 1/2 - 3 quarts of water with 1 cup of salt or enough salt to float an uncooked egg. (Make sure fish are covered with salt water mixture.)
- Let fish stand in salt water in refrigerator for 48 hours, stirring a couple times to make sure fish are not stuck together.
Step Two:
- Drain salt water from the fish (DO NOT RINSE FISH PIECES!)
- Cover fish in clear white vinegar and let stand in refrigerator for 48 hours.
Step Three:
- To make the brine, combine the following ingredients in a saucepan. *4 cups vinegar, 3 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon whole allspice, 6 whole dried red peppers, 7 whole cloves, 4 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon mustard seed.* Bring to a boil, cover and turn down heat to maintain a gentle boil for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let brine cool. Then add 1/2 of 750 mL bottle of white port wine.
- Drain vinegar from the fish (DO NOT RINSE FISH PIECES!)
- Slice 2 or 3 onions onto the fish pieces.
- Add brine to fish and onions.
- Let the fish and onions stand in brine in refrigerator for a minimum of 5 days (the longer you let it stand, the better the taste and texture of the fish).