I did it! No, I already stuff the fish almost 20 years- several times a year for the holiday table. For the first time I captured all this action for my website in the form photo recipe!
I thank my mother for her help during the shooting, otherwise I would have had to change my gloves too often.
For WHOLE stuffed fish
and baked in the oven you will need:
- Carp (1300-1400 g)
- 2 onions
- 1-2 carrots
- 2 yolks
- 100 g white stale bread
- ground black pepper
For convenience I numbered the pictures.
The description of the process will match the image in the photo.
First.
We clean the scales and cut off the head. Attention! Do not rip the belly, we will need the skin intact and unharmed. We remove the gills. We remove the intestines very carefully so as not to damage the gallbladder.
Second.
Using a knife, carefully cut under the skin of the carp so that you can easily stick your hand between the skin and the meat.
Third.
It will not be easy to separate everywhere - difficulties will be in the area of the upper fin and belly of the fish. There we trim with scissors, being careful not to damage the skin.
Fourth.
We remove the skin with a “stocking”, carefully moving it away from the carp meat with our hands and cutting it with scissors under the fins and the lower part.
Fifth.
I don't pull the skin all the way. Approximately 2 centimeters should be left at the tail. Cut with a knife and turn out the skin. Stuffed fish (in the oven) looks whole, so we do it carefully.
Sixth.
Now we cut off all the meat from the carp carcass. The fillet separates easily, but on the ribs it is a little more difficult.
Ninth.(I didn’t miss anything, the pictures just don’t require description)
Place slices of raw carrots on a baking sheet. This elegant bedding is needed so that the fish can be easily removed and the skin will not be damaged when baking in the oven. Beautiful, right?
Tenth.
Soak 100 g of dry white bread in milk, and make minced meat from the cut carp meat. Add 2 yolks, ground black pepper and salt to taste.
Eleventh.
Fry the onion until golden brown, cool slightly and add to the minced meat.
Twelfth.
Place the minced meat tightly into the prepared empty skin.
Thirteenth.
This is what raw stuffed carp looks like. There is no need to seal the hole. The minced meat will not leak out or be smeared.
Fourteenth
.
Carefully place the carcass on a carrot bed with the fin facing up and place the head against the hole. You don’t have to do this if the fish was purchased without a head. Lubricate with a thin layer of mayonnaise.
The fifteenth.
Bake at 190-200 degrees for 40 minutes. There is no need to water it with anything.
Ready! You can serve it whole or in portions. It’s a pity I didn’t stock up on lemon... It would have looked very nice with fish...
This stuffed fish, cooked in the oven, is a cold appetizer. You can cut it only after it has cooled completely. From the refrigerator it tastes even better, so make it the day before guests arrive.
Fish is a dietary product, rich in vitamins and microelements, which is suitable for gourmets who care about their health. Stuffed fish in the oven will decorate the holiday table and fit into the daily menu. Baked in the oven, it retains its beneficial properties, cooks quickly, even a novice housewife can stuff and bake the dish, and our recipes with photos will help with this.
How to choose fish
It's no secret that seafood is a perishable product. Therefore, it is extremely important to responsibly choose seafood if you decide to have a fish day.
The main guideline when choosing will be your sense of smell. A fresh product will not have a distinct odor; you can only smell the sea and mud. If the fish has been sitting on the counter, then its aroma will be more intense.
Next, pay attention to the tail. If it is dry and brittle, then this is a clear sign of a stale product. In addition, the fish should have moist and shiny scales. If it is dry, brittle or cracked, then you should not purchase or cook from such a product.
Also important are the eyes and gills. The former should be convex and transparent, and the latter should be pink or bright red. Stale fish have cloudy eyes and gray gills.
It is a little more difficult to choose frozen fish; here you will have to completely rely on the integrity of the seller. However, if the store or supermarket has been checked and does not disappoint with the quality of other products, then it is quite possible to purchase frozen goods, although the benefits from it will be much less.
Cooking red fish
Red fish has always been considered a delicacy, so it will perfectly complement any holiday table. And stuffed with vegetables it will turn out juicy and healthy, and even children will like it, since it contains practically no bones. It is very important to purchase large fish so that it is easier to stuff. However, with the proper culinary skills, you can cope with sea or river inhabitants of almost any size.
You will need:
- red fish (trout, salmon or pink salmon) - 2 kg;
- lemon - 1 piece;
- medium-sized carrots - 2 pieces;
- white onion - 2 pieces;
- dill, parsley - 2 sprigs each;
- salt - to taste;
- sour cream or mayonnaise - for decoration.
Preparation:
- Thoroughly clean the fish from the insides and remove the scales, cut off the fins from the peritoneum. Leave the head for a more effective presentation or remove it.
- Peel the carrots and onions and cut into small half rings.
- Finely chop the greens.
- To make red fish stuffed with vegetables tender and juicy, it must first be marinated. To do this, place the whole trout or salmon in a bowl, pour in the juice of half a lemon and sprinkle with salt. Then leave to marinate for 1.5 hours.
- The marinated carcass should be placed on a baking sheet covered with foil. Place onions, carrots and herbs in the belly, add salt to taste, and then close it. Toothpicks work well here.
- The remaining half of the lemon must be cut into thin slices and placed on top of the carcass.
- After this, it should be wrapped tightly in foil and placed in the oven for 50 minutes at 200 degrees.
Before serving, remove the lemon slices from the red fish, since the citrus has already given up all the juice and no longer carries any flavor. The whole carcass can be transferred to a large dish and decorated with a mesh using mayonnaise or sour cream, or laid out in portions.
Did you like the fish dish? Try the bird! will not leave anyone indifferent.
Stuffed mackerel
Mackerel in the oven can be a slightly more budget-friendly, but no less tasty and healthy dish. Fish baked in foil will be juicy and soft and will be an excellent main dish for every day. The recipe often has variations. One of the most universal is considered to be baking with potatoes, melted cheese and aromatic spices.
You will need:
- medium-sized mackerel carcass - 1 piece;
- boiled potato - 1 piece;
- processed cheese - 100 g;
- mayonnaise - 1 tablespoon;
- oil (sunflower or olive) - 1 tablespoon;
- spices (khmeli-suneli, fish mixture) - to taste;
- salt - to taste.
Preparation
- To begin with, the fish should be prepared - cleaned of entrails and scales, removed the head and fins. You also need to carefully remove the ridge. To do this, just press it a little from above.
- Next, the carcass should be sprinkled with salt and spices and greased with mayonnaise.
- Peel the boiled potatoes and grate them, then place them inside the mackerel.
- The processed cheese also needs to be grated and placed on top of the potatoes. To make grating easier, you can place it in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Now the mackerel needs to be carefully closed and placed on a piece of foil, which must first be greased with oil.
- The fish should be wrapped tightly in foil.
- Then place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes.
- Then you should carefully transfer the carcass to a separate dish. Garnish with sour cream if desired.
Stuffing with buckwheat
Buckwheat is an integral part of traditional Russian cuisine, so there are recipes for how to use it to cook fish in the oven.
You will need:
- whole fish carcass - 3 kg;
- onion - 2 pieces;
- sour cream - 100 g;
- champignons - 300 g;
- hard cheese - 100 g;
- green peas - 1 can;
- buckwheat - 2 cups;
- salt, pepper, spices - to taste.
Preparation
- The carcass must be cleaned, the head and fins must be cut off, the backbone separated and small bones removed.
- Next, you should open the workpiece, salt and pepper to taste. You can also add fish spices.
- Green peas are laid out next. You don’t need to put out the whole jar at once, just sprinkle it on the dish.
- To prepare the filling you need to boil the buckwheat.
- Next, finely chop the mushrooms and fry with onions.
- Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Add 2 eggs, fried mushrooms with onions, and buckwheat to it. Mix it all thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Then put the stuffing on the carcass and carefully sew up the belly.
- Place baking paper on a baking sheet and place the fish there.
- Grease the carcass with sour cream and bake for 40 minutes at 170 degrees.
- Cool slightly and remove seams before serving. You can decorate with a grid of sour cream or mayonnaise or sprinkle the dish with sesame seeds.
One of the variations of this recipe could be rice filling. To do this, it is enough to replace buckwheat with rice. This is suitable for oilier fish, as the rice will absorb the excess.
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First of all, let's deal with the onions. My nephew is a chef, when he was studying, he was told that onions for stuffed fish need to be fried in advance so that they cool well. Having tried different options, I can say for sure that when well-cooled onions are added to the fish, it tastes much better. Let's get started. Peel the onion, cut into cubes and fry in vegetable oil, add a pinch of sugar at the end of frying. Fry until golden brown.
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Preparing the fish. Remove scales from the fish. It is most convenient to clean fish in a large bowl of water. We place the fish with its belly towards us and clean it of the entrails and gills. To easily remove the insides of the fish, first you need to free the longest intestine, for which we make a transverse incision at the caudal fin 1 cm long. We proceed to freeing the insides at the head. We open the gill capsule and trim the gills with scissors, first at the base of the head, moving to the lower part and removing the gills. We cut the esophagus, as it is very dense. Carefully pull out the insides, the main thing is not to tear the gallbladder. We leave the fins, they will help check the fish for readiness. If desired, cut off the tail. We remove the eyes of the fish, they can give off bitterness. To make it easier to remove the skin from the fish, you need to beat it lightly with a rolling pin, on each side we need to make 8-10 blows. When hit with a rolling pin, the muscles of the fish will become weaker, the meat will not be so tightly attached to the skin, this will allow you to remove the skin much easier than before.
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We cut off the head along the gill capsule, and cut the ridge with scissors. We place the fish with its belly towards us. We carefully cut the skin in a circle, and, pulling it up, cut it off. We turn it inside out to the tail, where the fins are cut deep into the meat with scissors. Cut off the ridge at the tail. I prefer to remove the skin with my fingers, trimming with scissors along the ridge, in the fin areas. We have a stocking with meat left on it. Take a spoon and carefully scrape the meat from the stocking. Salt and pepper the finished stocking and turn it onto your face. Remove meat from large bones.
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Prepare the broth. Fry the bones in a saucepan with a mixture of butter and vegetable oil. Add water (or water in half with white wine), add 1 pc. onion, bay leaf, black pepper and set to cook for 40 minutes.
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Cooking minced meat. Remove the crust from the challah and soak it in milk for 10 minutes. Pour boiling water over the dried apricots for 5 minutes, so it will become soft and give more flavor to the fish. If you like carrots, then you need to peel them, grate them on a coarse grater and fry in vegetable oil until soft, close the lid and simmer for another 5 minutes. Pass the fish meat through a meat grinder with a fine grid. I still have small bones along the edge of the grill, so we clean them off. Add cold fried onions, challah soaked in milk, cold butter cut into pieces, and dried apricots to the minced meat. Stir and pass the minced meat through the meat grinder again. Mince the carrots, if using. Add the yolk, salt, ground pepper to the second minced meat and mix well with your hands. Beat the minced meat 8-10 times in a bowl, lift it and throw it back into the bowl. Excess air will come out while beating the filling, it will stick together and become elastic.
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Stuffed fish is a festive and extraordinary dish. To deliciously stuff fish, you need to put in a lot of effort and work. But the fact that it will be a worthy table decoration is certain. Next, we will tell you the simplest recipe for how to cook stuffed fish in the oven, and what is best to serve it with.
Which fish to choose for stuffing?
First, let's decide what kind of fish to stuff? You shouldn’t be knocking around the doorsteps of supermarkets in search of some unusual fish. Pike perch, carp, pike, and silver carp are suitable for stuffing. The main thing is that it is large, at least 1.2-1.5 kg. Small ones are easy and inconvenient to stuff. It is better to take fresh fish rather than frozen. The skin of a thawed carcass is fragile and will tear during baking.
Recipe for stuffed fish
Next, which recipe for stuffed fish to choose is also up to you, there are a lot of them. If you are not fasting, then you can add (don’t be surprised) chicken fillet to the minced fish. In this case, the dish turns out juicy, tasty and neat. In addition, minced fish alone may not be enough to prepare a dish. Chicken fillet will add richness and density to the dish.
Ingredients for stuffing fish:
—fish 1.5 kg.
- chicken fillet - 200 g.
- loaf (or white bread) - 0.5 pcs.
— carrots — 1 pc.
— onion — 1 pc.
- soy sauce - 1 teaspoon. lie
- lemon juice
- instant gelatin - 1 pack (15 g)
- salt
- sugar
- black pepper
- butter
- milk
- mayonnaise
How to properly separate fish skin?
For those who are planning to cook stuffed fish in the oven for the first time, now the most difficult part begins for you - you need to separate the skin. What's the best way to do this? Clean the fish from scales, remove the gills and, of course, the entrails. Carefully cut off the head. Wash thoroughly. Separate the skin from the opening on the belly, freeing the ribs, and in the direction from the head to the tail. Lightly trimming, lift the skin up to the back, and along the ridge, so as not to tear, you can trim along the fins with scissors or a knife.
If the skin has removed a lot of meat, it can be lightly removed with a spoon. Just be careful not to overdo it so as not to tear it. You don't need to scrub it too hard. Although this all sounds very complicated and it seems that this process is impossible without special training, do not panic. It is not the gods who burn the pots. And with a little practice, you can easily cope with this.
Preparing minced fish for filling
To cook stuffed fish in the oven, first of all, it is important to make the main ingredient - in fact, the minced meat itself. Cut the carrots and onions into small pieces and simmer in butter until golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Separate the fish meat remaining on the backbone from the bones and grind in a meat grinder with chicken fillet and sautéed onions and carrots. Soak half the loaf in milk. Instead of a loaf, you can use white bread, but believe me, it will taste better with a loaf. Grind it in a meat grinder and also add it to the minced meat. Take a piece of lemon and squeeze the juice into the mixture. Add salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar.
Add one teaspoon of soy sauce. Pour a pack of instant gelatin into the prepared filling and mix thoroughly. During cooking, the free liquid that is released during baking does not flow out, but is bound by gelatin, which allows the dish to maintain its juiciness.Place the prepared minced meat into the skin and form a fish.
Bake fish in the oven
To prepare stuffed fish in the oven, it is better to take a baking sheet with high sides and thoroughly greased with vegetable oil. Place the fish cut side down (belly side) and place the head next to it. You can give it the desired shape. Lubricate everything with vegetable oil and a thin layer of mayonnaise. Cover the top with foil, not just the fish, but the entire baking sheet. To prevent the foil from sticking during baking, it should also be thoroughly greased with vegetable oil.
In an oven preheated to 180ºC over low heat, our dish is baked for 1 hour - 1-10. It is advisable not to touch the dish at all at first and let it steam. Then remove the foil and let it brown for another 5-10 minutes. 
How to serve stuffed fish
Remove from the oven and allow the fish to set. Before serving, it should be cut and placed on a dish, garnished with herbs, vegetables, and a mesh of heated butter. If desired, the eyes can be made from olives.
You can serve stuffed fish cold. This is convenient because it can be prepared in advance. You can think about a side dish for it before serving.
What to serve with stuffed fish
It's time to talk about what stuffed fish is served with. Although stuffed fish is a very tasty and satisfying dish, it also requires a side dish. It makes a fish dish attractive and more satisfying. Emphasizes its taste, increases its volume and weight.
A properly selected side dish improves digestion. Serving the side dish as the main element of the design and decoration of the dish also requires attention and skill. The side dish is also part of the decor. An original, neatly, beautifully, symmetrically decorated side dish gives the dish a special look.
Vegetable side dish for fish
It is good to use vegetables as a side dish. They are suitable in any variation: salted, baked, boiled, fried, pickled and pickled. A vegetable side dish for fish can consist of either one product, the so-called simple side dish, or include assorted vegetables - a complex side dish. When selecting ingredients for a complex option, you should take into account the compatibility of the products with each other.
Go well with fish: beets, green peas, carrots, green salad, tomatoes, eggplants, sweet peppers, zucchini, cauliflower and white cabbage.
Potatoes for fish
Serving potatoes with fish is considered a classic. In any form, it perfectly emphasizes the taste of the main dish. Whether boiled or baked, in pieces or pureed, it is recognized as the most common companion for fish dishes. If you want to lighten the dish, complement it with various light vegetable salads.
Unlucky companions for gefilte fish
Pasta is the worst side dish for stuffed fish. Most cereals also do not go well with fish. You shouldn’t experiment like this on the holiday table. The exception is Fig. It goes well with fish dishes, especially if served in combination with sauces.
Horseradish sauce for stuffed fish
Horseradish sauce perfectly complements stuffed fish. It is very easy to prepare. Horseradish root is ground in a meat grinder, fine grater or in a powerful blender. Add salt, a pinch of sugar and a little boiled water. Here is the easiest way to prepare it. But horseradish sauce for stuffed fish is irreplaceable.Stuffed fish is good because it can be both the main dish and decoration of a holiday table, and an excellent hearty appetizer. Of course, you will have to suffer a lot with this dish. And make an effort and show imagination. But when stuffed fish baked in the oven appears on your holiday table, you will appreciate this work of art - beautiful, fragrant, decorated according to all the rules. In order to make a holiday, you should not wait for special dates. If you want culinary variety, then it’s time to serve stuffed fish. Be creative and enjoy your meal!
On our website you can also find healthy recipes for a wide variety of dishes for all occasions. Read, for example, and much more.
Not every housewife knows the recipe for stuffed fish. To correct this situation, we decided to present to your attention several ways to prepare delicious and satisfying dishes that can be served not only for a family dinner, but also for a holiday table.
Stuffed fish: recipes with photos of ready-made dishes
Modern chefs know hundreds of ways to quickly and deliciously bake fish in the oven. So that you can master these skills, we will tell you how to make a simple but satisfying lunch for the whole family.
Before preparing stuffed fish, you should stock up on the following ingredients:
- fresh large carp - 1 piece;
- ground pepper and aromatic spices intended specifically for fish - add to taste;
- lemon - 2/3 fruit;
- medium-sized carrots - 1 pc.;
- sweet onion - 2 heads;
- greens, or rather dill and parsley - a small bunch each;
- refined olive oil - 60 ml;
- fatty mayonnaise - 120 g;
- potatoes - 3-4 pcs. (optional).
Preparing the fish
The presented recipe for stuffed fish does not involve the use of only carp. After all, instead of it you can use any other product (for example, trout, salmon, silver carp, etc.). The main thing is to choose large fish so that it is convenient to stuff it.
Thus, the purchased carp should be washed well, cleaned of scales, cut off the fins and head (if you want, you can leave it), and then take out all the insides and rinse again. After this, the processed fish needs to be peppered, salted, flavored with freshly squeezed lemon juice and a small amount of olive oil. In this composition, the carp should be left at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. During this time, the fish will marinate well and become softer and juicier.
Vegetable processing
In addition to carp, the presented recipe for stuffed fish also involves the use of vegetables such as carrots, potato tubers and onions. All of the above ingredients need to be peeled and cut into very thin circles/rings. After this, they should be seasoned with salt and mayonnaise, and then mixed thoroughly (separately).
The process of forming a dish
Stuffed fish (recipes with photos of ready-made dishes are presented in this article) turns out so tasty and juicy that none of your family members will be able to refuse it. To form it, you should take a large baking sheet, line it with cooking foil, on which it is then advisable to place potato slices, previously seasoned with mayonnaise. You need to place the vegetables on top. Next, the cut belly of the fish should be opened as much as possible and onions, carrots and fresh herbs should be placed there one by one. To prevent the carp from opening during the heat treatment, it is recommended to secure the cut site with toothpicks.
Heat treatment of the dish
The recipe we are considering bakes in about 1 hour. But before this, the carp stuffed with vegetables should be tightly wrapped in cooking foil. After 40 minutes, it is recommended to carefully open the fish (without damaging its integrity), and then apply a beautiful mayonnaise mesh to the surface of the semi-finished dish. In this state, the carp needs to be baked for about 20-24 minutes.
Proper serving of food for lunch
Now you know a simple recipe for stuffed fish. After the dish is completely cooked, the carp should be carefully removed from the foil and placed on a large plate. As a side dish, it is recommended to place potatoes on the sides of the dish, which can be sprinkled with fresh chopped herbs.
Odessa style stuffed fish
This method of cooking fish is much more complicated than the previous one. However, the time and effort spent will be completely worth it in the end. After all, all your invited guests and family members will be absolutely delighted with this dish.
So, we will need:
- fresh large silver carp - weighing about 2 kg;
- semolina - 2 large spoons;
- large egg - 1 pc.;
- butter - about 50 g;
- sweet onions - 4 pcs.;
- black pepper, iodized salt and aromatic herbs - add to taste;
- small beets - 2 pcs.;
- olive oil - 70 ml.
Fish processing
How to properly prepare “Odessa” stuffed fish? A step-by-step recipe with a photo of this dish says that the main thing when creating such a dinner is the correct processing of the silver carp. It should be washed well, cleaned of scales and entrails, and then carefully cut off the head (we will need it later). Next, you need to carefully remove the skin from the fish. At the same time, there should be some meat left on it. If necessary, the ridge and areas near the fins can be cut using culinary scissors. But it is advisable to do this in such a way as not to damage the integrity of the fish.
Preparation of minced meat
After the skin has been pulled off the silver carp, the removed fillet should be completely cleared of any existing bones and chopped in a blender along with 2 heads of sweet onions. Next, you need to add a chicken egg, semolina, salt, aromatic herbs, softened butter and pepper to the minced meat. By mixing all the ingredients with a spoon, you should get a homogeneous and fairly thick mass.
Preparing vegetables
“Odessa” stuffed fish is prepared not only using silver carp, but also using vegetables such as onions and beets. They should be peeled, cut into thin rings/slices and seasoned with salt.
The process of forming a dish
After all the main components have been prepared, you can begin to directly form the dish. To do this, you need to season the skin of the fish with salt, and then tightly place all the cooked minced meat inside. Next, you need to take a baking sheet, line it with thick foil and lay out ½ part of the onions and beets. After this, the stuffed silver carp should be placed on the vegetables, and then the previously cut off head should be placed on top of it. Finally, the fish must be covered with the remaining vegetables, doused with refined olive oil and wrapped tightly in foil.
Heat treatment in the oven
The fully formed dish must be placed in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees. It is advisable to keep the fish in this state for about 20 minutes. After this, the temperature should be reduced to 140 degrees and bake the dish for about another hour and a half. After this time, the stuffed silver carp should be fully cooked, soft, juicy and very tasty.
How to properly serve fish at the holiday table?
The finished dish should be removed from the foil while still hot and beautifully placed on a large, flat plate. Beets and onions can be used as a side dish. But if such vegetables do not suit you, then you are allowed to use crushed potatoes or any other cereal. In addition to this dish, it is advisable to serve fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs.
You can cook stuffed fish not only in the oven, but also, for example, in a double boiler. In this case, the dish will turn out more healthy and less calorie. In addition, experienced chefs often fry stuffed fish in a frying pan and then serve it to the table along with a hearty and tasty side dish.
