Polish Rolled Herring with Pickled Cucumber in Sweet-Sour Marinade

What you need

• 200 ml (3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp) spirit vinegar, 10% (or 400 ml of 5% white vinegar)
• 400 ml (1 2/3 cups) water, or 200 ml if using 5% vinegar
• 40 g (3 tbsp) sugar
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 3 allspice berries
• 2 bay leaves
• 800 g (1 3/4 lb) salted herring fillets, about 8 large fillets, skin on; commercially salt-cured or previously frozen
• 2 tbsp hot mustard
• 2 pickled cucumbers, brine-fermented, cut into thin sticks
• 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges, plus extra rings for the jar
• black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, mustard seeds, allspice and bay leaves to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let the marinade cool completely.

2. 2

   Soak the herring in plenty of cold water for 2 hours, changing the water once. Taste a corner and soak longer if still very salty. Pat dry.

3. 3

   Lay the fillets skin side down and trim off any fins or stray bones.

4. 4

   Spread each fillet thinly with hot mustard and grind over a little pepper.

5. 5

   Lay a stick of cucumber and a wedge of onion across the wide end of each fillet.

6. 6

   Roll the fillet up tightly from the wide end towards the tail and pin it closed with a toothpick.

7. 7

   Pack the rolls snugly into a clean jar, tucking the extra onion rings between them.

8. 8

   Pour over the cold marinade so the rolls are fully covered, with the spices.

9. 9

   Close and refrigerate for at least 2 days before eating. Use only commercially cured or previously frozen herring, since the vinegar alone does not kill parasites. Keep chilled and eat within 5 days.

Imported from gov.pl. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.