Canned Sardines In Tomato Ketchup

Canned sardines are the Southeast Asian equivalent of canned tuna. It’s a great convenience food that many people enjoy ! Not difficult to make at home.

Ingredients

• 2 Sardines
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 pcs Thick Slices Ginger
• 1 tbsp White Wine
• 2 tsp Camellia Oil

Marinade

• 300 g Cherry Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Minced Fresh Basil
• 1 tsp Demerara Raw Cane Sugar
• 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Ground White Pepper
• 4 pcs Bay Leave
• 2 tbsp Camellia Oil

Equipments

• 200 ml Canning Jars x 2

Cherry Tomato Ketchup ♦ Preparation

1. Remove stem of cherry tomatoes, cut into half. Bake in oven at 150℃ for about 45 mins. There is no need to bake tomato too dry.

2. Remove skin from baked tomatoes. In a hand blender, add together with Demerara sugar, fresh basil and red wine vinegar.

3. Blend tomatoes mixture until smooth, add sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Canned Sardine ♦ Preparation

1. Sterilise canning jars in boiling water for about 10 mins. Dry with a hair-dryer, set aside.

2.  Starting at the tail and using the back of the blade of a paring knife, gently scrape the skin toward the head to remove the scales. Use scissors or a knife to remove the fins. Cut each fish into halves. Rinse the fish well, making sure the belly is clean. Pat dry and set aside.

3. Starting at the point where the tail meets the body, cut the belly open with your paring knife, scrape out the entrails with your finger, and discard them. Rinse the belly cavity clean and then pat the fish dry using paper towels.

4. Rub fish with sea salt and marinade for 10 mins.

5. Gently flatten the sardine skin side down. Starting at the head end, grasp the backbone between thumb and forefinger and carefully lift it up and away from the fillet; discard the backbone.

6. Heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat in a low saucepan. Brush pan surface with thick ginger slices. When the oil have some white smoke slightly rising up, that means the pan is hot enough for pan-fried. Place in fishes, splash with white wine, turn the fish over when it is golden in colour .

7. Place sardine in canning jar, try not the break the fish.

8. Pour in homemade cherry tomato ketchup and oil to about 80% full, leaving the appropriate amount of headspace. You can add more oil if ketchup is not enough. Using a damp clean cloth or paper towel, clean jar rims and threads. Center lids on jars so the sealing compound is in contact with the rims. Screw bands down just to fingertip-tightness. Do not over-tighten.

9. Once all the jars have lids and rings, lower them into your canning pot. Make sure the jars are 3/4 submerged in cold water.

10. Bring it to a boil, cover with canner lid. Turn to low heat and simmer for 30 mins. Add more hot water during the process to make sure that the jars are 3/4 submerged in the boiling water.

11. When time is up, turn off the heat. Remove canner cover, and let jars stand in the water for 5 minutes. Using the canning jar tongs, remove the jars to a rack or heavy towel to cool. Do not tilt, turn, or dry, and do not disturb the lids. Once the jars are cool enough to handle, remove the rings and test the seals by holding onto the edges of the lids and lifting up an inch or two. If the lids hold fast, the seals are good. Any jars which fail the sealing process should be consume within a few days or reprocess again.  All the canned sardine should be stored in fridge. Heat throughly before serving.