Fish meatballs can be not only a simple and everyday dish, but also decorate the holiday table, "warm up" the appetite of small whims, who often do not like fish cuisine, but the fish is very necessary for the growing body.
Therefore, show your imagination to please the most beloved people.
Fish meatballs - basic technological principles
Whatever dish of minced fish or minced meat was planned for breakfast, lunch or dinner, the work begins with the preparation of semi-finished fish products.
For fish meatballs, it is necessary to prepare the fillet, from which the meat is prepared. Therefore, any fish for minced meat needs to be prepared: wash, clean, separate from bones or cartilage, remove the skin. It's clear. Further processing includes nuances that must be considered in order to achieve the desired result.
It is no secret that river fish has an unpleasant smell of mud, but if removed, the freshwater inhabitants are very tasty. They have less iodine than marine fish, but there is phosphorus, and it is also useful and necessary in the diet. Therefore, river fish, preferably still alive, should be immersed in an acidic solution: for this, add ordinary table vinegar to cold water so that the concentration reaches 10-12%. If the fish falls asleep in this solution, then it will have time to pass acidified water through the gills, and the smell of silt will disappear very quickly. If the fish has already fallen asleep, then hold it in the solution for at least two hours. It is better to gut non-living fish before soaking, and do not forget to remove the gills. Of course, the exposure time depends on the size. Focus on your organoleptic sensations.
After eliminating the unpleasant odor, proceed to cutting the carcasses, in a businesslike way. Use heads, tails and skeleton for cooking fish soup and fish soups. For minced meat, only pulp is needed. Remove large bones from the fillet. Do not be afraid of small bones if the fillet is crushed with a blender or twice passed through a small grinder of a meat grinder. Sea fish is ideal for mincemeat because, as a rule, it does not have small bones. If you do not want to bother with cutting fish, buy ready-made fillet or minced meat, but do not exclude fish dishes from the diet. Remember its benefits for people of any age.
When the most difficult and unpleasant stage of preliminary preparation of fish raw materials has passed, proceed to create taste and aroma. Spicy herbs, roots, spices will help in this, and it all depends on the taste of the cook. The taste of fish can be hidden so that it will be difficult to distinguish from the taste of chicken. Neutral additives are suitable for any dish - dill, parsley and cilantro, coriander, bay leaf, cardamom, lemon juice, dry white wine, vinegar. Muscat perfectly interrupts the smell of fish, and in combination with butter, when frying fish or meatballs, it gives a light nutty flavor. A light juniper aroma ennobles the taste of red fish. Brighter spices - cloves and cinnamon. They are used in exotic sauces made of tropical fruits. Actually, the choice of spicy components depends on additions to minced fish and the creative intent of the author of the recipe.
1. Oven Pacific Hake Fish Meatballs
Ingredients:
Hake (filet) 650 g
White bread 200 g
Milk 100 ml
Dietary egg 1 pc.
Onion, green 150 g
Nutmeg
White pepper
Breading flour
Vegetable fat
Cooking Technology:
Chop the fillet with a knife in the form of cubes. Combine with egg and bread soaked in milk. Add spices and chopped onions. Form balls weighing 50 g and, roll them in flour, lay on a baking sheet, oiled. Bake for eight minutes.
2. Fish meatballs in sauce - cod liver with onion and cottage cheese in sour cream
Products:
Cod liver 400 g
Sea fish fillet 500 g
Wheat flour 90 g
Cottage cheese (18%) 250 g
Cream (20%) 450 ml
Boiled potato 900 g
Parsley dill
Salt
Onions, 300 g
Vegetable oil 75 g
Lemon pepper
Cooking:
Grind cod liver, fish fillet and onions by passing the ingredients twice through a fine grinder. Add spices, flour and mix the cutlet mass thoroughly. Form small balls.
On a high-sided baking sheet, greased, place slices of boiled potatoes, put meatballs on top. Chop the contents with salt and pepper, fill with cream, sprinkle with chopped herbs. Cover the dish with a sheet of foil and place in a hot oven for ten minutes.
3. Fish meatballs from red fish in a cheese breading with potato "cigars" (banquet dish)
Meatballs are traditionally considered an ordinary everyday dish, but they can decorate the festive table, if you add a few exquisite culinary touches.
Products for meatballs:
Trout (fillet) 1.2 kg
Lemon ½ pcs.
Salt
Egg 1 ½ pcs.
White pepper
Grated cheese 250 g
Dill 100 g
Butter 140 g
Flour 80 g
Breadcrumbs, white 400 g
Lezon (a mixture of eggs with water or cream 1: 1)
Deep fat (vegetable oil, peppercorns, nutmeg)
For potato cigars:
Potato 2.4 kg (net)
2 eggs
Flour 160 g
Cream 350 ml
Salt
Flour 300 g
Cooking Technology:
Chop the fish pulp with a knife, add butter, beaten with egg, spices, juice of half a lemon and flour. Stir mass, beat off and let cool slightly. Roll balls 60 g each. Combine cheese and breadcrumbs. Make a lezon from an equal number of eggs and water. Separate half the liquid for breadcrumbs of potato sticks. Dip the fish balls in the season, breaded in a mixture of crackers and grated cheese. Deep-fry and place on a wire rack to remove excess fat.
Make mashed boiled hot potatoes. Add cream, eggs and flour (200 g) to it. Thoroughly mix the potato mass. When the mashed potatoes have cooled a little, form potato sticks, roll them first in flour, then in loson and breadcrumbs. Transfer the semi-finished products to the dish, transfer to the refrigerator for half an hour. After frying the "cigars" in deep fat and transfer to a napkin. Put meatballs and "cigars" on a dish, decorate with finely chopped greens, peas, slices of tomatoes and cucumbers.
The second version of the side dish for fish meatballs is french fries. Cut large peeled potatoes into long bars and also deep-fry.
4. Fish meatballs in chopped mackerel flambé sauce with asparagus
Products:
Frozen Mackerel 1.3 kg
Pepper
Ground coriander
Sugar
Ground cloves
Salt
Potato flour 120 g
Gin (or juniper tincture) 100 ml
Asparagus, blanched 0.5 kg
Butter, butter and vegetable for frying
Sesame 50 g
Cherry (yellow and red) 300 g
Mint
Cilantro
Cooking method:
When preparing flambe, make sure that all flammable objects are at a safe distance from the pan in which it is supposed to set fire to alcohol. Prepare a metal stand for the pan. Finally, pick up a beautiful frying pan with a removable handle so that the dish looks aesthetically pleasing, since it will have to be served in a pan.
Blanch small tomatoes. You can choose the usual "cream", but the tomatoes should be small, with dense pulp. Remove the peel, sprinkle them lightly with salt and sugar, ground coriander and cloves.
Prepare the asparagus: wash, remove the coarse parts, blanch until half cooked in sweetened and salted water. If desired, you can add lemon juice.
Separate the fillet from whole carcasses of mackerel, wash, chop. Add spices and potato flour. Form meatballs and fry in vegetable oil, on both sides.
Put the meatballs, asparagus and tomatoes in a common pan, add oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds, finely chopped herbs, warm in a pan, adding a little butter. Pour gin into a hot dish and set fire to fish meatballs with asparagus. For flaming, the gin must be warmed to room temperature. Use a long match, or a pre-cooked wooden skewer.
Flaming gives the dish a special aroma: after the alcohol burns out, the flavor of the drink that was added to it remains in the dish. Gin matches perfectly with fish. If it does not appear in the kitchen, then add juniper tincture. If there is no tincture either, then when frying meatballs, put several juniper berries in a pan, and use vodka to set fire.
Spicy tomato or mint and lemon cream sauce is also suitable for this dish. Serve the sauces separately.
5. Children's fish meatballs "Sun" steam
Foods in 2 servings:
Minced fish 100 g
Chives 40 g
Lemon juice 20 ml
Salt 5 g
Butter 30 g
Boiled rice 80 g
Eggs, dietetic 2 pcs.
Macaroni (or "spiral") 75 g
Cooking:
Grind the minced meat, onion and rice with a blender. Salt a little salt and add lemon juice to drown out the smell of fish: children often do not like fish dishes because of the specific smell. You can use onions of a different grade, less sharp, but it is also necessary to create a delicious aroma; it must also be ground very well so that the child does not notice the unloved, but very useful vegetable. Stir the mixture and refrigerate. Form the balls, and then flatten them when the stuffing hardens well. Steam the meatballs.
Prepare a baking sheet and preheat the oven. Place metal round cookie cutouts on a baking sheet. Put meatballs in the center of each form. Beat the eggs and rub them with butter. Pour the meatballs in the molds and place in the oven. Bake until the egg mass thickens. Put on a plate
Boil pasta or spirals, place them around the meatball, simulating the rays of the sun.
6. Fish meatballs in tomato sauce with rice and vegetables
Ingredients (3 servings):
Broccoli, blanched 450 g
Red carrot 250 g
Onion 150 g
Fish meatballs (semi-finished products, according to the recipe No. 1) - 3 pcs. per serving
Ketchup "Chile" 250 g
Vegetable fat 120 g
Garlic 40 g
Boiled potatoes 600 g
Chopped herbs cilantro and parsley 100 g
Passing flour 60 g
Cooking method:
Pass the chopped carrots and onions until soft, add the flour, fried to a cream color. In a stewpan, fry the broccoli inflorescences, with the addition of a small amount of oil, add the passivated vegetables, tomato sauce, simmer the stew for no more than five minutes on low heat.
Sauté fish semi-finished products. Put them in a deep pan, pour the cooked sauce, attach the vegetables to the meatballs. Simmer all together for another five minutes under the lid. Turn off the heat, put chopped garlic and herbs in the dish, taste and add the necessary spices.
Prepare boiled potatoes for garnish.
Fish Meatballs - Useful Fish Cooking Tips
- If you cook meatballs from frozen fish fillet or minced meat, do not defrost the semi-finished product to the end. He remembers that fish is a perishable product, and at room temperature it is very quickly "attacked" by harmful microorganisms. In order for the fish dish to always be fresh and healthy, the semi-finished product should have a temperature of no higher than 3-4 ° C. Do not leave uncooked semi-finished fish products on the table. They must be cooked immediately, or stored in the refrigerator. Thawed minced fish do not re-freeze.
- To make the meatballs juicy, fry them in a very hot pan. The resulting crust prevents leakage of juice from the inside.
- Fish has varying degrees of fat content. For minced meat, try to choose more fatty varieties, but if you have to cook from what is available, add fat cream or butter to lean fish. Dairy products generally give the fish dishes a very pleasant taste and smell, make them juicy and tender.
- To bind minced meat, beat it before forming meatballs. No more than 25% of flour, white bread, crackers are added to minced fish so that it is viscous and meatballs do not crumble. For the same purpose, use eggs or dry egg powder.
- Onions in minced fish not only add flavor to semi-finished products, but also increase their juiciness. Determine the amount of onion depending on the fat content and humidity of the minced meat.
