Fried herring, marinated in sweet and sour sauce

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 12 herring(s), green
• 650 ml herbal vinegar 5%
• 50 ml balsamic vinegar, lighter
• 800 ml water
• 5 tsp, heaped vegetable stock powder
• 6 onions, red
• 2 chili peppers with seeds
• 4 tbsp, heaped sugar
• 2 tbsp, heaped mustard seeds
• 1 lemon(s), juice
• 2 tsp, heaped salt
• 2 tsp, heaped dill tips
• 1 tsp, leveled dill seeds
• 1 tsp, sautéed coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp, stalked juniper berries, crushed
• 1 tsp, leveled allspice berries
• 3 carnations
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp, heaped peppercorns
• Pepper, ground, for the fish
• Salt for the fish
• Flour for the fish
• Oil for frying the fish

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Rest period approx. 3 days; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 3 days 2 hours 30 minutes

old home recipe with spicy taste

Gut the herring, cut off the heads behind the pectoral fins, diagonally forward. Cut off all the fins with scissors, wash the fish, and dry them. If you don’t want to go to this trouble, have the fishmonger do it for you, or buy ready-to-cook herring (seasonal items) at a discount store during the winter months as part of a special offer: 6 herring in a 650g pack. Sometimes you can also buy 3 herring in a 330g pack. The spices are also available as a ready-made spice mix with a similar composition, fish spice “for smoking” in a 1kg pack. It’s also suitable for marinating sauerbraten. Squeeze the lemon and reserve the juice. Slice the onions and chop the chilies. In a large pot, heat the water, vinegar, all the spices, onion slices, and chilies. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, then let it cool. Now rub the fish inside and out with the lemon juice and season generously with salt and pepper. On a large plate, coat the fish in flour and then pat dry. Heat a large pan with cooking oil and fry the floured herring in batches until browned. Cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Be careful, they burn easily! Drain the fried fish on kitchen paper. Place the first layer of fish in a sufficiently large container (not metal) and use a ladle to ladle the cooled stock with the onions and spices that have sunk to the bottom onto the layer of fish. Now add another layer of fried herring and cover again with spices, onions and stock, etc. By the end, all the fried herring should be completely covered in the liquid. If you’re impatient, you can try them after 3 days, but you’ll find that the best flavor only develops after a week of marinating. The fried herring will then be marinated, and the fine bones will have softened or even dissolved due to the acid. We like to eat the fried herring with the onions with mashed potatoes or fried potatoes. In this vinegar, sugar, and water ratio, and stored covered at a minimum temperature of 7°C in the refrigerator, the fried herring will easily keep for up to 4 weeks. Enjoy!