#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. For many centuries, the rivers of Siberia have provided people with high quality, natural and, most importantly, a useful product – fish.
The refined taste and variety of species of northern fish are fraught with many opportunities for culinary delights.
Sous-chef of the Wine and Meat restaurant Mikhail Naumov told how to choose and cook a real fish delicacy – fried Taimyr whitefish.
To cook fish in a northern way, you will need whitefish fillet, mashed potatoes, spinach, cream, oyster sauce, romano salad, cherry tomatoes and cucumber. The weight of the ingredients is calculated based on the number of servings required.
It is better to serve the fish hot, so we start by making the sauce. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and put on a hot stove.
Add oyster sauce to taste and stir for a couple of minutes. Pour the gravy into a saucepan and let it cool.
The above ingredients for the sauce can be replaced with regular soy or teriyaki sauce: they are served without cream, in pure form.
Let us move on to the side dish. Add spinach chopped in a blender to pre-cooked mashed potatoes. It will add flavor and aroma.
“Spinach can be either frozen or fresh. It “binds” the mashed potatoes, and afterwards it will be easier to put it on a plate in the desired shape”, noted the sous-chef.
Heat the puree with spinach on the stove and add the cream – the side dish is ready.
Let us get down to whitefish. As Mikhail Naumov emphasized, for the dinner to be tasty, it is important to choose the right fish: the scales should shine and shimmer, the eyes should not be cloudy, and the carcass of fresh fish is usually dense and elastic.
“We took whitefish fillets peeled in advance. An important nuance: the fish does not need to be thawed in the microwave or in water, it must be thawed naturally. By keeping the required amount of water, it will be juicy”, the cook explained.
Interesting that whitefish is a salmon species, but its meat is white. It contains a large amount of vitamins A and D. This fish has a high fat content, but contains few calories and is great for those who keeps fit. Fish oil, especially whitefish, is rapidly absorbed in the body.
Back to making a quick and healthy Friday dinner. Fillets must be rolled in corn or wheat flour before frying. Mikhail Naumov uses corn, as it gives a rich golden color to fish.
“First, we heat a frying pan with oil. To make the fish well cooked, we begin to fry it at a low temperature: if you start with a high temperature, it will get dried out on the outside, but inside it will remain moist. A small life hack: you can check the readiness of the fish by pressing on its carcass with your finger: if it returns to its original form, then it is ready”, the cook shared.
Next, add the temperature and fry the fish on both sides until golden brown. Juicy, appetizing whitefish is ready.
The decoration of the dish is just as important as the taste. Tomatoes, cucumber and romano salad will add bright colors. In summer, the plate can be decorated with inflorescences of any plants.
“Put lettuce leaves on a plate with whitefish and mashed potatoes, then thinly chop the cucumber and twist it, cut the cherry into slices and put it on top of the salad. You can also use radishes and bell peppers. At the final stage, there are no definite rules, you need to turn on your imagination – and everything will certainly work out”, summed up the sous-chef.
After decorating the fish in the northern way, we serve it along with the sauce to our household or guests. Bon Appetit!
For more recipes using authentic Taimyr products, see our Taste of the North section by the active link.
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Text: Ekaterina Elkanova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
