﻿IX, D, 1 



Scale: Fish and Fishery Products 



the butts in layers, the split surface up. Salt is sprinkled 

 over each layer so that all parts of the fish are well covered, 

 and a half bushel of salt is placed on top to make a strong pickle. 

 The amount of salt required for each hogshead is from 1.4 to 

 2.5 hectoliters (4 to 6 bushels). When the fish settle, they are 

 covered with strong brine, and in this condition they will keep 

 until needed. 



When the fish are taken from the butts, they are carefully 

 stacked in piles from 0.9 to 1.2 meters (3 to 4 feet) high called 

 kenches. This is to allow the brine to drain off. With the 

 exception of the lower layer, they are stacked with the cut side 

 down. At the end of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours 

 they are put out to dry on bamboo racks about a meter from the 

 ground, being spread cut side up. After one day of drying they 

 are repiled or kenched for from twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours and then dried again for two days or until perfectly dry. 

 1 strongly advise that they then be packed in large cooking bags 

 or oilpaper, made up into neat packages, and stored in a dry 

 place. Fish prepared in this manner will keep in good condition 

 in the Philippines for months. 



Regarding the quantity of salt used in curing iced or fresh 

 fish in the United States, A. W. Bitting writes : 1 



About half a pound of salt is used to the pound of iced fish in the regular 

 course of curing the full salted fish; for export fish about three-eighths of 

 a pound is used, and for slack salted one-fourth of a pound. As the cured 

 fish contains only from 14 to 20 per cent of salt, it is evident that about 

 33 per cent of the amount used serves as a preservative while the remainder 

 acts as a drying agent, and it would seem that improved methods might 

 effect a marked saving in this part of the process, * * * sufficient 

 drying and retention of that dryness under varying weather conditions will 

 assist in preventing spoilage. 



It is in this connection that we urge the use of oilpaper or 

 large cooking bags for packing fish, as this tends to prevent the 

 entrance of dampness which would cause the fish to mold — and 

 this is the greatest difficulty we have to contend with in pre- 

 serving dried fish in the Philippines. 



SALTED SHRIMPS OR PRAWNS 



At certain times of the year very young prawns from 2 to 3 

 centimeters in length are sold in the Manila markets. These 

 are preserved by being mixed with a liberal quantity of coarse 

 salt and then placed in kerosene tins. They find a ready sale. 



x Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chem. (1911), 133, 27, 29. 



