Pickled crappie….day 2

I hit the jackpot yesterday while jigging crappies so a few were kept for this holiday treat. I fillets the crappies and cut into 1- 1 1/2″ chunks and cover then with canning salt and set the bowl in the fridge for 24 hours. Then they get multiple rinses of cold water before draining well in a colander and going back into the bowl and covered with white vinegar. Back in the fridge they go for 24 hours.

When the fillets hit the fridge in vinegar I cook 2 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of picking spices to the syrup while gently cooking. When the sugar has all dissolved I cover the pot and turn the heat off.

Tomorrow I’ll slice a medium onion very thin into rings and break them apart in a large bowl. I add the drained fish and the syrup. Lastly I add 1 1/2 cups of a decent sweet white wine. I’m using Muscato on this batch. Stir this well to mix everything. This can be kept in the fridge in an ice cream bucket or can be put into pint jars, filled loosely and topped off with the syrup.

5 days in the fridge. That’s all. And worth the wait. Pics tomorrow.

Ya, I dragged my feet a little getting these to the jars but then they’re in pickle brine anyway. Here’s the finished product and they’re as firm or firmer than pickled herring. I stole a taste and these are darned tasty.

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looks good. Ive had a hard time finding a pickled fish recipe that I like the taste of but I love the idea of using the meat this way so I keep on trying them. ill give this one a try. Thanks for posting

This makes a nice solid fish pickle. And crappies are clean. They don’t have a ton of the red fat stuck on the meat and they don’t harbor or carry the parasitic worms and associated cysts that northerns do. Those worms/cysts are NOT easily killed by freezing or by pickling. Heat is the only thing that kills those critters and then why pickle it. Sunfish are another good pickling fish. Lake Herring will get a bit soft as will whitefish and cisco. I’ve been doing this recipe for 20 years now and I only use crappies taken out of cold, early winter water and have not had a soft piece yet. Catch a few and give it a try. I’ll take three of these jars to Thanksgiving and won’t be bringing any home.

I agree Tom, I use a similar recipe with sunfish and crappies and they are a lot more firm than northern

Thanks Tom. I haven’t pickled fish for awhile but you have my mouth watering.
Joe