Brining salmon roe

[Peter Green]

Quick,

I've got some salmon roe on the countertop.

How long should I brine this, and how much/what type of salt should I use in the brine!

[Baggy]

Maybe not the voice of an expert, but generally the method seems to be:-

Make up a brine solution 30% by weight of salt in 100% by weight of water (30g salt added to 100g water). Probably best if the brine is fully chilled.

Soak the roe for no more than 30 minutes (roe should take on a slightly opaque appearance). No less than 20 minutes soak time, and it's probably best to make sure the roe is properly broken up so the individual eggs all get coated with brine.

Drain the roe using a sieve or similar. Clean off the gunky bits.

Store covered in a cold refrigerator.

I guess how long you are prepared to let it keep depends on your confidence in the process!

[edited for grammar]

Edited April 27, 2007 by Baggy (log)

[Peter Green]

Thanks, Baggy!

I'd already got started on this before I'd read your post. It didn't go well. The problem lay in getting the skein away from the eggs.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to use salmon roe juice.

I think the problem may lie in the eggs having been frozen (no way around it. I have to bring the fish out here from home once a year). That may have reinforced the bond with the membrane.

But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Peter

[Baggy]

I commiserate. Freezing does all kinds of horrible things to the texture and appearance of food and I can’t say I’m surprised that it fouled up your salmon roe.

However, depending on what you have to hand, there is no reason not to mush the stuff, mix it with sodium alginate and squirt it drop-wise into a calcium chloride solution to get salmon roe caviar elBulli-style! It works with apple juice (honest!).

[Sam Salmon]

In order to separate the Roe from the Skein you need a Stainless Steel Screen of a certain size-1/8 to 1/4' mesh.

Press firmly rub the Skein over the screen and the Eggs drop into a bowl below.

Yes you'll crush some Eggs but it's the same as making Wine you have to crush some grapes.

[Blether]

However, depending on what you have to hand, there is no reason not to mush the stuff, mix it with sodium alginate and squirt it drop-wise into a calcium chloride solution to get salmon roe caviar elBulli-style!  It works with apple juice (honest!).

←

Indeed

Sodium alginate plays a major part in the making of artificial salmon eggs in Japan. (SA gel for the skin, seaweed extract for flavouring, salad oil for the embryo spot).

Commercial processing of salmon roe into 'soy pickled' salmon roe - pictures - using mesh screens.

Amateur's method using hot water at 40-50C. You can use a 3% salt solution to preserve the texture, or plain sweet water to give the eggs more crunch. After the eggs are separated in the hot water, they are rinsed several times with cold.

"As an alternative, set a fish-grilling mesh (barbecue mesh) over a bowl of 3% salt solution, place the roe on the mesh and use both hands with a motion as if drawing a circle" to drop the eggs into the bowl. Again, rinse several times.

You can apparently freeze the separated eggs very successfully (for a long time if first vacuum-packed), but shouldn't freeze the unseparated roes.

Edit while we're here to add: how to make your own soy sauce, complete with detailed temperature graph, no less.

Edited April 28, 2007 by Blether (log)

[Peter Green]

Thanks, guys.

I'm ready for the next fish.

Cheers,

Peter