I am obsessed with sardines.
There you go. I said it.
That statement is for everyone I hang out with, work with, my family and the old lady down the street at number 42 for being forced to listen to my constant talk about the next meal I’m going to create with sardines. You may have noticed that I have made no apology, but a statement declaring what these people have known to be true for a while now (It’s kind of like an AA type thing where admitting you have a problem is half the battle). I am not sorry, I am in love. I truly love those little bastards and they really aren’t too far from my thoughts at any given moment of the day. But the local sardine season comes to an end shortly, so how the fuck am I going to fulfill my desires after that??
Preserve them. That’s how.
I have done some reading, looked at a lot of pictures (I like pictures) and had a bit of a play around with a sardine or two. Nothing that would be deemed improper mind you – I’m just your average Joe, looking to satisfy a propensity for the humble sardine.
All the methods of preserving, or “saving the moment” as I shall call it, involved either pickling in vinegar and salt or preserving in oil and herbs. Not being too much of a stickler for doing what things tell me to do, I decided I would combine both methods and create the presickled sardine! I don’ think it’s going to take off with the kids but that’s OK because, as with every faucet of the rest of my life, I do it for my own gratification… mostly.
So now it was just a case of cleaning up 10kg of sardines and getting them into jars, which was not a mission I really fancied doing by myself. Solution; invite a few of your sardine loving friends around for a sardine party! It worked a treat. We sat around like a group of Italian Mammas – everyone was gutting and cleaning sardines, chatting away, drinking whatever it was they deemed correct to be drinking at a sardine party, and then we ate a bang up dinner prepared by my fair lady Jennee! And just to top the whole kickass afternoon off, everyone gets to leave with a cracking party bag of a jar of sardines.
Heaps of smart cultures around the world get shit sorted at a communal table… now it’s your turn.
PRESICKLED SARDINES (per kilo)
1 kg fresh sardines, heads off, gutted and rinsed to remove any scales and extra gut bits. Multiply this recipe by ten if you’re having a sardine party
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ small brown onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed like the special kid’s self esteem
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 bay leaves
1 chilli, hot or mild, however you like it, chopped
Oil to cover the sardines, I like used olive oil, but a blend of olive and a more neutral oil would do the job
Sardine sized jars to pack them in
• Gently toss the sardines with the vinegar, onion, garlic and salt. The vinegar and salt will start to cook the fish and firm it up a little… the onion and garlic are there for their awesome flavour. Marinate sardines for 1 hour, tossing gently every 20 minutes
• Sit down and have yourself a glass of wine
• Have another glass… it helps to be at one with your inner pickle while you are pickling
• Drain the sardines out of the vinegar, lightly pat dry and then pack into jars head to tail with a bay leaf and chopped chilli in the middle. Top the sardines with a bit of the sliced onion from the marinade and then cover with your choice of oil
• Seal the jar with a lid that fits
• Put the jars into a pot that is deeper than the jars are tall. Cover them with water and bring the pot up to the simmer, simmering gently for 20 minutes. This will cook the sardines and also seal the jars so they will have an extended life
• I have stored mine in the fridge but I will do some experimentation and see about their shelf life in the cupboard…
And what do you do with your newfound bounty? These sardies will find themselves a happy and loving home tossed through pasta with some chilli, parsley and olive oil (lash out and get some pangrattato on there if you have the skills), on a pizza, in a sandwich with home made tomato sauce (ketchup), blitzed into a rough pate (peel the meat off the bones first) or on an antipasti platter.
foodisthebestshitever 
20 responses to “Marinated sardines”
maaate you are onto something here. How does it go on a pizza?
Great guns!! Peel the fillets off, a bit of tomato, cheese, chilli, garlic, parsley. Life is ruling right there!! Maybe we should have a pizza night… I have a heap of sardies!!
Sardine party!! Woo hoo Mister! They look fantastic. Think you need register the business name/patent/whatever one does in this case, Presickled Sardines before someone else does. There may be a chapter of SLA in your region (Sardines Lovers Anonymous), they can give you the help you need and righteously deserve.
Thank you my friend. Maybe a patent is due…
My mom cans trout and they last a good while.
but please tell me you ate some of these amazing fresh sardines french style before you canned them all. I read something somewhere…some passage in a book which described this way of eating sardines and I was entranced. there’s no way I will ever find fresh sardines in this shit hole.
I’m not sure what french style is? But we have been eating the shit out of those little buggers the past two weeks! We put a few in the smoker last night and they were as fine as one would expect!!! Nom nom nom.
Awesome! There is a similar German recipe with hering and pickles…
Rollmops yeah? My Germen nana used to eat them all the time…
Awwww WHAT ??????
Awwwwww yeah!!!!
Oh man! If only we could get fresh sardines over here in the Pacific. I saw some at the Asian market but I was a afraid to buy them. Love how you presickled them. Now…where’s that picked beet recipe….
Smiley face
How awesome. A sardine day which not only ends with amazing marinated sardines but also a meal made by the one-and-only Jennee! I’ve been staring at that pot and the crusty bread for ages. I want (sorry, I’m speaking out of hunger as I am currently sitting at my desk in the office and I didn’t have time for lunch). Anyway, back to the sardines: they look so, so good!! I’ve only eaten fresh sardines a couple of times and they are a mile away from the canned ones. Awesome post Graz
I find that I agree with a lot of things you say, and these comments are no exception. That pot contained beef stroganoff just in case I didn’t mention… Thank you my friend, and go and get yourself some lunch for effs sake!
I didn’t imagine you being an office dweller PS
We have a fresh water smaller version of the Sardine here called Smelt. Some of my fondest, earliest memories of fishing with my Dad was dip-netting these tasty little buggers. Every Spring, soon after the ice is off the lakes and rivers … these tiny silver fish “run” up the rivers to spawn. Catching them by the hundreds was as simple as dropping a big net into the water, waiting a few seconds and hauling them out !! Yum !! Good read M8 … stay hungry !!
Any small fish is a friend of my belly my friend!!! Always hungry, cheers!
Love to know what the shelf/ fridge life was on these buggers. On the whole jars unopened and a jar of opened ones. I’ve easily bought too many fresh local – ish sardines today at a market in Melbourne. I’m wanting to eat 2 pickled sardines a day for health and the tinned ones don’t do it for me.
To put them in the cupboard I believe they need to be heat treated in a pressure cooker. The fridge life is good… We have kept them 3-4 weeks unopened and a week after opening no worries!
I’m pretty excited as the local season starts again this week which means I’ll also be playing around with new recipes!!! Go the mighty sardine!
Great…thanks for the post, Ive one on making pizza myself which underscores the importance of having good wine in a recipie 😁I’ll give it a go with an Asian twist ( being in Asia) and ill let u know. pparently we have sardines here in Manila, called tamban, or tanbam? Ill find out at the market…may find that sardines are too pricey here….thanks anyway 😁
🙌🙌🙌 cheers homie