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Curing salmon eggs #879591

Asked July 31, 2024, 1:12 PM EDT

My husband likes to eat Japanese style cured salmon eggs (ikura) at sushi restaurants. I am curious to try making it myself with fresh salmon eggs and found this recipe but I was hoping you could weigh in on the safety of something like this? It seems like a short cure in a pretty low salt solution. I've gutted enough fish in my day to know how many parasites are living in the abdominal cavities of pacific salmon. Would a deep freeze help? Or is this totally safe? Thanks! Recipe: https://norecipes.com/ikura-salmon-caviar/

Anchorage County Alaska

Expert Response

Sara,

I am attaching a link to my publication on preserving  Salmon Roe. Parasites may be present in roe although it is rare.  But, careful cleaning is the best way to get rid of them. 

 I watched the video in the recipe link you sent.  My instructions call for soaking the skein in a salt solution for 5 minutes before pushing the eggs through a sieve because it makes the eggs a little tougher so that they don't burst.  After they are removed from the skein, clean very carefully and rinse to remove bits of skein, blood and any parasites.  After cleaning,  soak them in the proposed salt solution in the publication (1/2 cup salt in 2 cups water) for about 5 minutes and then put them in the flavored dashi solution from  suggested in your recipe.  

You may want to use plain canning salt (no iodine) and distilled water.  Iron, sulfur, chlorine and other minerals in many water supplies may give your product a poorer flavor. You may also want to use gloves as shown in the video so that you do not get bacteria or parasites on your hands. 

I am happy to answer other questions for you or discuss this more.  You can reach me at<personal data hidden> or <personal data hidden>. 


All the best to you,

Leslie 

Leslie Shallcross, MS, RD

https://www.uaf.edu/ces/publications/database/food/files/pdfs/FNH-00130_Salmon_Roe_Caviar.pdf



An Ask Extension Expert Replied July 31, 2024, 5:33 PM EDT

Thank you!!


On Wed, Jul 31, 2024, 13:33 Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied August 01, 2024, 2:29 PM EDT

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