Fresh Shoots
Fresh fern cannot be eaten because it contains bitter substances and toxic components that can cause an upset stomach. If you collected shoots or bought them on the market, then before use, be sure to boil about 10 minutes in salt water. Broth must be drained, it is not good for food.
If the fern to digest, it softens, loses the taste, flavor, ceases to crunch. Ready-to-eat shoots resemble mushrooms. They make salads and snacks.
In the fridge fresh fern is stored no more than a day. He quickly loses its useful qualities, so its processing should be addressed as quickly as possible.Keep shoots in the freezer well, sprinkled with salt and wrapped in a tight bag. After thawing, be sure to boil the shoots and only then cook dishes from them.
Sometimes the plant is first boiled and then frozen. Taste it before freezing. If there is a feeling of bitterness, then the fern should be additionally soaked in salty water.
Salting
To keep the fern for more than a week, it needs to be salted. Salt, in addition to preservation, eliminates bitterness. It is necessary to salt in dishes that are not subject to corrosion( glass jars, wooden tubs, enameled pans).When harvesting on an industrial scale using plastic barrels. Wash the plant is not necessary.
- For each kilogram of shoots take 250 g of salt.
- Pour a layer of salt on the bottom of the tank.
- Lay a layer of fern, add salt and so on.
- Sprinkle salt over the top and press down with a heavy load.
The leaves are laid tightly overlapped, each subsequent layer perpendicular to the previous one. Capacity is installed in the cellar, closet, refrigerator or storeroom.
After 2 weeks, the formed liquid is drained, the fern is removed and, once again shifted, it is poured with brine( 200 grams of salt per liter of water), pressed down with a load. Now the salt fern can be stored for over a year. Before use, it is soaked for 1–2 days, changing the water 4–5 times.
Brine can be changed more times to completely eliminate bitterness and prolong shelf life. Before we salting, we advise you to taste the ready-to-eat product.
Drying
You can store the fern in a dried form, but you can't do without salt too.
- Boil the shoots in salt water for a little over 5 minutes.
- Drain salty broth.
- Spread out sheets on shelves or trays in a dark place protected from moisture.
- Periodically turn them over so that each side dries out evenly.
A maximum of a week fern should dry. When this happens, it is placed in canvas bags and stored in a dry place for several years. You can also dry in the oven at +50 ° C until the branches become brittle. Dry plant before use should be soaked in water, changing it several times. We offer a recipe for snacks from fern.
Boil 150 grams of dried fern for 5 minutes, drain the broth, soak in cold water for several hours, changing the water. Take 2 large onions, cut into half rings, fry in oil to a transparent state. Add the chopped fern to them and fry everything together until done.
Salt, season with hot and fragrant pepper( to taste).Squeeze 3 cloves of garlic, pour in a large spoonful of soy sauce, stew for a few minutes. Appetizer with the taste of mushrooms and asparagus is ready.
