Drying whole fish for Korean cuisine

[jfrater]

Hi all - I want to dry some whole white fish and I was advised that the best method is to gut and clean it, wash it thoroughly, rinse it in salt water and hang it outside in the air for one or two days. Does this sound right to everyone here? Is there something else special I ought to do? Also, when it is dried do I rinse it before storing it in the freezer? I plan to roast it whole Korean style.

[heidih]

So you have had the dish with pre-dried fish before? How large a fish? I am eager to learn about the process.

[jfrater]

I have seen it on Korean dramas I cook Korean food a lot and this is one dish I can't find a recipe for. The fish is medium sized - small enough to fit on a dish to be shared by four people at the table - about the size of a mackerel I guess (which is the fish I am using).

[Country]

Mackerel is a pretty oily fish and, while I've smoked mackerel, I've never seen it dried. If it is possible to dry mackerel, it should probably be brined first.

[mkayahara]

I wonder if this is the same sort of preparation as Japanese ichiya-boshi? I'm sure I've seen directions for that somewhere (and, as I recall, it did involve brining the fish), but I haven't been able to find them.

[Mjx]

Any chance of your assigning another use to your mackerel (actually an oily fish, not a white fish), and trying the drying with cod or another white fish? Not sure how dry you're going to get a fish with such a high oil content.

[milgwimper]

I've had dried mackerel, and my favourite Yellow croaker/corvina dried that way. The one thing I did find besides the japanese way of making Salted mackerel I found some directions on a scientific journal abstract on Gulbi (Corvina) drying. Gulbi Paper

In the methods it seems they used a salt and weight of the fish ratio. 30:100.

They salted the fish for 12 hrs, rinsed twice, and then air dried in the sun for 3 months (traditional method)

Then the others they ran them in hot air dryers at varying temperatures, for shorter times. 30-35C being optimal.

Keep us updated, as to what you end up doing. I am so incredibly curious. I couldn't find much info than what I had written. Good luck.

[Franci]

just the other day I was reading about drying mackerel in Secrets of the Red Lantern.

It's a semi dried fish so it should be eaten within 2 days.

Mackerel cutlets are washed very well to remove residual blood then dried well. Sea salt is massaged on each side of the fish, with reasonable pressure, without distroying the flesh. Cover with cheesecloth to let moisture drain away. Then the fish is dried in filtered sunlight for 4-6 hours.

Shallow fry and serve with dipping fish sauce.

He talks about drying in the oven on very low heat for different hours. I'm thinkign about a dehydratator, same temperature as for jerky (75 C).

You made my think about my mother in law (chinese), once at my parent's house in the south of italy, she semi sun-dried some anchovies and deep fried. The best. Maybe I should do that with anchovies...

Edited November 7, 2011 by Franci (log)