Unusual meat and fish cutlets Surprise

Choosing fish for cutlets

Which fish is best to make fish cutlets from? The fish can be anything, the main condition is that it must be fresh and of high quality. There are many signs that a fish is fresh - it smells good, its gills are red or pink rather than gray or brown, the mucus on the carcass is clear and not sticky. The eyes of a good fish are bulging, clear and transparent, and the scales fit tightly to the body and are not so easy to separate with your hands. The fish belly should be transparent and flat; if it is swollen and covered with suspicious spots, it means that the fish in front of you is not the freshest. Foreign spots on fish are often a sign of parasite infestation. There is a simple way to check the degree of freshness of fish - put it in water: fresh fish will sink, and spoiled fish will float to the top. Professional chefs use another method - they pierce the fish carcass with a hot knife, and if an unpleasant smell appears, it means the fish is stale.

Fish cutlets are made from river, sea and lake fish of medium fat content, although the fat content of cutlets can be reduced or increased - to do this, just trim off excess fat on the carcass or add lard or butter to the minced meat. By the way, large fish make juicier cutlets than small fish.

A few secrets for preparing minced fish

How to cook boneless fish cutlets? Agree, it is unpleasant to remove bones from cutlets, and besides, you can choke on them. For this reason, large fish are most often used for cutlets; it is easier to remove bones from it. However, many housewives grind small fish along with the bones - it is believed that if you pass it through a meat grinder several times, the bones are crushed and are invisible in the minced meat. However, this is a matter of taste, so the best way to save yourself the extra work is to buy ready-made fillets. You don’t have to grind the fish, but simply chop it finely with a knife - this way you get juicier fish cutlets, and you don’t need to bother with kitchen appliances.

What else is added to fish cutlets besides the fish itself? There is a standard list of ingredients - egg, onion, bread soaked in water, garlic, salt and spices. Lemon juice, semolina, raw potatoes or other vegetables such as carrots, cabbage and zucchini are also added to homemade fish cutlets to make the cutlets juicy and tender. At the same time, the minced meat with semolina must sit so that the cereal swells. For juiciness, cream, mayonnaise or lard minced through a meat grinder are also used. Some chefs add 1 tsp per 1 kg of fish for piquancy. honey There are also very original recipes where the minced fish contains cheese, apples, cottage cheese, minced chicken, rice, pearl barley, rolled oats or mushrooms. Sometimes cutlets are prepared not from fresh fish, but from smoked fish or using seafood - crayfish, squid and even crab sticks. As they say, there is no arguing about tastes!

How to cook “Breaded fish cutlets”

Prepare all ingredients.

Cut off the crusts of the bread and soak it in milk.

If you do not use ready-made minced fish, then gut the fish, rinse and fillet it. Twist the fillet through a meat grinder with a fine grid. The skin can be left or removed as desired.

Add to the prepared minced meat an egg, onion minced through a meat grinder, soaked bread, chopped herbs, garlic minced through a press, salt, pepper and spices to taste.

Mix everything thoroughly.

Form cutlets and roll them on all sides in breadcrumbs.

Fry the cutlets over high heat until golden brown, then cover with a lid and simmer over low heat with a small amount of water until it boils completely.

Breaded fish cutlets are ready.

Bon appetit!

How to fry fish cutlets

It is better to knead minced fish by hand. Before you start making cutlets, cool the minced meat so that it is softer, more uniform and tasty, and before forming the cutlets, wet your hands with cold water or use a chilled spoon.

A very important point in preparing fish cutlets is maintaining their shape and frying. To prevent the cutlets from falling apart in the pan, they are rolled in breading, which is made from breadcrumbs, starch, wheat, rye, rice or any other flour. Sometimes bran with dried herbs or semolina is used, and the cutlets are dipped in beaten egg before breading. You can do without breading, but in this case, place the cutlets in a very hot frying pan to form a golden brown crust.

The cutlets are fried on both sides and then allowed to cook under the lid over low heat. You can add a little broth with spices to the pan and simmer to make the dish more juicy and tender. Cutlets can be baked in the oven, in a slow cooker, in an air fryer, or cooked in a double boiler. Fish cutlets are especially tasty if you first fry them in a frying pan and then finish baking them in the oven with sour cream and cheese.

Unusual meat and fish cutlets Surprise

This story and recipe for unusual meat and fish cutlets was sent by Irina Kryukova from Saransk (38 years old)

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“This was in the late 80s. One day, on March 8th, it turned out that my parents were working, and there was no one to cook the festive dinner. And I really wanted to cook something tasty for my mother that day, but as luck would have it, the refrigerator was also almost empty. Soon my father came home from work, tired and hungry. I finished the lazy cabbage rolls my mother had prepared, lay down on the sofa and immersed myself in reading the newspaper.

I realized that my mother would have nothing to eat for dinner and began to pester my father to start preparing dinner. He said that he would go to the store for sausage and candy, and I would have to cook dinner myself, since I was already big.

At that time I was 14 years old. Of course, I knew how to cook, but I didn’t know what to cook today. In the refrigerator there were only eggs, 2 small frozen fish and a piece of pork. In those years, in stores, and even on holidays, it was useless to look for something more. And when dad returned home and said that there was no sausage, I was not surprised. But don’t “feed” your mother tea and sweets!

Together with my father, we began to think about what we could cook from our meager set of products. There is not enough fish for frying, there is not enough meat for cutlets, and the pork is too fatty.

Then I suggested making cutlets from minced meat. The father, after thinking, agreed: “Who knows, maybe it will be delicious!” He went into the kitchen to peel potatoes for mashed potatoes, and I started preparing cutlets from all the products that we had in the house. I wanted to make more of them so that there would be enough for everyone. When my mother came home, she asked from the doorway: “What is it that smells so good here?”

And when she entered the kitchen, a real festive dinner awaited her, consisting of ruddy cutlets with mashed potatoes and tea with sweets. Having tried one meat and fish cutlet, my mother at first did not believe that it was I who made them. But then my father stood up for me and said that only I prepared them - from beginning to end. I myself did not expect that the first cutlets I created would turn out to be so tasty! I was so glad that my parents liked my cooking.

After that dinner, my mother made these fish and meat cutlets herself more than once, we really liked them! Now I cook them often, though this time for my family. I don’t know the exact proportions, I always do it by eye and taste. But I can describe the approximate number of products.”

Next, cutlets with meat and fish are prepared by Oksana (Rainbow)

For some reason, my sincere love for fried crucian carp and mullet does not prevent me from treating fish cutlets with contempt. Intrigued by the flattering reviews from our reader’s household, I decided to take a risk and fry fish and meat cutlets. I don’t regret the experiment at all; I liked the taste of the cutlets. Thank you, the surprise was clearly a success, the cutlet recipe is really interesting!

What do you eat fish cutlets with?

An excellent side dish for fish cutlets is potatoes, vegetables, rice and pasta, and to improve the taste and originality of the dish, they are served with sauces. A successful sauce will not only diversify and improve the taste of the dish, but will also turn it into a real delicacy. Gravy based on lemon juice, mayonnaise, sour cream, tomato paste and dry wine are suitable for fish.

The simplest sauce is prepared from 200 g of mayonnaise, 1 tsp. lemon juice, chopped dill, 1 tsp. sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Then all you have to do is mix 4 finely chopped pickled cucumbers with mayonnaise, and the sauce is ready.

Try making a classic French sauce - it's also very tasty. To do this, fry 40 g of flour in 30 g of butter until golden brown, and then pour 500 ml of fish broth into the frying pan and stir the sauce so that there are no lumps. Add salt, pepper, and egg yolk to the broth, bring the liquid to a boil, immediately remove from heat and add another 30 g of butter with the juice of half a lemon to the cooled sauce. Pleasant sourness and spices enrich the taste of fish cutlets, and especially successful combinations are obtained with oregano, ginger, anise, basil, coriander, sage, fennel, thyme and tarragon.

Classic fish cutlets

Such cutlets were served in canteens in Soviet times, so they evoke nostalgia for many. Well, let's try to cook them. Take one pollock, separate the fish from the bones, grind the flesh in a meat grinder, add an egg, 2 finely chopped onions, 2 slices of a loaf soaked in milk and 1 raw carrot, grated. Form cutlets, roll in breadcrumbs, fry in a pan and serve with mashed potatoes. This very simple, tasty and budget-friendly dish will be appreciated by busy housewives who do not want to deprive their family of nutritious lunches and dinners during the work week.

Fish and squid cutlets

We need:

• 150-200 g boiled squid
• 200 g sea bass fillet (boneless)
• 80 g wheat bread
• 1/3 tbsp. milk or water
• 1 piece egg
• 2 tbsp. breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• salt, pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Cut boiled squid and fish fillets into pieces and pass through a meat grinder along with onions and bread soaked in milk.

2. In the resulting minced meat,

add egg, salt, pepper and mix well.

3. From the resulting minced meat, form cutlets, roll them in breadcrumbs and fry them on both sides.

How to make fish cutlets in the oven

Prepare minced meat from 1 kg of silver carp, pike or pike perch fillet, add to it 1 cup of bread crumb soaked in milk, half a finely chopped onion, 50 g of grated cheese, 2 eggs, salt and pepper. We make cutlets, fry them on both sides in vegetable oil in any breading and separately saute the chopped carrots and half an onion. For the sauce, mix 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste, 100 g sour cream, 2 tbsp. l. broth or water, a pinch of salt and sugar. Place the prepared cutlets in the mold in layers, pour sauce over each layer and place in the oven for 20 minutes at 180°C.

Fish cutlets without milk

We need:

• 600 g fish fillet (hake, pollock, grenadier)
• 1-2 pcs eggs
• 1 piece of onion
• 3 tbsp. breadcrumbs
• salt, pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for frying

For breading:

• 1 tbsp. wheat flour (corn)
• 2 tbsp. breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp seasonings for fish

Preparation:

1.Chop the fish fillet and onion and pass through a meat grinder. Salt the fish mass and pepper to taste.

2. Add eggs and breadcrumbs to the finished minced meat and mix. The minced meat must be beaten for 4-5 minutes.

We determine the readiness of the minced meat as follows: run the back of a spoon over the minced meat; if the mark remains smooth, the minced meat is ready.

3. For breading, mix all ingredients.

4. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and set to heat over medium heat. Place a bay leaf in the oil.

5.

Form the cutlets: take the minced meat with a spoon, roll it in breading and form the cutlets with your hands.

Fry in hot oil on both sides until golden brown.

When the cutlets are ready,

cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Eating fish cutlets at home

Sometimes novice cooks ask what the right fish cutlets are and what kind of fish they are made from. The fact is that the right dishes are those that you prepare with love and care for your family, and recipes can be different. For example, in fish cutlets from our readers on Yulia Vysotskaya’s website you can find walnuts, raisins, prunes, tomatoes, green peas, broccoli, orange juice, chickpeas and juniper berries. If you do not buy ready-made semi-finished products, but only cook at home, your loved ones are lucky, because they will always have tasty, simple and healthy food on their table. Pamper them more often and don’t forget yourself!

Recipe Fish cutlets. Calorie, chemical composition and nutritional value.

Nutritional value and chemical composition of “Fish cutlets”.

The table shows the nutritional content (calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals) per 100 grams of edible portion.

The energy value of fish cutlets is 112.8 kcal.

Main source: Internet. Read more.

** This table shows the average levels of vitamins and minerals for an adult. If you want to know the norms taking into account your gender, age and other factors, then use the “My Healthy Diet” application.