Pike dishes: step-by-step recipes for cooking at home

Pike is a special fish, from the meat of which you can prepare first and second courses, snacks, pies, aspic, if you follow certain rules.
The article will tell you how to cook pike in Russian, Polish, Scandinavian, or Jewish style so that they can be included in the daily menu, but also served on the holiday table. Do you like pike dishes?

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18.06.2020

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What are the benefits of pike meat?

Pike is considered to be the queen of rivers and lakes. And it’s not in vain. This predatory fish lives in fresh water, is widespread in our open spaces and is widely used in cooking. Pike meat is beneficial because it contains a large amount of:

• minerals (iron, fluorine, zinc, iodine, molybdenum);
• vitamins (PP, E, C, B, A);
• easily digestible protein;
• low fat content in meat (1%).

Low calorie content is another distinctive feature of this type of fish. Thanks to her, the product is widely used in dietary and therapeutic nutrition menus. But pike is not only a very healthy fish, but also tasty. It is used in all kinds of culinary recipes and prepared in a variety of ways.

The benefits of pike meat and fish cutting

The river dweller is a predator and obtains its food by hunting small fish. Since pike is often on the move, its meat is practically devoid of fat, but at the same time it has a very pleasant taste and is widely used for baking, smoking, and frying. It is also used to prepare fish soup, salads, aspic, rolls, cutlets, and snacks.

Composition and benefits of fish fillet

Pike meat is rich in a large number of valuable substances necessary for the health of children and adults:

• vitamins – A, C, PP, B, E,
• minerals - zinc, iodine, iron, fluorine, manganese, molybdenum, chromium,
• fat - 1%,
• proteins (easily digestible), fatty acids.

Due to its low fat content, this type of fish is widely used for therapeutic and dietary nutrition. Dishes made from it have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the digestive and cardiovascular systems. Due to the presence of beneficial substances, consumption of the product helps increase the body's resistance to colds and strengthens the human immune system.

In addition to the fact that you can prepare a variety of dishes from pike, you should not forget about the excellent compatibility of its meat with many products. Fish fillet goes well with various cereals, herbs, vegetables and mushrooms. Stuffed fish, baked whole, turns out especially gorgeous. And specially selected herbs and spices will help add additional aroma and exquisite taste to the fish.

Preparing to cook

In order for the dish to be aromatic, healthy and have an appetizing appearance, it is best to use recently caught fish. If there are no fishermen in your family, you can buy fresh pike at the grocery store or go to the market for it. When purchasing, be sure to pay attention to the following parameters:

1. Appearance. Fresh fish will have an elastic body with a uniform gray color, an evenly positioned tail and dense scales. The gills should be pink, the eyes should be black and clear. Dark color of gills, sunken and cloudy eyes, loose carcass are a sign of stale fish.
2. Smell. A quality product usually has an unobtrusive river smell. If the fish smells like ammonia, sunflower oil or chlorine, this may indicate that the carcass was treated before sale to ensure it lasts longer. In this case, you should refuse the purchase.

You should not purchase fish if you doubt its freshness. Remember that in this case it will still not be possible to prepare a tasty dish from pike; in addition, a product of dubious quality can have a negative impact on your well-being.

Before cooking, fish must be properly cut . This can be done as follows:

1. First, you need to thoroughly rinse the pike with water to remove the mucus, and then completely clean the carcass of small scales. If during the process it slips too much in your hands, rub the fish with sea salt, then it will be comfortable to hold.
2. Open the abdomen and remove all internal organs. Do not forget to remove the dark film and remove the organic mass that was under it.
3. Using pruning shears, cut off all the fins. If you plan to prepare a pike dish that calls for the head, be sure to remove the gills as they may affect the flavor of the finished product.
4. Wash the carcass from the inside and outside and wipe off excess water with a kitchen napkin.

Depending on what dish you plan to prepare, the process of cutting pike may be different:

• For baking, stewing or frying, you must cut off the head, all fins and tail. Then cut the carcass into portions.
• Before cooking fish soup or soup, the meat should be soaked for 30-40 minutes in water to remove any remaining dirt and blood. Then the broth will look beautiful.
• To prepare minced meat, you need to remove the fins and head. Then divide the body of the fish into 2 parts and pull out the ridge. Then you need to get rid of all the remaining bones.

After cutting the fish, you must immediately begin cooking it. It is not advisable to store a cut carcass, as it may lose its taste and begin to quickly deteriorate.

Preparing pike for cooking

Regardless of what you cook from this valuable meat, the fish must be properly cut and prepared for further work.

This is done as follows:

1. Clean off the luster. Fresh fish is covered with a slimy layer and is quite slippery. This makes it very difficult to clean. To make it easier to hold, generously rub the fish carcass with coarse sea salt. It will stop slipping in your hands, and you can easily remove the scales from it.
2. Rip open the belly and remove the entrails. The incision should be made with a sharp knife from the anus to the head. Note the dark film inside. Underneath there is another part of the unnecessary entrails. They should also be removed.
3. Rinse the carcass thoroughly, especially from the inside.
4. Allow excess water to drain or remove excess water with napkins or a towel.
5. If you plan to cook the head, remove the gills from it. They are not suitable for food and can spoil the taste of the finished dish.
6. Depending on the type of dish, cut the meat:

• For frying, stewing, baking - remove the head, tip of the tail and fins with culinary scissors. Cut the meat into pieces of the required thickness;
• To prepare soup or fish soup, soak in water for 20-30 minutes to remove any remaining blood and make the broth clear;
• To prepare minced fish, remove the head and fins, cut the fillet along the ridge, remove the remaining bones with culinary tweezers.

Pike stuffed with its own meat

This version of fish is suitable as a cold appetizer.

To prepare it you will need the following products:

• Pike (1-1.5 kg) - 1 piece;
• Onion - 1-2 pieces;
• White bread - 200-250 grams;
• Milk - 200 grams;
• Carrots - 1 piece;
• Boiled eggs - 1-2 pieces;
• Lard - 100-150 grams;
• Salt - 1.5 teaspoons.

Pike stuffed with its own meat

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. First you need to prepare the carrots and onions. They should be washed and cleaned.
2. Remove scales from the pike. Rinse it. Cut off the head of the fish and remove the entrails through the resulting hole. Rinse the pike thoroughly from the inside.
3. Pour milk over white bread. It should be well soaked.
4. Chop the onion into large pieces.
5. The next stage is very painstaking. It is necessary to remove the skin from the meat. It's difficult, but possible. Trim the skin along the edge and remove it like a stocking.
6. There may be fillets left on the skin. It must also be removed. Remove meat from bones and set aside. The pike head should also be cleaned of any remaining entrails. Remove the gills and rinse the head.
7. Twist the meat, add twisted lard, hard-boiled eggs, soaked and twisted white bread. Twisted onions and carrots are added to the minced meat. Mix everything thoroughly, add salt and pepper.
8. The oven must be preheated to 170 degrees. Fill the skin of the pike and its head with the resulting minced meat. This should be wrapped in foil, and several layers must be made. Cook the fish in the oven for about 40 minutes at a temperature of 170 degrees.
9. Transfer the oven-cooked pike to a plate and cut into pieces.

Pike stuffed with its own meat is ready!

1. Stewed in sour cream and cream sauce

Ingredients:

• Pike – 2 kg (fillet or portioned pieces);
• White onion – 2 pcs.;
• Sour cream 15% – 0.5 liters;
• Cheese of any hard variety – 300 gr.;
• Salt, ground pepper - to taste;
• Butter – 50 gr.

Cooking process:

Cut the prepared fish or fillet into portions. Bread each one in flour and fry in a frying pan at a very high temperature using refined vegetable oil. The goal of the process is to get a golden crust, and not to bring the meat to readiness.

Place the slices in a deep bowl, sprinkle each layer with spices, grated cheese, onion half rings and add a piece of butter. Pour in sour cream and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Dry pike meat will be saturated with fat, the taste of sour cream and spices. It will become juicy and aromatic. Serve it with fresh herbs.

Recipes for traditional dishes made from fresh pike

Attention! The Ministry of Health warns: read further only on a full stomach

Cold pike (pike jellied)

An old and very simple way to prepare an excellent pike appetizer. We take a small pike, 1.2-1.6 kg, clean it from scales and gut it. We make deep cuts across the back of the carcass, down to the spine, sloping from the tail to the head (along the bones), into which we put halves of lemon or lime wedges.

Rub the pike with coarse salt (you can use sea salt, if desired) and place it in a casserole dish or a large saucepan, onto the bottom of which pour melted butter and sour cream with ground black pepper. Bake in a hot oven (200-220 degrees) for 30-40 minutes until cooked, then transfer the carcass to an oval dish and pour over the juice and oil that has accumulated at the bottom of the goose pan. You can add a little softened herring oil (preferably homemade), garnish with lemon or lime slices and cover the dish with a lid or cling film, and put in a cool place.

Serve the cold pike the next day very chilled. To the dish add finely chopped parsley, lightly salted cucumbers, cold boiled potatoes and white bread croutons with garlic.

Fried pike with herbs (hot)

We gut a pike carcass of approximately the same size, wash it and fillet it using a long, narrow and flexible knife. In this case, all the skin with scales, head and bones are removed. We cut the fillet into portions of 100-150 grams, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper, roll in flour (wheat or rice), or sprinkle with ground white bread crumbs.

In a frying pan, heat olive or sunflower oil with the addition of 1/3 butter to reduce the boiling point and fry the pike pieces on both sides, then place the meat on a heated dish.

At the same time, sauté the washed and dried sprigs of parsley, celery and fennel in the remaining oil in the frying pan over high heat and place them on the pike on a platter. Pour the remaining juice and oil from the pan over the finished dish.

This dish can be served with fried potatoes, fresh and pickled cucumbers, pickled onions and tomatoes.

Traditional pike in Moscow

Cut the new potatoes into slices, lightly fry them and place them along the edges of a ceramic dish or baking sheet. Cut a large, 2-3 kg pike into skinless fillets and cut into thin slices 1-2 cm thick. Salt the fillet and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Place the fried fillet in the center of the dish, top with fried onion rings (you can add a little green onion) and slices of hard-boiled eggs. Sprinkle with thinly sliced ​​fresh mushrooms (white mushrooms, champignons, chanterelles, boletus mushrooms). You can use dried mushrooms, which must first be soaked and boiled until soft. Pour sour cream sauce on top of the resulting dish and bake in a very hot oven until golden brown. You can serve the dish with pickles and chopped fresh herbs. Making sour cream sauce. Boil the head of a pike without gills, separated bones, tail and large fins, as well as other small fish with white roots (parsley, celery, parsnips) and spices (laurel, peppercorns, allspice, cloves - optional) in a small amount of water - just to cover the fish. Let the broth boil to half and season with a spoonful of flour, add ½ volume of sour cream and bring to a boil.

Pike with mushrooms

You will need: 0.5 kg of cleaned pike, 0.4 kg of fresh mushrooms (white or champignons), 1 onion, 2-3 bay leaves, 1 glass of liquid (white wine or diluted vinegar), 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

We cut the cleaned and gutted fish crosswise into portions and place them in an enamel bowl. Pepper, salt, add finely chopped onions, parsley, dill, cilantro (to taste) and a few bay leaves. Pour in dry white wine or diluted wine vinegar and leave for 30-40 minutes in a cold place.

Clean the mushrooms, wash them and cut them into thin slices. Place the fish in a saucepan along with the marinade, add mushrooms on top and brush with oil. Bake in a hot oven for 40-50 minutes.

Served with a side dish of boiled potatoes and chopped herbs. You can add hot rye croutons with garlic to the table.

Stuffed pike (fish fish in Hebrew)

A rather intricate recipe that will require some time and patience, but the result will be excellent. This pike is prepared in a large casserole dish or a wide, low saucepan. If the length of the pike does not fit in the container, you can roll the carcass into a ring.

To prepare this dish you will need: large pike 1.8-2.0 kg; 1 large onion; 2 eggs; 2 pieces of white bread (preferably stale); cream for soaking bread; 100 gr. butter or full-fat sour cream; ground nutmeg on the tip of a knife; roots (carrots, parsley, parsnip and celery roots); bay leaf 2-3 pcs; ground black pepper and salt to taste. If you have it on hand, use small fish and fish trimmings (heads, tails, fins) for fish broth.

We remove the gills and carefully clean the scales from the skin of the fish so as not to tear it. We trim the skin behind the pike's head so that it remains intact on the back, carefully remove the skin towards the tail with a stocking, cutting at the fins. At the end, we trim the ridge from the inside and separate all the skin with the head and tail. What will remain is a carcass with bones, ridge and giblets.

We gut the carcass and use a narrow flexible knife to separate the meat from the bones. We pass the meat through a meat grinder 2-3 times along with white bread soaked in cream and onions. Add nutmeg, softened butter or thick sour cream, ground black pepper and salt to the minced meat, then mix the minced meat thoroughly.

We fill the skin of the pike with the prepared minced meat, forming a thick sausage, so that the skin does not stretch, since during cooking the filling will increase in volume and can tear the skin shell. You should get almost a whole pike of the correct shape.

We wrap the prepared carcass in gauze, leaving 20-30 cm of free ends at the tails - they are convenient for carefully placing the carcass in the broth and removing it when ready.

In a salted broth prepared from small fish and trimmings, cook the coarsely chopped roots and pike carcass for about 25-30 minutes, after which we carefully remove it by the ends of the gauze. Let the water drain, unroll and cool under the lid on the platter on which the pike will be served (you can’t cool it in gauze - it will stick to the skin).

Serve the finished stuffed pike on a platter, cut into portions or whole, garnish with herbs, lemon slices, olives, sour berries (cranberries, pickled lingonberries) and a pattern of mayonnaise and horseradish.

Korean pike “He” (marinated fish)

This very original and tasty cold dish of fresh pike is an ideal appetizer and also goes well with other fish dishes as a spicy addition. It takes about two days to prepare and can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Important (!): the cooking process must be reproduced exactly, since pike is a predator and can be a carrier of parasite larvae. Properly cooked pike is completely safe to eat.

To prepare “heh,” we take small and medium-sized pike weighing up to a kilogram, clean it of scales, gut it, and separate the head and thin part of the tail. After thorough washing, cut crosswise into portions 2-3 cm thick. Place in glass or ceramic dishes, sprinkling each layer with coarse non-iodized salt. Press down the top of the fish with pressure and leave for a day in a cold place.

Prepare a salted decoction from the onion, chopped celery and parsley roots, allspice grains and bay leaves (boil for 20 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, lower the prepared fish into the boiling broth for 10 minutes and carefully remove the pieces, again using a slotted spoon. To the remaining broth, add vinegar, bay leaf, cloves, black and allspice peas, and a little sugar to taste. Place the fish back in and cook for another 10 minutes.

Place the fish pieces in a ceramic or glass container, fill with marinade to the top and cool. Leave in a cool place for a day. Ready.

The cold appetizer “he” can be served with pickled vegetables and horseradish.

Pike with baked potatoes and cheese

We prepare a medium-sized pike, 1-1.5 kg, in the usual way - clean it of scales, gut it and wash it. Cut the carcass crosswise into portions, salt with coarse salt and place on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil.

Around the pieces of pike we place circles of previously half-boiled potatoes in their jackets (preferably young ones) and pour over them with a small amount of fish broth prepared in advance from small fish. Sprinkle with spices (ground bay leaf, pepper, chopped garlic and green onions - optional).

Bake in the oven at 190-200 degrees. For about 20 minutes, then sprinkle the dish thickly with grated cheese (it is better to use a mixture of hard and soft, table cheese, but not processed varieties) and bake for another 10 minutes until a crispy crust appears on the cheese. This dish is served with fresh (warmed) rye bread, mustard and honey sauce and sour salads, such as sauerkraut with cranberries, green onions and aromatic sunflower oil.

Steam pike

We fillet the pike, cut it into portions, add coarse salt and leave in a cool place. At the same time, from the trimmings (head, tail, bones and fins) we prepare a thick fish broth with spices to taste.

Place the prepared pieces on the bottom of a wide pan in one layer and fill with broth so that the pieces are half in the broth, add salt and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes under a tight lid. When the pike meat begins to separate (this is checked with a knife), pour the broth through a sieve and add tbsp. a spoonful of flour, ground with butter, cook over low heat for another 15 minutes, stirring constantly.

Season the resulting sauce with lemon juice, white wine or diluted wine vinegar. Pieces of pike, transferred to a dish, pour over the resulting sauce and cover with hot boiled potatoes. You can sprinkle the dish with herbs and serve hot, salted vegetables.

Fried pike with cheese

We clean a medium pike, 1.5-2.0 kg, from scales, gut it and cut it into fillets into oblique thin slices along with the skin. Season with coarse salt, pepper and leave to salt for 20 minutes.

Roll the slices in flour (or rice flour) and dip into a mixture of sour cream and raw yolk. Next, sprinkle with finely grated hard cheese (Parmesan, Goya, etc.). Quickly fry the prepared pike slices in a heated mixture of vegetable and butter, then place them on a dish. Decorate the fish with thinly sliced ​​raw vegetables and lemon slices.

The dish is served hot with boiled rice, mashed potatoes and pickles - small pickled and salted vegetables.

Pike cutlets

To prepare the cutlets you will need: fresh pike fillet 0.9-1.0 kg; fresh pork fat 300 gr.; 5 medium cloves garlic; eggs 2 pcs.; large onion 1 pc.; chopped greens (parsley, cilantro, dill) – optional; vegetable (or butter) oil for frying; pepper, salt to taste; flour or breadcrumbs.

We fillet a medium-sized pike (see picture), cut it into pieces along with onion, lard and garlic, put it through a meat grinder, and start with pike meat, which we “mince” 2-3 times to grind the small bones remaining in the fillet. Carefully mix eggs, salt and ground pepper into the resulting minced meat.

With wet hands we form small cutlets (the shape is arbitrary, but the thickness is no more than 3 cm), roll them in wheat or rice flour, or breadcrumbs and place them in a frying pan with heated oil. Fry until golden brown over high heat, then add a little water to the pan and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes.

Alternatively, you can finish the pike cutlets in another frying pan, and in the one where the fat from frying remains, simmer the onion rings until melted, sprinkling them with wine vinegar or lemon juice with a pinch of sugar. You can pour this onion sauce over the cutlets when serving, adding fresh chopped herbs.

Pike cutlets are served with side dishes of rice, potatoes and baked or steamed vegetables and spicy sweet and sour sauces (lingonberry, cranberry), as well as mustard and horseradish.

Bon appetit!

This article does not provide recipes for various fish soups and pike fish soup . This was not done by chance - classic pike fish soup is a special dish for Volga residents and the nuances of its preparation will be discussed in a separate article.

All these recipes are also applicable for preparing Volga pike perch and bersh, but you need to keep in mind that their meat is much more tender and requires less heat treatment time.

Pike fillet cutlets

Ingredients:

• Pike meat – 1 kg;
• Pork fat (lard) – 300 gr.;
• Half a loaf of bread;
• Large chicken egg – 1 pc.;
• Milk 50 gr.;
• Bulbs – 3 pcs.;
• Mixture of peppers, salt - at your discretion;
• Breadcrumbs;
• Vegetable refining oil.

Cooking process:

We grind pike meat (peeled from skin and bones), onion, lard and a loaf soaked in milk in a meat grinder. Break the egg and spices into the resulting minced meat and mix well. We make round cutlets measuring 50-70 g. each, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in vegetable oil until fully cooked.

What to cook from pike

The variety of dishes made from this type of fish is simply amazing: jellied, stuffed with vegetables, cutlets, pieces of fish in breadcrumbs or corn flour, marinated, heh, delicious soups. The most difficult part in preparing a pike dish is cutting and cleaning the carcass, but this process is easy to handle if you know a few secrets. Stages of carcass cutting:

1. Using a very sharp knife, remove the scales from the carcass, moving from the tail to the head (you can use a regular grater).
2. Make cuts under the gills, and then cut off the head and fins.
3. Rip open the belly and remove the entrails. If you plan to stuff the carcass, then handle the skin very carefully.

Fish soup from pike or fish soup

Ingredients for 3 liters of soup:

• Potatoes – 4 pcs.;
• Medium-sized carrots – 1 pc.;
• Celery (root) – 50 gr.;
• Onion (large) – 1 pc.;
• Millet groats – 50 gr.;
• Spices for fish soup, bay leaf, salt - to taste;
• Fresh greens.

Cooking process:

Cut the potatoes into medium cubes and send them to boil. We wash the millet and pour it there. Finely grate the prepared carrots, cut into strips, diced onions, and celery root and place in a saucepan with soup.

If the vegetables and cereals are almost ready, add well-washed and soaked pike, cut into pieces, into the soup and cook for 7 - 10 minutes. If you use the fish's head, don't forget to take out the gills. Add spices and salt. Serve with fresh herbs.

Basic rules for cooking pike

When preparing pike, several basic rules should be followed:

- making sure that the fish is fresh (yes, yes - with the help of the nose), first of all we remove the gills (in fresh fish they are bright red, scarlet, after a while they darken into burgundy, as they spoil they become pale up to gray-white - that means the fish is spoiled). This can be done by protruding the gill covers, using kitchen scissors or a knife, or simply tearing them out with your fingers, but taking some care due to the fact that part of the pike’s gills on the reverse side have something like sharp “teeth” that are involved in swallowing prey;

— the pike carcass should be gutted after cleaning it from scales, if this is required for cooking (not always). It is very difficult to remove scales from a fresh pike, but you can make the process easier by pouring boiling water over the carcass - after this the scales will be removed quite easily;

— be sure to remember to open and rinse the internal cavity along the spine from coagulated blood;

— spices and herbs should be added to taste and in certain combinations, then the pike meat will turn out delicious.

— pike meat, especially large ones, is not at all fatty and can turn out to be a bit dry, so dishes are served with various sauces, gravies and vegetables;

- the head, tail, large fins and skin remaining from cutting a pike carcass should not be thrown away - they can be boiled to obtain the base for a sauce or broth for fish soup from more valuable fish.

About the spices . For example, garlic and basil or garlic, honey and mustard, basil and rosemary, fennel, bay and black pepper, bay leaf and green onions go well together. The “national” character and charisma of the finished pike dish will depend on what bouquet of spices is added. It is better to use olive or butter for cooking, or, in extreme cases, refined sunflower oil.

Heh from pike fillet

Ingredients:

• Pike meat (fillet) – 2 kg;
• Carrots - 2 pcs.;
• Large onion – 3 pcs.;
• Fresh herbs (dill, parsley) – 1 bunch;
• Bell pepper – 1 pc.;
• Garlic – 2 cloves;
• Apple cider vinegar – 6 tablespoons;
• Vegetable oil – 50 ml;
• Pepper mixture – 0.5 teaspoon;
• Ground coriander – 1 teaspoon;
• Salt - half a teaspoon.

Cooking process:

Cut the fish meat into thin slices and marinate. For the marinade, mix vinegar, vegetable oil, garlic and spices. We send the heh to infuse in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. At this time you need to prepare the vegetables. Grate the carrots on a Korean grater, cut the onion into strips, chop the greens, cut the bell pepper into cubes.

Add fresh vegetables to the fish and mix everything well. Leave to infuse in a cool place for another 2-3 hours. A signal that the dish is ready will be a change in the color of the pike meat; it should become almost white, and the vegetables should be saturated with spices and the aroma of the fish.

Flavorful soups for family dinners

You can prepare delicious pike soups very quickly and easily; besides, they turn out quite tasty and very healthy. Try to master several simple recipes for rich, aromatic and transparent fish soup that your family and friends will appreciate at home.

Pike soup and vegetables

The soup prepared this way has a wonderful taste. Ukha turns out to be nutritious, satisfying and tasty, charges the body with additional energy and lifts your spirits.

Components used:

• water - 2.5 liters,
• pike meat - 1 kg,
• potatoes - 5 pcs.,
• carrots - 2 pcs.,
• onions - 1-2 pcs.,
• celery (root) - 1 pc.,
• bay leaf - 2 pcs.,
• black pepper (peas) - 3 pcs.,
• vodka - 30 grams,
• greens (dill, parsley) - 50 grams,
• salt - to your taste.

Cooking steps:

1. First you need to cut the fish. For the soup you will need its fillet, so clean the carcass from scales, remove the gills and gut the pike. Then rinse the product thoroughly and cut into medium-sized pieces.
2. Pour water into a saucepan, bring it to a boil and place the fish in it. After this, add pre-chopped carrots, onions, salt and spices. Do not forget to remove the foam formed during cooking using a slotted spoon.
3. When the pike fillet is cooked, remove it from the broth and then strain the resulting liquid through cheesecloth.
4. After this, add diced potatoes to the broth, pour in vodka and simmer the soup for another 10-15 minutes, then turn off the heat.
5. Cover the pan with the finished dish and let it brew for about 20 minutes to improve the taste.

Serve the fish soup hot, placing a piece of fish on each plate and sprinkle with chopped herbs on top. Bon appetit!

Fish soup with barley

Pike fish soup with cereal is a flavorful and nutritious dish that both adults and children will really enjoy. In addition, the barley here will be cooked in fish broth, so it will retain all the vitamins necessary for the body.

Components used:

• pike - 400 grams,
• water - 3 liters,
• pearl barley - 150 grams,
• onion - 1 pc.,
• carrots - 1-2 pcs.,
• sunflower oil - 40 grams,
• greens - 100 grams,
• bay leaf - 3 pcs.,
• salt, spices - at your discretion.

Preparation:

1. Peel the potatoes, wash them with water and cut them into small cubes. Then place it in water and let it sit for a while to release the excess starch.
2. Cut the prepared fish into pieces, put them in a saucepan, cover with water and cook over low heat.
3. Take the pearl barley, rinse it well and add it to the pan with the broth. When the cereal is cooked, add potatoes, salt and spices.
4. Then grate the peeled carrots on a coarse grater, finely chop the onion and place in a saucepan. Then pour vegetable oil into the soup and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
5. At the end of cooking, sprinkle the fish soup with chopped herbs and after 2-3 minutes turn off the heat.

The fish soup with barley is ready; this rich, satisfying, but at the same time light dish is perfect for lunch or dinner for the whole family.

Stuffed with vegetables in the oven

Ingredients:

• Onions – 1 pc.;
• Carrots – 1 pc.;
• Fresh mushrooms (any kind will do) – 300 gr.;
• Pork lard – 100 g;
• Juice of half a lemon;
• Pepper mixture;
• Salt.

Cooking method:

It is best to remove the skin from the pike entirely (with a stocking) and stuff it with stuffing and chopped fish meat. To do this, you need to cut the ridge and carefully pull it out from the tail to the head, being careful not to damage the skin. If you doubt that you will succeed, you can fill the belly cavity with minced meat and bake.

For the filling, clean and wash the vegetables. Grate the carrots, cut the mushrooms into cubes, cut the onion into half rings and fry everything in vegetable oil. Fish meat cooks quite quickly and raw vegetables may not have time to soften and release their juice and flavor to the fish. Add lard, cut into small cubes, to the resulting mass; it will add juiciness to the finished dish.

Pour lemon juice over the prepared fish, rub with salt and pepper. Fill the belly with the filling and place it on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil. Let it brew for 30 minutes and put it in the oven. Depending on the size, bake for 30 - 40 minutes at a temperature of 150 degrees.

Pike fried in a frying pan

River fish prepared by frying is a fairly common dish at home. To make the pike in a frying pan juicy and appetizing, there are several recipes, following which you can quickly and easily fry it, treating all household members and guests who come to dinner with a delicious fish.

Fish fried with onions and spices

you need to use dairy products during cooking . Thanks to this, the dish turns out tender, aromatic, with a crispy crust.

Components used:

• fish - 2 kg,
• onions - 2 pcs.,
• milk - 80 grams,
• sour cream (20% fat content) - 250 grams,
• black pepper, seasonings - 5-10 grams,
• salt - 4-5 grams,
• fresh greens (dill, parsley, basil) - 80 grams,
• olive oil - 40 grams.

Cooking steps:

1. Clean the pike, cut it, wash it well and cut into pieces.
2. Mix spices and salt with olive oil, then coat the meat pieces with this mixture and leave to marinate for 20-30 minutes.
3. Cut the onion into rings, mix the milk with sour cream and add a little salt.
4. Place the fish fillet in a hot frying pan with oil, place the onion on top and fry the pieces on both sides until their surface is browned.
5. Then pour the mixture of sour cream and milk over the fried pike, cover tightly with a lid and simmer for about 15 minutes.
6. Sprinkle the finished dish with finely chopped herbs.

This fish is best eaten with a side dish of boiled potatoes or rice. Fried pike also goes very well with fresh vegetable salads.

Pike fillet cooked in batter

Fish stewed in aromatic batter has an amazing taste and can turn an ordinary lunch or dinner into a real holiday. Be sure to cook pike according to this recipe to please your family and friends with a spicy, tender and satisfying dish.

Components used:

• pike meat - 800 grams,
• sour cream (15% fat content) - 3 tablespoons,
• mayonnaise - 100 grams,
• flour - 2.5 tablespoons,
• egg - 1 pc.,
• sunflower oil,
• spices, black pepper, salt - to taste.

Preparation:

1. Cut the prepared fish into portions.
2. Take sour cream and mix it with flour and mayonnaise. Then add the beaten egg to the resulting mixture. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, add salt, then add spices and pepper to the sauce.
3. Now dip the pieces of fish fillet into the batter, place them in a frying pan heated with oil and fry them on both sides until golden brown.

Fish meat prepared in this way will go well with stewed vegetables and various seasonings. This dish is best paired with sour cream or cheese sauce - it will help fully reveal the taste of fried pike.

How to choose the right fish

How to cook pike deliciously? The best dishes are made from freshly caught fish. For those who don’t have the opportunity to find one, we learn how to choose one for sale based on 4 main characteristics:

1. Smell. It should be neutral or with a slight river shade. The presence of the smell of oil indicates that the carcass was rubbed in order to preserve it longer. If it smells like chlorine or ammonia, avoid purchasing it altogether.
2. Appearance . The meat looks juicy and not dried out or dehydrated. There are no foreign shades on the skin. The color is light and uniform.
3. Gills. They should be bright red. If they are dark in color or have an unpleasant odor, the fish is not fresh.
4. Eyes . In fresh fish they are transparent and convex. If you see sunken, red and cloudy fish, this fish has been sitting on the counter for a long time.

Prepare your dishes with pleasure and love. They will certainly turn out incredibly tasty and incredibly healthy.

Where to enjoy dishes made from the freshest pike

These are a few basic fish recipes that you can customize and create your own, using the freshest fish you've ever caught. The fact is that fish, even immediately frozen at a low temperature,

It loses its taste very quickly, literally in a few days.

And you can try perfectly cooked fresh pike, caught yourself, as well as many other, no less tasty, types of river fish on the Lower Volga, for example, in the Fishing Village “Trekhrechye” on Akhtuba in the region of Kharabali. Here you can catch fish and cook it yourself, or you can use the services of local chefs from the base restaurant - professionals in preparing fish dishes. And for comfortable relaxation and fishing, you can rent a fishing house and a boat with a motor. The nature in these places is stunningly picturesque and the climate is very comfortable.

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Choosing fish for a specific dish

• When buying pike, the first thing you need to do is smell it. If the fish is fresh, it will have the smell of river water and algae, and it will have bulging black eyes. The gills should be bright red. Fresh pike is always dense to the touch, the scales should be shiny and even. There should be no dark spots on the carcass. Fresh pike is always covered with a thin layer of transparent mucus; the tail should not curve upward.
• When pressing on the fish carcass, the pits should immediately disappear. If the pit remains for a long time, this means that the product has been subjected to repeated defrosting and freezing.
• Pike does not like deep freezing. With this processing, it loses some of its taste.

Aquarium with aerator

Many models of modern boats, which are designed specifically for fishing, are equipped with containers with aerators . They are filled with water from a river or lake, after which the caught pike is placed inside . Thanks to the operation of the aerator, the fish remain alive for a long time.

If you have such an aquarium, fishing from a boat turns out to be convenient. When the trophies are in the aquarium on board, you can move the motor across the pond at any time. However, such boats are not cheap, and not everyone can afford to buy one of them. But such boats are widely used by professional spinning fishers participating in competitions, according to the regulations of which only live fish are allowed for weighing.

Stewed fish in sour cream sauce

You can cook both sea and river fish in sour cream sauce. For the sauce you need to buy only fresh sour cream, but the fat content of the product does not really matter. But, of course, the richer the sour cream, the softer the sauce will be, and therefore the dish itself.

It is better to pre-fry the pike so that the meat does not turn out boiled.

Ingredients:

• pike;
• onion;
• garlic;
• a glass of sour cream;
• dill, oil, spices.

Cooking method:

1. Cut the fish fillet into small pieces. Season them with salt and pepper, put them in a bowl and give them a little time to rest.
2. Fry the preparations in vegetable oil until golden brown. There is no need to bread the fillet, and to prevent the pieces from sticking to the pan, the oil needs to be heated properly.
3. In the oil remaining after frying the fish, sauté the onion half rings.
4. Add chopped dill, two cloves of garlic and salt to the sour cream, mix everything. The sauce should not be too thick. If you are using a product with a high fat content, it is better to dilute the dressing with water.
5. Pour a little oil into a deep saucepan, place the fried fish, pour the sauce over it, cover with a lid and simmer the dish until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to prepare a delicious dish from freshly caught fish. But you can buy fresh or frozen pike at the market or in a store. The most important thing is to choose a high-quality specimen with clear eyes, a dense carcass, pink gills and smooth scales. Only from such fish can you prepare a tasty, and most importantly, healthy dish for the whole family.

Fish soup recipes

Fish soup with pike
To prepare fish soup, you should use fresh or live fish. Frozen pike will not make a soup with a rich taste. Some recipes suggest using additional catfish, perch or sterlet.

Traditional fish soup is prepared with pike, onions, potatoes, and carrots. You can add 50 ml of vodka, 15 g of butter. Take 3 liters of water and bring to a boil. Add diced potatoes. Lower the bulbs entirely. Chop the carrots and parsley and add to the broth.

While the vegetables are cooking, carve the pike and cut into pieces. 10 minutes after adding the vegetables, place the fish in the water. Cook for 15 minutes, add vodka. The last ingredient will remove the muddy taste. At the end of cooking, add butter, season with sour cream or herbs.

Tsar's ear

This recipe is not as quick to prepare as the previous one. The difference is the use of more ingredients. First you need to cook chicken broth. Remove the bird and place the cleaned and chopped small fish. Cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the fish and pass the broth through several layers of gauze. Add pike and zander. Cook over low heat. Add the whites from two beaten eggs. Add 150 g of millet, add potatoes, cook until half cooked.

Fry onions, carrots, add to the soup. The soup is served in deep bowls. First they put vegetables in them, then pour broth on top and sprinkle with herbs. Ukha goes well with wheat pies.

Pike in foil

There are many options for how to cook pike in foil. But we offer you the simplest and fastest. Besides being quick and easy, it's also delicious!

Ingredients:

• Pike
• Lemon
• Bulb
• 2-3 tomatoes
• Greenery
• Vegetable oil
• Mayonnaise
• Salt and spices

Preparation:

Before cooking pike in foil, clean the fish carcass, gut it, cut out the gills and wash it. Rub it outside and inside with salt and spices, and also grease it with mayonnaise on the outside. The belly of the pike can be “stuffed” with herbs and lemon slices, but you can do without it. Place the prepared pike on foil, spread on a baking sheet and greased with oil. Place onion and tomato rings on top of the fish and wrap the foil, tightly “wrapping” the fish.

How to cook pike in foil so that it turns out juicy and tasty? You need to make sure that the juice does not leak out of the foil. First, you should bake the fish in wrapped foil, and after about twenty minutes, carefully unwrap the foil and bake the fish for another ten minutes. During this time, it will have time to brown and look even more appetizing.