Caviar is one of the most expensive ingredients worldwide. Primarily sturgeon caviar is considered the most expensive mainly because the female fish takes about 10 years to mature and lay eggs, and most of the fish are killed before they reach that age. However, in recent times fish farming has led to production of caviars from various fishes at rates as cheap as $1/ounce.
If you fancy caviar but you can’ spend all that money, you might want to alternate with homemade Salmon Caviar. You can buy fresh salmon or salmon skein from your nearest supermarket for $60 – $70. You can easily make salmon caviar at home from the roe inside the salmon skein.
Quick & Easy Steps to Make Salmon Caviar
If you are big on organic produce, and you don’t quite fancy the idea of buying salmon caviar off the racks at your nearest supermarket, here’s how you can make it at home in 5 simple steps
Step 1: Fill a large bowl with lukewarm water and place an appropriately sized sieve over it as to immerse it partially in the water in the bowl.
Step 2: Make a lengthwise tear in the skein to expose the roe on the inside. Once you have made the tear, put the skein in the sieve soaking it in the water. The warm water helps shrink the outside membrane of the skein eventually loosening up the eggs attached to the inside.
Step 3: As the membrane shrinks and the fish eggs loosen up, gently free up eggs from the membrane using your fingers.
Step 4: Once you have freed all the eggs from the skein, wash the fish eggs by moving the sieve through the water bowl up and down to remove any impurities. Don’t directly wash the eggs with running water as it might ruin the delicate eggs. Once you have cleaned and removed all the impurities, place the sieve with fish eggs in a clean dry bowl
Step 5: Make brine solution by adding kosher salt to water in a ratio of 0.5 cup of salt in 3 cups of water. Mix the solution until all the salt has dissolved. Immerse the sieve with fish eggs into the bowl containing brine and allow the eggs to soak into the brine for 2 – 5 minutes or however salty you want the caviar to be.
Step 6: Your salmon caviar is ready. Remove it from the sieve, dry it with a paper towel to soak the liquid and store in a dry jar. Keep the caviar refrigerated and consume within 2-3 days.
Quick Tips:
- Make caviar in wooden or glass utensil as metal utensil can cause oxidation and change the taste
- Use filtered water to cleanse and treat the roe otherwise the taste might vary
What to Eat With?
You can eat salmon caviar with almost anything, however, some of the best combinations include salmon caviar with buttered toasts, sour cream, scrambled eggs and potato skin.
