Vladislav Paykov

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Vomers or seleniums are sold in stores under the trade name sunfish.

They can be found in fresh frozen, smoked, dried, and dried form. Smoked moonfish, prepared at home, is not inferior to store-bought fish in taste. You can read about how to smoke this fish in the article.

Its pulp is very tender, soft, jelly-like with a small amount of bones, ideal for smoking. The length is 30 cm for medium-sized individuals.

Important! You should not choose sunfish that are too small for smoking, so as not to dry it out when processed with smoke.

Smoked moonfish recipe:

fish – 1 kg;
salt – 100 g;
spices for fish – 2 tsp;
ground black pepper - to taste;
lemon juice – 2 tbsp. l.;
bay leaf – 2-3 pcs.

Before smoking, carcasses are defrosted in air or in a refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Vomer has no scales, so the carcasses are not cleaned, but are immediately gutted by making a cut on the abdomen, then washed thoroughly. The head is removed or used for smoking along with the head. Dry with paper towels.

Important! Moonfish has an iodine flavor, so be sure to use spices when cooking to counteract this specific taste.

A curing mixture is prepared from salt, chopped bay leaf, ground pepper and spices for fish. Dip semi-finished fish products, pour part of the mixture into the belly, place in a container, sprinkle with lemon juice, cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours.

After salting, wash off the salting mixture, dry with a towel, and ventilate for 2-3 hours.

A thin layer of alder chips is placed in the chamber of the smokehouse for hot smoking, and a tray is placed on top of it to collect the draining fat. Fix the grate for food in the chamber and lubricate it with refined vegetable oil. Semi-finished products are placed on the grill in one row so that there are gaps of at least 1 cm between them. Close the chamber container with an airtight lid, put on heat and smoke for 60 minutes. For the first 10 minutes, maintain the temperature at 110-120 °C, then reduce it to 80 °C.

At the end of smoking, stop heating, open the lid and cool the smoked meat on a wire rack to room temperature. Moon fish is too tender, so it can easily fall apart when hot. It is better not to take it out of the smokehouse and wait until it cools down.

The finished smoked meats are aired outside for several hours. During this time, the inner layers of the pulp will be saturated with smoking products, and the excess aroma of smoke will disappear.

Smoked moonfish is good with lemon, herbs, beans, pineapple, and fresh vegetables.

Vomer is a fish that belongs to the horse mackerel family. It has high taste and is good in any form: fried, boiled, stewed, dried. Vomer can also be smoked hot or cold.

Useful properties and taste

Vomer contains very little fat, about 3% and 18% protein. The meat of this fish also contains vitamins A, B, E, iodine, iron, phosphorus, sodium, zinc and potassium. 100 g of vomer pulp contains only 112 kcal.

The most prized meat is the vomer, which is found in the Pacific Ocean: its flesh is dense (the fish does not lose its shape) and at the same time soft. Those people who have tried the meat of this ocean fish note that it has an interesting taste: the flesh is not dry, moderately fatty, and tender.

In Russia, this fish is most often used as a snack for beer, dried or smoked. It is prepared at home most often by hot smoking, but sometimes also cold. In order not to do cold smoking yourself, you can buy this product from local wholesalers and small companies involved in preparing fish. It is worth noting that vomer is often on sale, along with the more famous sea and lake representatives of the fishing world.

After cooking fish by smoking, most of its beneficial properties are lost, but the result is a delicious product.

Hot smoked recipe

To prepare vomer using the hot smoking method, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

fish – 1 kg;
salt – 100 g;
spice mixture for fish - 2 teaspoons;
ground black pepper - a small pinch;
freshly squeezed lemon juice - 2 tablespoons;
bay leaf - 3 pieces.

Fish carcasses must be completely thawed before cooking. If possible, it is advisable to find fresh fish. The fish is cleaned and all entrails are removed.

To begin with, the vomer needs to be salted. To do this, prepare a curing mixture by mixing salt, spices, ground pepper and a bay leaf broken into pieces. Sprinkle the resulting mixture onto the pieces of fish, pour some of the mixture inside the bellies.

Then you need to put the fish in plastic containers, sprinkle with lemon juice, cover the containers with lids and leave in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours to marinate.

When the fish is salted, rinse the curing mixture from the fish with clean water and dry it with paper towels. Leave the pieces to air and dry for 2-3 hours.

Prepare the smokehouse: place a thin layer of alder chips into the chamber, and place a tray on top that will collect the draining fat. A grate for food is fixed in the chamber and lubricated with vegetable oil. Please note that before use, the wood chips should be slightly moistened to prevent them from catching fire when exposed to high temperatures.

Place marinated and dried pieces of vomer on the grill. They must be placed in one row so that there is a distance of no more than 1 cm between them.

The smoking chamber container is closed with a sealed lid and the heating is turned on. The fish is smoked for 1 hour - for the first 10 minutes the temperature should be in the range of 100-110°C degrees, then it is lowered to 80°C degrees. When the smoking process stops, open the smokehouse lid and let the fish cool to room temperature.

The finished smoked vomer should be left outside to air for 2-4 hours. This will allow carcinogens to erode and cool the product to an acceptable temperature for consumption.

Cold smoked recipe

Unlike hot-smoked fish, which does not last very long, cold-smoked vomer can be stored for several weeks under proper conditions. In this case, the cooking time increases significantly.

To prepare cold smoked vomer, you need to take the following products:

fish – 1.5 kg;
bay leaf – 2-3 pieces;
salt – 3 heaped tablespoons;
ground black pepper - 1 heaped teaspoon.

Wash the fish and gut each carcass. Since cold smoking requires a vertical position of the product, each fish must subsequently be strung on a special culinary twine.

Rub each carcass with salt, sprinkle with pepper and broken bay leaves. Place in a deep container and cover with a lid. Place pressure on top and leave for 3-5 days so that the fish is thoroughly marinated.

When marinating is complete, remove any remaining salt. To do this, you need to place the vomer in cold water and soak for 10 hours. In this case, you need to change the water every 2 hours.

After this, hang the fish carcasses in a well-ventilated room. The fish must be wrapped in a net to prevent insects from spoiling it. Leave for 1-2 days until the product is thoroughly wilted and dry.

The dried vomer should be hung in a vertical smokehouse. Use alder shavings as a raw material for smoke. Vomer should be smoked for at least 5-6 days at a low temperature (25°C degrees).

The smoking process cannot be stopped for the first 8-10 hours. Otherwise, the carcasses may go rotten.

After the vomer is completely smoked, you need to grease each fish with vegetable oil, and then serve it to the table, or, .

Vomer is a moderately fatty fish that has an interesting taste. It tastes best when smoked. It is prepared using hot and cold methods; you can find a dried version in stores. Vomer is not very high in calories, so it is suitable for dietary nutrition (in moderation).

smoked vomer rich in vitamins and minerals such as: vitamin B2 - 63.9%, vitamin B6 - 13.5%, vitamin PP - 14.5%, cobalt - 1300%, manganese - 21.5%, copper - 53%, molybdenum - 38.6%

What are the benefits of smoked vomer?

Vitamin B2 participates in redox reactions, helps to increase the color sensitivity of the visual analyzer and dark adaptation. Insufficient intake of vitamin B2 is accompanied by impaired condition of the skin, mucous membranes, and impaired light and twilight vision.
Vitamin B6 participates in maintaining the immune response, processes of inhibition and excitation in the central nervous system, in the transformation of amino acids, the metabolism of tryptophan, lipids and nucleic acids, promotes the normal formation of red blood cells, maintaining normal levels of homocysteine in the blood. Insufficient intake of vitamin B6 is accompanied by decreased appetite, impaired skin condition, and the development of homocysteinemia and anemia.
Vitamin PP participates in redox reactions of energy metabolism. Insufficient vitamin intake is accompanied by disruption of the normal condition of the skin, gastrointestinal tract and nervous system.
Cobalt is part of vitamin B12. Activates enzymes of fatty acid metabolism and folic acid metabolism.
Manganese participates in the formation of bone and connective tissue, is part of enzymes involved in the metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, catecholamines; necessary for the synthesis of cholesterol and nucleotides. Insufficient consumption is accompanied by slower growth, disturbances in the reproductive system, increased fragility of bone tissue, and disturbances in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.
Copper is part of enzymes that have redox activity and are involved in iron metabolism, stimulates the absorption of proteins and carbohydrates. Participates in the processes of providing oxygen to the tissues of the human body. Deficiency is manifested by disturbances in the formation of the cardiovascular system and skeleton, and the development of connective tissue dysplasia.
Molybdenum is a cofactor for many enzymes that ensure the metabolism of sulfur-containing amino acids, purines and pyrimidines.

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You can see a complete guide to the most useful products in the appendix.