Yastik caviar is salted not being separated from the membrane (yastik).
If after opening the fish the roe turns out to be not ripe enough and it is impossible to separate it from the film of the ovaries – yastik, then it is prepared as yastik caviar. Yastik caviar is the name for caviar made from immature fat yastiks or from yastiks with very weak grains, unseparable from connective tissue. Yastik caviar is salted without removing the film. Yastiks of sturgeon fish are first cut to pieces of size 10-12 cm, then they are brined in saturated solution heated to 45-50 degrees Centigrade. The duration of the salting process depends on the size of the yastiks, their fat content and the intensity of autolysis in them; it is 5-10 minutes and sometimes more. Sometimes yastik caviar is salted in cold tuzluk (solution), then the process of salting takes longer – up to 35-45 minutes. After salting yastiks lie on grids for 2-3 hours for the solution to drain away. Yastik caviar of sturgeon fishes is not distinguished by the fish kind.
Yastik caviar has the same taste qualities as cleaned one, though it is a little bit saltier than fresh-grained or pressed caviar.