Christmas fish - how to cook it

Although fish don't have a voice, preparing them seems to be a big challenge for some - more than buying a present for dad. Christmas carp, herring and stuffed fish can be not only delicious, but also easy to prepare.

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How to prepare a carp for Christmas?

Carp has had a bad reputation for many years. For some, this is the embodiment of human cruelty towards animals, and for someone, a fish with the smell of mud, too many bones and an unappetizing color of meat. Carp can be very tender, oily and delicious when cooked with a little tenderness.

Roasted to gold it's delicious and subtle. If you want to spice it up, sprinkle the bluebell with salt and cover with onion slices, which supposedly removes all cloudy notes. The fish must be refrigerated for an hour. After this time, take it out of the refrigerator, discard the onion, and roll the bell in flour. Melt and heat the ghee or canola oil in a frying pan. Put the carp on the hot fat and don't move! Top with hot fat. After about 4-5 minutes, the fish will begin to slide off the bottom of the pan without any problems. Then it should be turned over, preferably with a wide spatula, and fry for another 4 minutes. Remember that you can not forcibly tear the carp from the pan. If it doesn't come off the surface of the pan, it usually means it's undercooked. Serve the fish prepared in this way immediately.

The traditional dish on many festive tables is carp in Yiddish. Cooked fish bells are transferred to almonds and raisins and filled with jelly. Some recipes say that pork gelatin should be used to make jelly. There is absolutely no such need! Fish heads and tails are enough to not only thicken the broth, but also give a fishy taste.

Cooking fish in jelly requires a little patience. If we want to serve one carp in jelly, we cut off its tail and head and divide it into a bell. Bring to a boil in a saucepan:

• 2 carrots,
• 2 bulbs
• 2 parsley,
• 1,5 liters of water
• heads and tails of 3 carps.

Salt the broth, add bay leaf and pepper. Boil for about 1 hour. Drain the broth and pour it into another saucepan. Put salted fish bells, a handful of raisins and flaked almonds into it and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the fish from the broth, put on a dish and carefully pour the broth over, adding raisins and almonds. Put in a cold place for at least 12 hours. This time is enough for the broth to turn into jelly.

How to prepare stuffed fish for Christmas?

There has always been a rule in my family home that "homemade food is the best." That is why I have always associated stuffed fish with a delicate snack, and not a tough cutlet consisting of semolina.

Gefilte fish It looks best when cooked with white meat fish - I use cod for this.

We start preparing the fish by making the stock. Such as a Jewish carp stock. Then we start preparing the main ingredient. Grind 500 g of fish in a meat grinder. Put kajzerkers in a bowl and pour over ½ glass of broth to make the bun soft. Add to the bun:

• ground fish,
• salt, white pepper,
• a little grated nutmeg,
• 1 tablespoon dill
• 1 the egg.

We mix everything thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is formed (on non-holiday days I cook fish meatballs from the mass). Put the finished mass on the center of the gauze and wrap it to make a roller with a diameter of 5 cm. Gently lower the finished rolling pin into a saucepan with broth and cook for 20 minutes over low heat.

Then take the roller out of inventory and cool it down. Carefully unfold the gauze and cut the fish into slices about 1 cm thick. Transfer to a fish dish, evenly distributing the pieces. Pour in the broth and put in a cool place for 12 hours. Some people put boiled carrots, green peas, or a hard-boiled egg between the pieces of fish.

How to cook herring for Christmas?

Herring with onions in oil it's a Christmas classic. However, it is worth giving it a slightly more noble form. Instead of ordinary oil, we put in fresh linseed oil, and finely chop the onion, pour boiling water over it and then add it to the herring - it will be more tender and a little sweeter.

It is very popular in Scandinavia. herring in vinegar with spices. Put a pound of herring pieces in cold water for 3-4 hours to get rid of excess salt. Boil 500 ml of water in a saucepan and add:

• 400 d Sahara
• 2 laurel leaves,
• 10 pieces of allspice,
• 2 anise whistles,
• 3 cloves,
• necessarily 1 red onion, thinly sliced ​​(Scandinavians add red onion to everything),
• a piece of cinnamon bark,
• 1 carrot, chopped.

We boil everything, remove from heat and cool. Add 200 ml of vinegar to the cooled brine and mix. Herring, cut into 1 cm pieces, put in jars. Add the onions and carrots removed from the pot. Pour in the brine until it covers the entire contents of the jar. Close and leave in the refrigerator for at least 5 days.

During the holiday season, Danes enjoy sandwiches with herring in curry sauce. Herring a la mathas is enough to cut into pieces and mix with the prepared mixture.

Herring curry sauce will be obtained after mixing:

• 150 g of good mayonnaise (everyone has to decide in their heart which mayonnaise they like the most, and these preferences really divide Poles),
• 1 large pickled cucumber
• 2 tablespoons chopped dill,
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon curry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper.

Such herring must lie in the refrigerator for 3 days. It tastes best with dark rye bread, fresh red onion and a hard-boiled egg.

If you want more fish inspiration, check out Fish in Our Kitchen by Ćwierczakiewiczowa, a Polish food guru. Even more cooking tips (not just New Year's!) can be found in the section I cook for AvtoTachki Passions.