Kirk’s Pickled Herring
(recipe courtesy of Loren W. via Monkeyfacenews.com)
Ingredients for the Pickling Liquid:
4 cups of water
5 cups white vinegar (5%)
3 TSP allspice
4-5 bay leaves
2 TSP fresh grated ginger
1 TSP mustard seed
2 TSP prepared horseradish
3-4 TSP pickling spices
1 cup brown sugar (Loren uses 3 cups, I use 0.5 to 1.0, to each his own)
Method:
Or, The Herring Are Coming and When They Arrive Here's What I Will Do To About 100 of Them:
Scale them somewhere far from my kitchen. (Being rather deciduous in the scale department these guys will clog a drain like no other fish--not even monkeyface eel snot can compare to the drain clogging potential of a bucket of herring).
Fillet the little buggers--making sure to snip off all fins. (Making sure there is a cold six pack and a shot of Aquavit to go along with this painstaking process) Hone my fillet knife to straight-razor sharpness, beforehand. HOW TO FILLET HERRING VIDEO
Cut the fillets into small 1.5 inch chunks. Brine these chunks overnight using this ratio: 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup salt, 1 qt water... making sure the fillets are covered by the brine solution and that I am using a plastic, or stainless container (not aluminum!)
Next morning pour out the brine and rinse the fillets thoroughly.
Prepare pickling liquid: (this much pickling liquid is enough for: two half gallon plastic mayo jars, 2 quart jars, and six pint jars... so just over two gallons)
This pickling liquid must be brought to a boil and then cooled.
Peel and slice 4-5 large red onions.
Pack jars alternating layers of fish, onions, fish, onions etc.
Pour cooled liquid into packed jars till all the layers are covered.
Put in refrigerator: it'll last at least 4 weeks--or longer--I can't say for sure because we usually eat it all within two or three weeks.