Valentine Warner's pickled herring
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- + salting and pickling
- Easy
- makes 2 × 500g jars
Skip to ingredients
- 4 small herringfilleted and pin-boned
- 2 tbsp flaked sea salt
- and butter to serve crusty bread
marinade
- 500ml white wine vinegar
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 2 small carrotspeeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp fennel or dill seeds
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 medium onionpeeled and finely sliced into rings
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal399
- fat23g
- saturates0g
- carbs17.4g
- sugars0g
- fibre1.2g
- protein31.6g
- salt3.54g
Method
step 1
To make the marinade, put the vinegar, sugar, carrots, spices and bay leaves in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Leave to cool completely. Blanch the onion in a small pan of boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain in sieve under running water until cold.
step 2
Put the herring fillets in a colander and sprinkle the flesh side with salt. Leave to drain over a bowl for 3 hours. Wipe off any excess salt with a dry kitchen towel. Cut each fillet diagonally in two.
step 3
Sprinkle some of the sliced onion into the base of two sterilised 500ml jars. Add a ladleful of the marinade and drop in a few pieces of the fish. Continue layering the jars with onion, marinade and fish until you reach the top of each jar. Make sure that the marinade completely covers the fish.
step 4
Cover tightly and chill in the fridge for at least two days before serving. Store in the fridge and eat within a week of opening. They can keep for up to three weeks unopened. Serve with warm, crusty bread and butter.
