| Drying smoked fish in the sun to prevent molds. the ones with molds were not properly dried before storing |
Kitchen Tips On Smoked Fish. Freezing in ziploc bags is the best method of preservation for smoked cat fish, but when one cannot afford regular electricity, other methods come in handy.
For any Nigerian family that loves swallow/foofoo, Two to three pots of soup are cooked weekly to go with the fufu. Cooking variety of soups for our swallow can be very easy and fun when one knows a few tips and tricks.
For me,
I said it before that smoked fish and crayfish are my secret ingredients to great taste of soups whether draw, egusi, vegetable or any local Naija soup.
Cooking soups without crayfish and smoked fish can be very stressful. You add too much seasoning cubes and sometimes over-salt the soups while trying to find out why the taste is below expectation…
Shopping Tips For Smoked Fish:
- Press a finger on the stomach, if it feels too soft, the fish may be bad.
- Buy smoked fish that’s still a bit brown and black. very black fish may have got burnt in the process of smoking.
- Buy fish that looks fresh and a bit fleshy. Too dry may mean that it has stayed too long with the seller and passed through the fire too many times.
- Oily fish may have gotten bad and re-oiled to make it look fresh.
- Fish with moulds do not taste good.
- It’s more economical to buy in bulk. It is even more cheaper if 2, 3, or four people combine to buy a carton of fish and then share. Buying in cartons is the cheapest.
- where they can be got at their cheapest rates is in a place like Maiduguri. In the north of Nigeria.
How To Preserve Smoked fish:
- Store fish in airtight plastic containers
- Sun or oven dry at least once a week
- Do not throw away the heads, keep them for porridge and soups when they are in powdered form
- Check for insects by shaking the fish
- If possible, open fish up before sunning and storing
How To Use Smoked Fish Head:
- Store fish heads in a separate container until they are many.
- Oven dry or sun very well
- Grind and sieve out the tiny particles of bones
- Keep the smooth powder for meals like ekpang, porridge yam, porridge plantain, white soup, and other non- vegetable soups.
- Fish heads ground into powder and used for cooking are great taste enhancers. Do not waste smoked fish head, it can be very useful in powdered form.
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Wow…thanks. When you say 'grind' do mean dry grinding at the mill? I rarely use dry fish for my husband cos smtimes, he picks them out so grinding is a great idea.
I use a blender, the part for dry grinding or pound in a mortar before sieving.
Wow! Tanx aunty Ojay,now I can preserve d fishes sent to me by mum. D taste is vewy great when used in ur spaghetti or jollof rice.
~BONARIO~says so via NOKIA3310
Thks Eya. Great tips. I always throw d head of dried fish away. I wont anymore. As for storage i wrap my dried fish in old newspapers and tie them in rubber bags and keep them in the freezer. Believe me, they retain their freshness till whenever you want to use it. And buying in bulk also reduces the cost as u rightly said.
Oh, thanks too for this tip. Is it like a whole pack of newspapers or just a few?
eya why cant one use d ground fish head for vegetable soup will it spoil d taste?
Hi Chi, I haven't tried it with vegetable soup.
U can wrap a batch of fish in 3 or 4 pages of d newspapers and tie in 2 rubber bags. They retain their freshness and dont develop mold.
Btw thks for the recipe of the chicken curry sauce. Made it on monday wit spagetti and my husband loved it. I loved it too. Really yummy.
OK, thank you!
Sorry to ask ooo, which one is rubber bags- bcos I think I lyk dis method of storage as am not always arnd to dry in d sun. Eya, thanks so much for u good works,keep it up. Your Fan #winks#
Sorry, I meant "Thanks so much for your good works"
Ok. Black polythene bags.
Freezer is d best
Yes freezer is best, instead of bring them out everyday to sundry. especially in places where you have winter.
I followed your procedure. It was absolutely delicious! It is consistently tasty so thank you!
U re so inspiring, God bless u so much.
Ur teachings re so inspiring, God bless u so so much.
U re so inspiring, God bless u so much.
Thanks sis but pls how do we preserve the fish in a place where there is always blackout. Thanks