DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Do-It-Yourself: Preparing Fish for Dryi

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Do-It-Yourself: Preparing Fish for Drying or Smoking¹
By Bob Bowen

Broadcast: Monday, November 07, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report.

Most of the time, fishermen catch more fish than they need for their immediate² use.

 
Fishing in Minnesota
The extra fish do not have to be thrown away. The fish can be prepared so they can be eaten at a later time. Fish can be dried or smoked. First, however, the fish must be cleaned and salted.

Begin with fish that are just out of the water. They must be treated immediately after they are caught. If the fish are small, do not remove their heads. If the fish are bigger than twenty centimeters long or weigh more than one hundred fifteen grams³, then remove their heads.

Remove the scales⁴ on the outside of the fish. Cut the stomach open. Remove everything inside. Wash the fish in clean water. Then rub⁵ salt into the fish. Now, you are ready to treat them for future use.

Put the fish in a mixture of three hundred grams of salt and one liter⁶ of water. This will remove all of the blood from the fish meat.

Keep them there for about thirty minutes. Then remove all the fish and wash them in clean water. Now, put them in a mixture that has more salt in the water. The mixture should be strong enough so that the fish float to the top. If the fish sink to the bottom, add more salt to the water in the container.

Cover the container with a clean piece of wood. Hold the wood down with a heavy stone. Leave the fish there for about six hours. Then, remove them from the salt water and lay them on a clean place. Cover them with a clean piece of white cloth. Let them dry.

Another method of salting fish is called dry salting. Wooden boxes or baskets are used for dry salting.

After cleaning the fish, put a few of them on the bottom of the box or basket. Cover them with salt. Put more fish on top. Cover them with salt too. Continue putting fish and salt in the container until it is full.

Do not use too much salt when using the dry salt method. You should use one part salt to three parts fish. For example, if you have three kilograms⁸ of fish, you should use one kilogram⁷ of salt.

Remove the fish after a week or ten days. Wash them in a mixture of water and a small amount of salt. Let them dry.

With all this talk about salt, remember that doctors advise people to limit the sodium⁹ in their diet. It can raise blood pressure, and some people have a greater reaction than others.

Next week, we will discuss drying and smoking fish.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Bob Bowen.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 smoking   

n.吸烟，抽烟；冒烟

参考例句：

• He was wise to give up smoking.他戒烟是明智的。
• He has decided to cut out smoking and drinking.他已决心戒烟、戒酒。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 grams   

n.克( gram的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• People were existing on a hundred grams of bread a day. 人一天靠100克面包就能继续存活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The gross weight of the box of chocolates is 500 grams. 那盒巧克力的全部重量是500克。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scales   

n.刻度( scale的名词复数 )；水垢；比例（尺）；鱼鳞

参考例句：

• A fish's scales overlap each other. 鱼鳞一片片上下交叠。
• The new development turned the scales in favor of that school. 新的发展扭转了局面，对那所学校有利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rub   

n.摩擦，困难，障碍，难点，磨损处；vt.擦，搓，摩擦，惹怒；vi.摩擦，擦破

参考例句：

• Don't let the wire rub up against the pipe.别让电线碰到管子上。
• He used to rub up against many famous movie stars.他过去经常偶然碰到许多有名的影星。

6 liter   

n.升(容量单位)

参考例句：

• The bottle holds a liter of beer.这个瓶子装一升啤酒。
• I was so thirsty that I drank a liter of iced tea.我太渴了，竟然喝了一公升的冰茶。

7 kilogram   

n.千克，公斤(略作kg)

参考例句：

• Apple costs five dollars a kilogram.苹果每千克5美元。
• The kilogram is the international standard of weight.公斤是国际通用的重量标准。

8 kilograms   

n.千克( kilogram的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 2 kilograms of rice 2公斤大米
• Every tonne of coal contains,on average,30 kilograms of nitrogen. 每吨煤平均含30公斤氮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。