Sazan is a river fish, it has a slightly specific smell of mud, inherent in the inhabitants of fresh lakes and inactive rivers. Therefore, many people do not like to cook it, motivating a bad taste, despite the fact that it has a very tender and sweet fillet. Moreover, the energy value of a common carp is only 97 calories, which makes it a desirable guest in the diet menu, and a high level of iron allows you to recommend this fish to people suffering from anemia. This article presents several recipes with photos of sazan baked in the oven, as well as practical tips on how to rid a fish of an unpleasant odor.
How to eliminate the smell of mud from fish?
It should be noted right away that frozen carp is not suitable for cooking at all, except perhaps for cutlets or other dishes of minced fish. In order to cook sazan baked in the oven according to the recipe, fish should be taken only fresh, visiting the nearest market and making sure first hand of its freshness: clear eyes, red gills and the absence of an unpleasant smell are the main guidelines. After it is cleaned of scales, viscera and thoroughly washed, you can proceed to the first stage of preparation: to muffle a specific smell or even remove it.
There are several ways to do this:
- Soak the fish in milk for one hour. Not the cheapest option, but if you choose the right dishes, then the costs can be minimized. To do this, take a form the size of a little larger than the fish: wide, but with a small height, so that the fish flooded with milk is completely covered with liquid.
- Squeeze the juice from one lemon per liter of purified water and soak the carcass of the carp in this solution for forty minutes. A pleasant lemon flavor in the finished fish will make it clear that the smell of tina will no longer be the reason to refuse such a delicious dish.
- Two tbsp. dissolve tablespoons of vinegar in a liter of water, add one bay leaf and soak in such a marinade for an hour or a half. The effect is as in the previous version.
Whole Fish
The recipe for whole carp, baked in the oven, is the best option, because basically this fish has a weight category from 800 grams to two kg. Larger options are suitable for a festive table, and smaller ones - for a family dinner or lunch. To prepare, prepare the following:
- one carcass measuring 1-1.2 kg;
- two carrots and onions;
- 120 grams of hard cheese;
- 100 grams of mayonnaise or thick sour cream;
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice;
- salt to taste.
Where to start cooking?
The cooking process of sazan baked in the oven according to the recipe begins with the preparation of the fish: it must be soaked in any of the above options. After that, rinse the fish under running water and put it on a paper towel to dry a little.
In the meantime, peel the onion and chop it into thin half rings, add boiling water and lightly salt it. Grate carrots, mix with half a serving of mayonnaise and pepper. Then combine it with onion, mix well and stuff the mass of the carp abdomen with the resulting mass, putting it on a greased baking sheet or in a baking dish. It is better to fasten the incision with wooden toothpicks so that the seam does not spread when baking, otherwise the filling will fall out. Send the fish to the oven, warmed up to 190 degrees, and bake until rosy, smearing the entire surface with the remains of mayonnaise. Then sprinkle the fish with grated cheese and return to the oven for another five to eight minutes to form a delicious cheese crust.
Two in one: fish with a side dish
Fish and potatoes baked in an oven under mayonnaise is almost a classic, but not everyone knows some of the nuances of cooking this dish, so sometimes the taste is somewhat disappointing.
Let's try to consider in detail another recipe for cooking carp, baked in the oven, step by step:
- Rinse the cleaned and gutted fish thoroughly under running water, soak in milk for an hour, and meanwhile peel the potatoes in the required quantity. Usually, if one kilogram of fish is used, then the same number of potatoes should be taken. Cut it into circles no more than 5 mm thick and pour it with a mixture of salt and black pepper (a generous pinch of each). If desired, you can add rings of fresh onions, only cut it very thinly.
- Grease a baking tray with lean oil and put the potatoes on it in an even layer, placing a carcass of carcass in the center. At the same time, put a couple of sprigs of dill inside the fish: the spicy grass will give its flavor to the fish, making it more palatable.
- Move the baking sheet into the oven, turn on the temperature mode by 220 degrees and wait 15-20 minutes. During this time, fish and potatoes should lightly brown.
- In a cup, mix three cloves of garlic, a little black pepper and 120 grams of mayonnaise, which, if desired, can be replaced with high-quality sour cream. Stir the mass thoroughly and coat the fish with the resulting sauce from all sides, carefully turning it over to the other side. Potatoes on a baking sheet should also be mixed with a wooden spatula so that it is evenly baked on all sides. If there is garlic sauce, then it can be distributed on the potatoes, which will give it a wonderful rustic spirit.
Return the baking tray with the fish to the oven and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Serving this dish is better in hot or warm form along with slicing fresh vegetables.
Sliced recipe in pieces
Baked fish in the oven can be very unusual in taste thanks to a special marinade in which the carp is pre-soaked. For example, you can use white wine, which goes well with freshwater fish.
The list of necessary ingredients looks like this:
- 1.5 kg of fish;
- 1/2 cup white wine of good quality;
- 4-5 Art. tablespoons of soy sauce;
- two pinches of Provence herbs, if not, can be replaced with rosemary;
- 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- some black pepper.
How to cook marinade?
For sazan baked in the oven, the marinade recipe is quite simple: you need to mix salt, spices and ground pepper in one bowl, add soy sauce and vegetable oil (it can be olive or sesame, they will give the fish a touch of Asian cuisine). Whisk lightly with a whisk until the food mixes evenly, and then pour in the wine. Let the marinade stand for several minutes, and then place the fish in it. If you do not use alcohol in the cooking process, then the wine can be replaced with freshly squeezed lemon juice (1/2 fruit) mixed with 80 grams of water.
How to bake fish slices?
Next, following the recipe for baked carp in the oven step by step, cut the fish into portions. To do this, it is necessary to divide the carcass in two along the ridge (it can be completely removed along with the costal bones, leaving only the fillet). Then cut it into slices 3-4 cm thick, put in a mold in which it will be baked, and pour marinade directly into it.
Then thoroughly mix all the pieces with your hands so that the liquid evenly envelops them on all sides. We leave it alone so that the fish is marinated, but at the same time it should be mixed again every 10-15 minutes. Then in the same dish we put the carp in the oven directly with the remains of the marinade and bake until cooked. This will take an average of half an hour with an oven temperature of 200-210 degrees.
In foil
To get a more flavorful fish, you can bake carp in the foil in the oven. The recipe is also based on a fish marinade, for which you should take the following:
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of soy sauce and vegetable oil;
- juice of one lemon;
- 1 teaspoon with a slide of grated fresh ginger;
- pinch - salt and black pepper.
The resulting ingredients are mixed in one bowl. Grate the prepared fish with the resulting mixture and leave for half an hour so that the carp is well saturated with juices and aromas. Periodically, it should be turned over and rubbed with the mixture again, so that the fish becomes as saturated as possible evenly from all sides. It is worth noting that the components of the marinade are designed for carcasses weighing 800-1000 grams, if the fish is taken larger, then the amount of marinade should be increased accordingly.
Cooking
Also for carp, baked in the oven according to the recipe in foil, you will need:
- one carrot: cut it into circles 0.5 cm thick;
- 1-2 onions, which should be cut into four slices and then chop;
- one lemon cut into thin slices;
- cut two tomatoes into half circles;
- a set of herbs for fish: it can be Provencal herbs or a mixture of rosemary with nutmeg and white allspice.
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- salt to taste preferences.
When the fish is marinated, move it to a baking sheet on which you first need to spread the foil (it can be folded in half for greater density).
Place half of the sliced vegetables and a couple of slices of lemon inside the carcass of the carp, spreading in layers, and lay the second part around the fish in the form of a vegetable pillow, and lemon slices on top of it. Cover the fish with a second layer of foil, carefully wrapping the edges around the perimeter so that the contents are well packed inside. Send the baking sheet to the oven and bake the fish for half an hour at a temperature of 200-210 degrees. Next, remove the top layer of foil and return the carp with vegetables to the oven for another 15 minutes, so that the fish is a little browned. Serve the fish, cut into portions and place it on a vegetable pad. It is also good to use potatoes or rice as a side dish.
What to choose for a side dish?
If the fish is baked in the oven without a side dish, then it will be natural to cook something for this, because often recipes for carp, baked in the oven, do not indicate what to serve with the main dish. The most common combination is fish and potatoes of any kind, but monotony is often annoying. Boiled rice, also flavored with a small amount of butter, crumbly buckwheat porridge in water, and grilled vegetables in a creamy sauce, which also goes well with fish, will also go well with baked carp.