Brine for Boiling Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Mix 4 ounces of fine common salt with 1 gallon of water for small fish.
For cod, lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps, use 5 ounces of salt.
For salmon, use 8 ounces of salt.
Ensure the water is well skimmed from the moment scum forms on the surface.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Fine common salt
- Draws moisture out and firms the flesh, and seasons the fish as it soaks.
- Water
- Carries the salt evenly so it penetrates the fish uniformly.
The step that matters
Skimming the brine as scum forms. Scum on the surface is protein and impurities from the water and fish; removing it as it forms keeps the brine clean and stops it from spoiling or tainting the fish.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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