How to salt fern – the rules of selection and preparation of plants, salting techniques and cooking recipes with photos

The content of the article

• Rules for choosing salted fern
• Dry Fern Salting
• In banks for the winter
• Taiga
• GOST

Many do not even know that such a common forest plant as a fern can be salted and served in the winter as an original piquant snack, a kind of Russian delicacy. Such an unusual dish on your table will surely surprise guests with its interesting taste..

Rules for choosing salted fern

Only two species of this plant that are considered edible are suitable for salting in the winter – brack and ostrich or ostrich (popular name is “ostrich feather”). A distinctive characteristic of bracken is the growth of each plant separately, without the formation of a bush. Externally loose leaves of the bracken resemble patterned palm branches, the height of an adult plant is about 60 cm. Dishes from such a plant have a characteristic mushroom flavor.

The ostrich fern, unlike other plant species, has an unusual bush shape – tall carved leaves are arranged in a circle from the rhizome that resembles a bulb. The sheets form a lush green crown, the diameter of which in the upper part can reach two meters. In height, the ostrich can also stretch up to 2 m. To taste, the prepared fern resembles cauliflower, dishes from it are slightly sweet, very satisfying.

For salting, they take exclusively young shoots of plants up to 20 cm high – the so-called rachis, which is collected by the arrival of summer, when lilies of the valley bloom. The leaves of young shoots are still folded into tight snails, the cuttings easily break off from the stems, while a subtle sonorous crunch is heard. The rachis of edible fern species is a perishable product, so you need to start conserving them immediately upon returning from the forest, maximum during the first days after collection.

Dry Fern Salting

• Time: 40 days.
• Servings Per Container: 10 Persons.
• Calorie content: 57 kcal / 100 grams.
• Purpose: appetizer.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: Easy.

To prepare such an appetizer, at the first stage of salting, they take 350-400 grams of salt for each kilogram of fresh herbs, and at the second – 200 g of granular component per 1 kg of pre-salted raw materials. The first brine is drained, because it accumulates toxins contained in freshly picked plants. They must be soaked or boiled in order to remove excess salt from the product before eating it..

Ingredients:

• fern (rachis) – 1 kg;
• salt – 600 g.

Cooking method:

1. Sort cuttings, rinse under running water, dry, bundle 20-30 pieces.
2. At the bottom of a deep pan, pour a thin layer of salt, lay part of the bundles, sprinkle with salt. Add all available raw materials mixed with dry ingredient.
3. Cover with a clean, thin towel or a piece of gauze. Put a plate on the diameter of the pan, set oppression.
4. Soak in a cool room for 18–20 days..
5. Then drain the resulting juice, squeeze the greens slightly, put in clean, dry jars, pouring salt.
6. Close with nylon covers, take to the cellar for 3 weeks for salting.

In banks for the winter

• Time: 20 minutes.
• Servings Per Container: 8 Persons.
• Calorie content: 56 kcal / 100 grams.
• Purpose: appetizer.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: Easy.

For quick salting of fern for the winter, freshly picked green shoots must first be boiled to release from the toxic substances contained in them. The bracken is boiled for 6-8 minutes from the start of the boil, the ostrich is 10-12 minutes. Properly welded cuttings remain elastic and easily fold into a ring. If the shoots break, they are undercooked, and if they break between fingers, they are digested.

Ingredients:

• Freshly picked fern – 0.5 kg;
• salt – 2 tsp. without top;
• water – 1 l.

Cooking method:

1. Boil the prepared young shoots in salted water for 6-12 minutes, depending on the type of fern. Tilt in a colander, drain the liquid.
2. Put boiled cuttings into sterilized jars.
3. Boil water, add salt, stir. Pour prepared greens with hot brine and seal. Turn the cans upside down, cover with a blanket until completely cooled.

Taiga

• Time: 8 days.
• Servings Per Container: 8-10 Persons.
• Calorie content: 58 kcal / 100 grams.
• Purpose: appetizer.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: Easy.

The taiga variant of salting fern involves the use of a large amount of salt, but this approach contributes to the maximum long-term storage of the finished product. The weight of oppression, which is set on top of the raw materials, must be equal to or slightly exceed the initial weight of the pickle components.

Ingredients:

• fern (young petioles) – 1 kg;
• coarse salt – 0.5 kg.

Cooking method:

1. Sort cuttings, cut off coarse parts, rinse, put in a pan.
2. Fill with salt (? Of the total volume), mix thoroughly, compact. 3 days in the cold.
3. Then pour in the remaining salt, mix, set the load.
4. After 5-6 days, spread the greens in clean dry jars, close with nylon covers. Store at a temperature of 10-14 ° C.

GOST

• Time: 30 minutes.
• Servings Per Container: 5 Persons.
• Calorie content: 58 kcal / 100 grams.
• Purpose: appetizer.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: Easy.

According to the GOST recipe, salted fern (usually bracken) is prepared in three stages. This variant of salting combines dry and brine methods of harvesting, which allows you to get, although not very appetizing in appearance (judging by the photo on the Internet), but a tasty and healthy product with the ability to store up to two years.

Ingredients:

• fern shoots – 10 kg;
• salt – 6 kg.

Cooking method:

1. Rinse freshly picked cuttings, collect in bunches of 4-5 cm in diameter.
2. Fold in a wooden barrel or plastic bucket in layers, pouring with coarse salt (3 kg).
3. On top of the greens, put a flat cover, set oppression. Leave for 21 days.
4. Then drain the resulting juice, transfer the plant mass to a clean container, lightly pouring with salt.
5. In 5 liters of water, dilute a kilogram of salt, pour the fern with the resulting brine. To sustain 3 more weeks.
6. Repeat the procedure again, changing the brine and sorting out the raw materials, discarding the brownish shade. Leave for another 3 weeks.