Gefilte fish is a pescatarian’s meatloaf made of fish, eggs and other ingredients. It is traditionally served by Ashkenazi Jews, usually on Shabbat.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup carbonated water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- 5 1/2 lbs white-fleshed fish fillets (pike, yellow perch, carp, or whitefish)
- Fish bones and skin
- 2 white onions, chopped
- 1 parsnip, chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled
- Salt, pepper to taste
Directions:
Place the fish in a bowl and salt it. To remove as much liquid as possible leave it overnight.
To get perfect fillets, carefully remove skin, bones, head, and contents of the stomach, . Grind the fillets.
Place fish bones and skin in a saucepan, add water, salt, sugar, 1 onion, 1 carrot, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1-3 hours (the longer, the better). Remove the foam, if needed.
Finely chop parsnip, celery, the remaining onion, and add the chopped vegetables to the ground fish. Add chopped eggs and mix it.
Strain the stock and place it back on the fire. Add the remaining carrot and bring to a boil.
Make balls of the fish mixture about 2 inches in diameter. One by one, add to the boiling stock.
Simmer with the pot lid partially on for approximately an hour. After cooking is finished and the pot has cooled, remove the finished gefilte fish balls.
To serve, decorate each fish ball with a slice of carrot. If you like, you can save the stock, which will gel once cooled, and serve it on the side.
Serve with a beetroot stained horseradish.
