Carp stuffed with sauerkraut... and more

Carp stuffed with sauerkraut: ingredients

Preparing carp for baking in the oven

Carp is the best fish for a big feast. It can reach 20 kilograms, which means it won’t be difficult to find a specimen large enough to feed all the guests. There is a lot of meat in carp, but few bones, and it is very easy to cook. Let's take a fish weighing about 2-2.5 kilograms - it will easily fit in a standard oven.

In this recipe for carp baked in the oven, we need the whole fish, with head and tail. Therefore, preparation is greatly simplified: we scald the carp with boiling water to make the scales easier to remove, and remove the gills and giblets. After this, the fish must be thoroughly washed inside and out in cold running water so that all small films, scales, and remaining entrails are washed away. On the back, every 2 centimeters we make deep cuts to the ridge.

Rub the prepared carp with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Suitable spices for baked carp include thyme, nutmeg, dried dill or marjoram. If you are not sure about the choice and proportions, buy a ready-made fish spice mixture - it will definitely work. We rub the inside and outside with spices - now the carp can rest for about an hour - during this time it will be salted, and we will prepare the filling.

How to cook minced sauerkraut

Minced sauerkraut is easy to prepare. Taste the cabbage to see if it is too salty. If the cabbage is very salty, rinse it with water. You can do this in a sieve or colander. Do not soak the cabbage under any circumstances; it will ruin the taste of the entire dish.

• Lightly squeeze the cabbage. You need to do this even if you did not wash it with water.
• Finely chop the onion and fry it in a frying pan with 1.5 tablespoons of oil until translucent. Place the prepared cabbage on the onion and also lightly fry it.
• Turn off the burner, but do not remove the pan from the stove. The cabbage should be warm (room temperature will also suit us).
• Season the cabbage with ground black pepper (to taste) and add black peppercorns to it.

Ingredients:

• Carp - 2-2.5 Kilograms
• Onions - 1-2 pieces
• Cabbage - 200-300 grams (sauerkraut or fresh)
• Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. spoons (2 spoons - for filling, 1 - to grease the baking sheet)
• Fresh caviar – 150 grams (caviar of any fish)
• Salt - 1.5 teaspoons
• Seasoning for fish - 1 teaspoon (seasoning without salt)
• Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
• Sour cream or mayonnaise - 2-3 tbsp. spoons
• Carrots - 1-2 pieces (if you are cooking from fresh cabbage, fry the carrots along with the onions)

Number of servings: 5-6

How to prepare carp for stuffing

The first step is to clean the fish from scales. If the carp is large, immediately check whether the fish fits on the baking sheet (frying pan). The fish should not protrude beyond the frying pan or baking sheet.

If the fish fits on the baking sheet, then everything is fine. A stuffed carp with its head will look better. Gut the fish and rinse it thoroughly to remove any blood. Don't forget to take out the gills. Remove excess moisture with paper towels.

If the carp does not fit on the baking sheet, then the head will have to be cut off. In this case, do not rip the belly of the fish, but carefully pull out all the insides. Carp can be with caviar. Be careful not to crush the bile. Unfortunately, this happens. If this does happen, quickly rinse the affected area in cold running water and then rub with fine salt. Rinse off the salt before cooking.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that carp caviar is greenish in color. This doesn't mean it's damaged. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I met people who were not aware of this carp feature. When exposed to high temperatures, caviar will change color.

Once upon a time, frozen carp caviar was sold in our stores. It was defrosted, salted, an egg was added, mixed well and fried in vegetable oil. Spoon the mixture onto the frying pan with a tablespoon. Were these pancakes or cutlets? I don't know, but it was very tasty.

Sorry, I got a little distracted. I draw your attention to the “shredder” of carp. We make deep, frequent cuts along the entire back. We process both sides of the fish in this way. Don't be lazy to do as I advise you. The knife, of course, must be sharp.

Stuffing and baking carp

Stuff the fish with cabbage and don’t forget to put caviar in the belly of the carp (if it was in the fish). Now the belly needs to be stitched up. We sew up the fish that was ripped open and that is with our head.

If the head is cut off, then we simply stuff the fish with fried cabbage. There is no need to sew up the latter. Don't worry, the minced meat won't fall out. Grease the baking sheet with the remaining vegetable oil. And prepare the coating for the stuffed carp.

Coating for stuffed carp

Many people are afraid of various coatings for fish because they also take time to prepare. To cheer you up at this stage, I will say that when baking stuffed carp in a coating, you will more than compensate for the time spent on its preparation.

• Separate the yolks from the whites.
• Mix them with a glass of sour cream.
• Add a tablespoon of sifted flour.

Coat one side of the carp with this mixture, sprinkle with 1/3 grated cheese and 1/3 breadcrumbs. Turn over and place on a baking sheet.

Spread the remaining coating evenly over the surface of the fish. Sprinkle the carp with the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Stuffed carp is baked in the oven, heated to 160-180 degrees. Baking time 30-40 minutes. Please note that the baking time depends on the size of the fish and the features of your oven. I bake the fish until it is golden brown. Don't worry, the coating will prevent the fish from drying out. Moreover, you don't have to douse the fish with broths or sauces. In addition, while the fish is cooking, you can easily wash all the dishes.

When the carp is ready, carefully place the baked fish on a plate. Cut the fish into the pieces you like. And look, the carp didn’t burn on the bottom. Despite the fact that it was coated and sprinkled with cheese and breadcrumbs. Believe me, carp stuffed with sauerkraut will not disappoint you!

Carp stuffed with buckwheat porridge and baked in the oven

The basis for the minced meat will be buckwheat porridge. But the additives to porridge can be different. I know of two options for minced meat. Both have stood the test of time. The choice is yours!

Very important! The baking sheet on which this version of fish is prepared should be slightly larger than “fish size”. The fish will need to be poured with sauce. If the baking sheet (frying pan) is much larger than the fish, then you will not collect sauce in it for basting. I warned you!

So, two options for preparing buckwheat porridge for stuffing.

Cooking minced buckwheat porridge - option I

• The day before, cook cool buckwheat porridge . Pour 1.5 cups of water into a saucepan, add salt (1/2 teaspoon salt) and boil. Pour 1 cup of buckwheat into boiling water (the grain can be pre-sorted and fried). Stir and remove any floating grains with a slotted spoon. Cook covered over low heat until cooked (the water should completely evaporate).
• walnuts to pea size. And fry for one or two minutes in a dry frying pan until golden brown. No need to add oil.
• the parsley well under running cold water; remove thick (hard) petioles and chop.
• 50 g of butter in a frying pan and lightly fry the buckwheat porridge in it. Try the porridge with salt. If you want, you can add salt to it.
• the roasted walnuts and chopped parsley into the porridge and mix thoroughly.

Cooking minced buckwheat porridge - option II

• The day before, cook steep buckwheat porridge (see option 1).
• Also, hard boil the eggs the day before . Cool under running water. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
• parsley or other greens well under running cold water; remove thick (hard) petioles and chop.
• Peel the eggs and cut into thin slices.
• the onion and fry in 50 g of butter until light golden brown.
• buckwheat porridge in a frying pan with prepared onions and lightly fry, stirring continuously.
• Add eggs and parsley warm porridge and stir.

Carp stuffed with buckwheat porridge: cooking sequence

So, if you have prepared minced buckwheat porridge and prepared the fish, let's start preparing the stuffed carp.

1. Clean and gut the fish. Rub with salt.
2. Stuff with prepared minced meat. Sew up if required.
3. Melt butter (50 g). Grease the baking sheet. Lubricate is the key word. The oil should remain.
4. Mix flour and breadcrumbs and sprinkle them over the fish over a plate. You do understand that not all the flour and breadcrumbs will stick to the fish, right?
5. Place the fish on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining flour and breadcrumbs evenly onto the top of the fish.
6. Pour melted butter over the fish, spreading it evenly over the surface of the fish.
7. Add half a glass of hot water to the pan. The resulting sauce will need to be poured over the fish during the baking process (as often as possible).
8. Bake at medium temperature for 30-40 minutes (baking time depends on the size of the fish and the features of your oven).
9. Place the finished stuffed fish on a plate and pour over the remaining sauce.

You can replace “pouring carp” with “coating”. That's what I do. And you choose for yourself! For those who follow diets: carp stuffed with buckwheat porridge will be very high in calories, but at the same time very tasty...

If you liked stuffed carp, then you will also like stuffed bream.

By the way, carp can also be stuffed with salad, potatoes, onions, rice, etc. Bake in foil or in a sleeve. In my opinion, carp stuffed with sauerkraut and baked (in a coating) in the oven is the best choice.

Filling for baked carp in the oven

For the filling in this recipe for carp baked in the oven, we take such a prosaic grain as buckwheat. Surprisingly, together with fish it will create a very interesting tandem of flavors that will decorate the table. We will need:

• buckwheat - 1 glass,
• onion - 1 piece,
• sweet pepper (paprika) - 1 piece,
• salt, black pepper - to taste,
• fresh dill, parsley, cilantro, mint: any greens to your taste - 1 bunch,
• vegetable oil for frying.

Buckwheat should be washed several times, pour cold water and salt and cook until tender. Separately, peel the onion, wash the pepper and remove the stem and seeds. Cut the onion and pepper into strips. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion and pepper until the onion becomes transparent. When the water from the buckwheat has completely evaporated, leave it covered to cool and brew for about half an hour. It's time to relax and look into the new sections of the “Fishing for Everyone” website.

Add vegetables to cooled buckwheat. Taste for salt and pepper. Finely chop the greens and add to the filling. Mix everything. All that remains is to prepare the carp for baking.