QUOTE(Revolver Ocelot @ Sep 20 2006, 01:25 AM)
I am most similar to Lutefisk.
I am made from air-dried whitefish (normally cod, but ling is also used), prepared with lye, in a sequence of particular treatments. The first treatment is to soak the stockfish in cold water for five to six days (changed daily). The saturated stockfish is then soaked in an unchanged solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days. I will swell duringz this soaking, regaining a size even bigger than the original (undried) fish, but the protein content paradoxically decreases by more than 50 percent, causing my famous jelly-like consistency. When this treatment is finished, I (saturated with lye) have a pH value of 11–12, and is therefore caustic. To make me edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days (and nights) of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually, I am ready to be cooked.
Here in Australia, the traditional reagent used for me is birch ash. It contains high amount of potassium carbonate and hydrocarbonate, giving the fish more mellow treatment than sodium hydroxide (lyestone). It is important not to incubate the fish too long in the lye, because saponification of the fish fats may occur, effectively rendering the fish fats into soap, causing me to be unpreparable from that fish. The term for such spoiled fish in Finnish is saippuakala (soap fish).
When cooking and eating me, it is important to clean me off of pans, plates, and utensils right away. When left overnight, I become nearly impossible to remove.
I am traditionally eaten for Christmas dinner in Norway.
Jesus Christ....Are you a chemistry major? I think i may be the only one who understood that xD.
