Ikura - Salmon Egg Sushi

[crabbait]

The salmon eggs prepared for sushi are called "Ikura" (also known as "red caviar"). Here is the recipe:

"Salmon caviar is second only to sturgeon in quality. To make red caviar you need a piece of 1/4" to 1/2" mesh screen at least one foot square, depending on the egg size. first choice is plastic or stainless steel but plain steel can be coated with vegetable oil and galvanized can be coated with resin. Separate the eggs from the membrane by gently rubbing the skein of eggs over the screen. Discard the membrane and blood vessels remaining on the screen after most of the eggs have passed through. Make an 80 deg sal brine [1 cup + 2 tbs salt to 1 qt water]. Gently stir the eggs in the cooled brine from 15 to 30 min. The uptake of salt will depend on the maturity of the eggs; they should become opalescent. Do not over salt. drain for 8 hours. Keep cool but above 40 deg so the eggs do not congeal. Pack into jars. Refrigerate between 34 and 36 deg. up to a year. Over 40 deg it will have a very short life.


NOTE: Once sealed in jars it MUST be kept refrigerated at all times to prevent possible BOTULISM. some caviars can be pasteurized with minimal loss of flavor and color but not salmon. Rely on good refrigeration instead. Extracted from: Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan. Published by: Airie Publishing, Deep Bay, B.C."

[crabbait]

The eyeFISH method:

Start with clean, blood free egg skeins.... DO NOT WASH IN WATER. Fillet the skein lengthwise, splitting the full length of the membrane side. Keep one half in the fridge while you work on the other. Lay the "fillet" membrane side down on a clean cutting board. Take an ordinary table spoon and start scraping the eggs off the membrane with short, even strokes. Follow the natural planes created by the anatomy of the skein, the eggs lay in rows kind of like radiator fins. I find it easiest to scrape obliquely rather than straight down the length of the skein of straight across the skein. You'll notice the membrane turns brown/black as you are working on it... YUCK!... that's why you separate the eggs from that part... it looks ugly (kind of like human placenta) and spoils much faster than the eggs themselves.

Your intuition will tell you that the metal spoon will rupture every egg it comes into contact with, but if the eggs are fresh (same day out of the fish) you won't even pop 2% of the eggs.... HONEST! I learned this trick from a now deceased Great Lakes steelheader who made his own mesh spawn sacs from loose eggs. If he ever caught a fresh steelhead that wasn't already dripping loose roe, this is how he obtained loose eggs from skeins. (No one fishes clusters in bait loops there).

Once all the eggs are loose, line a large bowl with cheesecloth or kitchen towel. Pour eggs into the lined bowl, and gently rotate/tumble the eggs across the cloth to remove any loose bits of debris, strings of blood clot, or the rare "eggshells" that were ruptured ( they will stick to the cloth fibers).

Season to taste with ordinary pickling salt (non-iodized)in a sealable container... I use disposable GladWare instead of TupperWare. Sparingly for the batch you intend to eat right away. Quite a bit for the portion you intend to save for weeks/months. Stir gently and seal. Let the eggs juice up, then just put them in the fridge turning the container occasionally over the next 24 hours. All of the juice will return to the eggs in the next 24-48 hrs, leaving you beautiful plump berries... the like of which you will never find at even the trendiest sushi bar.

Enjoy! Bon appetit!