Some of the most delicious fish dishes are prepared from tench. Tench fish is rather capricious in processing, it requires a lot of attention for cleaning and gutting. But prepared dishes from it are compared with tender chicken meat. This fish is suitable for baking, boiling (including steaming), frying and even stuffing. So, today we will tell you how to clean and prepare the tench correctly.
Description
Tench fish lives in fresh water, likes to dig into the mud and silt, where they find food. There he spends the winter. It is very similar to crucian in lifestyle. Carcasses grow slowly, they are inactive, mainly adhere to the zone near the coast. It is quite difficult to meet a tench in the river; he does not like the active flow of water. As a rule, it is found in ponds, reservoirs or lakes, where there are overgrown places of algae, reeds and other marsh vegetation. But not because of this lifestyle, the name "tench" appeared. And because of the ability to molt when exposed to air: the fish changes color to dark in full color or partially in the form of single spots.
Golden tench
Interestingly, there is a species that belongs to ornamental fish - the golden tench. It is bright yellow, as if covered with gold. But such a fish is not found in simple reservoirs, it is artificially bred and not adapted to the external habitat. The mass reaches up to 7.5 kg.
The entire surface of the scales is covered with mucus, which is produced continuously. Fish can survive in water with low oxygen levels and even in heavily polluted places. The best medium for tench is acidified water.
Primary training
Almost every angler or cook knows how to clean tench fish. But, if you have never come across this fish, it’s difficult to find it right away. Indeed, dense scales and a lot of mucus are often found on its surface. How to get rid of it?
There are several ways:
- use a sharp cook's knife - under a stream of cool water, peel off the mucus with a knife from top to bottom;
- arrange a contrasting shower for the carcass from hot and cold water - under such pressure, the mucus will begin to curl up and go off in parts.
Tench is a river fish, so small specimens have many bones. They are cooked in whole carcasses or used to create minced meat.
Then remove the skin if you want to cut a clean boneless filet. But if steaks are needed, the skin is left. When frying or baking, the flakes seize together and form a dense crisp crust.
The head, the insides of the peritoneum and the fins must be removed during cutting. For small fish, you can use kitchen scissors instead of a knife.
Should I use marinade?
Tench is a delicious fish, if cooked properly. Since its meat has a characteristic smell of silt due to the habit of this fish to dig into it in search of food. To eliminate this aroma, use marinades or simply soak the carcass in salt water for about one hour. You can add a little acetic acid or freshly squeezed lemon juice.
For the same purpose, take citrus juice or spices when pickling slices or whole carcasses.
But you can go the other way. Let still live fish in a volumetric cup with water or a bathtub. Tench swims there for about 10-12 hours and naturally purifies or filters its meat through the gills.
Options for marinades for fish
Slightly sweet marinades with sugar or natural bee honey are ideal for tench. But there are other options. So, here are such mixtures used for tench:
- lemon juice, sugar, salt, ground pepper (juice can be taken from any citrus fruit to taste - orange, lime, kumquat, grapefruit);
- onions, sauce "Mayonnaise", mashed garlic, sunflower oil, ground pepper - ideal if tench fish in the oven (in food foil) is cooked or grilled;
- sunflower or olive oil and a couple of pinches of spices for fish ;
- chopped vegetables in a blender (necessarily with the presence of onions and garlic) with a quarter teaspoon of table vinegar 6%, apple or wine.
Spices & Seasonings
Spices and seasonings for tench are suitable for those that are most often used for fish dishes. But keep in mind that the same flavor in different ways affects different fish. As a rule, when preparing meals use:
- citrus juice or zest;
- white roots of parsley, celery;
- fennel, caraway seeds or dill seeds;
- rosemary;
- basil;
- marjoram;
- ground pepper (any - one type or mixture);
- sage;
- garlic and onions (fresh or dried);
- nutmeg.
For one dish, take a couple of three types of spices or seasonings, you should not overdo it with them.
In addition to natural spices, you can buy in advance in the store a mixture of "For fish". Then you will be sure that you use flavorings as intended.
Breading options
If you decide to bake fish in the oven or on the grill, then breading is not needed. And when frying in the usual way in a pan, it should be used. Choose the following types:
- wheat flour only;
- a mixture of flour and salt;
- a mixture of flour and sesame seeds.
All in the same wheat flour for a change, small crumbs of ground nuts are added.
Breadcrumbs with supplements are used when preparing tench steaks or its fillet. When cooking a whole small carcass, one flour will do.
Pan fried recipe
To prepare this dish you will need the following products:
- carcass tench - 1 pc. (weighing about 300-500 g);
- coarse salt - a couple of pinches;
- lemon - 1 pc.;
- ground pepper - a pinch;
- sunflower oil - 2 tbsp. l .;
- wheat flour - 2 tbsp. l
How to cook tench fish? To get started, free his carcass of mucus. Use a contrast douche method. Then cut the belly and gently pull out the insides. All actions must be performed carefully so as not to damage the gall bladder, otherwise all the flesh of the fish will get a bitter taste. It will not be possible to fix it. Then cut off the head and remove the fins. Use a stable, non-slip surface for cutting.
Then rinse the carcass under a stream of cold water to wash away dirt and traces of blood.
Prepare a container of 2-3 liters and load the carcass there. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon to it and pour water. Leave the tench for a couple of hours.
After the specified time, drain the water and rinse the carcass again under the tap with cool water. Put back in a bowl and add the same salt, ground pepper and juice of the second half of the lemon (about 30 ml). Rub the carcass with this mixture on all sides and leave for 40-50 minutes. Cover the bowl for this period with a lid or a plate.
Now about the heat treatment. How to fry tench fish? On moderate heat without temperature spikes. Turn on the heat and let the oil pan heat up.
Bread the fish in flour on all sides. Put the carcass on a hot surface and do not touch until a crispy crust appears on the bottom. Then turn over and turn down the heat. Close the lid and leave for a couple of minutes.
So fry the fish until cooked. The smaller the tench, the faster it will cook.
Baked fish in the oven with mushrooms
Bake tench fish. The description of the primary treatment does not differ from the above recipe for frying. Therefore, we omit it in the story of the cooking process. We only note that the head remains in the carcass, and the gills are cut with kitchen scissors.
Mushrooms for the recipe, choose at will - fresh or pickled.
You will need the following products:
- tench fish - 1-2 pcs.;
- lemon - 1 pc.;
- salt to taste;
- ground pepper or sweet paprika - a couple of pinches;
- fresh parsley - medium bunch;
- champignons - 200 g;
- cranberries - 10-15 pcs.;
- honey - 1/3 tsp;
- breadcrumbs - 2 tbsp. l .;
- sunflower oil - 2 tbsp. l
To prepare this dish, you must adhere to the following procedure:
- First follows the initial preparation of the fish, then its maturation with the juice of half a lemon and washing.
- For marinating fish, mix 2-3 tbsp. l freshly squeezed lemon juice, ground pepper and salt. Manually grate the tench and leave for half an hour.
- Rinse the mushrooms well and cut into halves. If the mushrooms are small, leave them whole.
- Bread marinated fish in breadcrumbs and place on a baking sheet. First cover it with a dense layer of food foil and grease with sunflower oil. Lay mushrooms next to the fish. Cover with foil on top to prevent hot steam from escaping. Between the foil and the walls of the baking sheet, you can pour a little water so that the dish is cooked as if steamed.
- Place in the oven at 180 ° C for 40 minutes.
- In the meantime, rinse and dry the greens. Shred.
- Rinse cranberries and put together with honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. She should be a little caramelized. Stir the mixture so as not to stick.
- Put the finished fish on a dish, shape with lemon slices, mushrooms, fresh herbs and cranberries.
Choose spicy greens for the recipe according to your preferences and taste guidelines. Instead of parsley, you can prepare a side salad of lettuce, watercress and fresh tarragon for a side dish.
Tench in batter
For cooking, you need to take the following products:
- tench fish - 1 pc.;
- apple cider vinegar - 2 tbsp. l .;
- salt - a couple of pinches;
- egg - 1 pc. (or only yolk);
- wheat flour - 3 tbsp. l .;
- mayonnaise - 2 tbsp. l .;
- sunflower oil - 2-3 tbsp. l
Follow the following cooking instructions:
- For a fish recipe, tench in batter will have to be cut into a clean fillet. First, gut it and cut off your head. Soak in water with 1 tbsp. l apple cider vinegar. Rinse the carcass and place on a cutting board. Hold the tail and place a knife under the skin and pulp. Guide them along the spine and cut the fillet with skin and costal bones. Turn the line over and do the same with the second filet.
- Remove the skin and cut the costal bones from both fillets.
- Chop and marinate the remaining apple cider vinegar and salt.
- Prepare a batter. In a bowl, mix mayonnaise, flour, egg and a little salt. Dip the pieces of fish in it and stir.
- Heat the pan well with oil and put the pieces out. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Turn over periodically - 2-3 times. The frying time for such small pieces is short - 3-4 minutes on each side over moderate heat.
The same recipe is suitable for cooking steak in a batter.
Batter options
For fish, if desired, you can pick up another batter. Add additional ingredients to it, including spices, seasonings, herbs, or something else. Options for batter for fish dishes:
- cheese - grated cheese, egg, sour cream, flour, salt, spices;
- beer - beer (preferably light), flour, salt, egg yolks (the same batter is prepared on table white wine instead of beer);
- on water - mineral water, flour, egg, salt;
- with herbs - chopped spicy greens (or dried), mayonnaise, egg, flour, salt, spices;
- garlic - mashed fresh garlic, mayonnaise, egg, breadcrumbs;
- saffron - natural Imereti saffron or turmeric, water for infusion of seasoning, salt, sour cream, flour, egg yolks.
The mixture should be thick to completely envelop the pieces of the product.
This is how tench fish is cooked. The recipes are not complicated, but it takes enough time for pre-processing and pickling.