River crucian carp is an affordable, budget fish that does not belong to the category of noble fish. The more striking is the metamorphosis that occurs with crucian carp if they are cooked in sour cream. Excellent taste and attractive appearance make the dish a worthy culmination of the festive table. The chefs of the best fish restaurants reveal the intricacies of preparing a mouth-watering fish delicacy in our article.
Choosing the ingredients
There are only two main ingredients in this simple dish: crucian carp and sour cream. If you are the happy owner of freshly caught crucian carp, the success of the dish is guaranteed. Fresh fish does not require additional culinary sophistication. Adding sour cream in this case will help remove the smell of mud and will bring the unpretentious inhabitants of ponds to the big league of fish.
For true gourmets, we suggest using the recipe of one of the heroes of A.P. Chekhov, who advised that in order to give a delicate taste to crucian carp in sour cream, first keep them alive in milk.
If such a luxury as a live catch is not available to you, don’t worry. Go to the nearest market or fish store for crucian carp. Our tips will help you choose the freshest fish:
- Inspect the gills of crucian carp: in fresh specimens they should be red.
- Mucus on the scales is a clear sign that the fish is not fresh.
- Pay attention to the eyes: in fresh specimens they are clean, without cloudiness or blood, as in the photo.
The second important ingredient of the dish is sour cream. To prepare delicious crucian carp, we recommend giving preference to homemade sour cream, which is famous for its high fat content. When choosing sour cream in a store, avoid the label “sour cream product,” which indicates the presence of vegetable fats and emulsifiers.
Baked crucian carp in sour cream
Chefs in Rus' believed that to preserve the taste of fish, nothing needed to be added to it except sour cream and a minimum of spices. If you are a follower of traditional Russian cuisine and love the natural taste of products, this recipe is for you. It will serve as a basic cheat sheet on how to process and fillet fish before cooking. This procedure must be followed for all other recipes.
It may seem that the bigger the fish, the better. However, the opposite is true for this dish. It is recognized that the most delicious crucian carp in sour cream come from a small fish, no more than 20 cm in length, as people say - “palm-shaped”. So don’t rush to scold your men for small catches. Of course, you can take larger specimens, but the sour cream will spread over the surface of the fish and saturate it less.
- Crucian carp – 6 pcs.
- Fat sour cream – 300 g.
- Drain. butter – 50 g.
- Salt, pepper, flour.
Fish cutting
Clean the scales from the crucian carp, remove the gills and entrails. Cut off the fins and tail with kitchen scissors. Rinse the cut crucian carp clean.
Advice from experienced chefs
If the fish smells strongly of river silt, soak it first in salt water for a couple of hours and then in regular water. If the smell of mud does not cause you any unpleasant emotions, there is no need to do this. By the way, small crucian carp have not yet had time to become saturated with the smell of silt, so many consider them much tastier.
Step-by-step recipe for crucian carp in sour cream
- Dry the carcasses with paper towels. Do not neglect this step, otherwise, when dredging, the fish will be covered with a thick layer of flour, and we need to get a thin baked crust.
- Grind 10 peppercorns in a mill or mortar, mix it with salt and rub the mixture over the whole carcass, including the head and belly.
- Transfer the crucian carp to a deep bowl and leave for 15 minutes. for soaking in spices.
- Carefully roll the crucian carp in flour.
- Melt ¾ of the butter in a frying pan and grease the baking dish with the rest. Fry the crucian carp for 2 minutes. from each side. An appetizing golden brown crust largely determines the presentation and taste of the dish.
- Place crucian carp in a refractory mold in one layer. If you are preparing a large dish, it is better to take larger dishes. Crucian carp can be baked in the oven in a sleeve, foil, or glass baking dish.
- Spread the sour cream on top of the fish, trying to distribute it evenly. Leave for about ten minutes so that the sour cream spreads and fills the entire space of the mold. If the sour cream is not greasy, you can put a few more pieces of butter on top.
- Place the mold in a hot oven, preheated to 200-220 degrees. It will take some time for the sour cream to boil, then keep the dish in the oven for another half hour until a beautiful crust forms. If the fish turns golden and doesn’t burn, it means everything turned out great.
Place the finished crucian carp hot on a beautiful dish and sprinkle with herbs. Baked potatoes, fried onions, and grilled vegetables are perfect as a side dish.
In ancient culinary tomes, the recipe for crucian carp in sour cream is laconic, like everything ingenious. You won't find any additional ingredients there. But modern chefs do not honor simplicity and naturalness. They prefer gastronomic delights, varied tastes of dishes and original recipes.
Fancy crucian carp in sour cream can be complemented with fried onions, tomatoes, decorated with lemon slices, sprinkled with breadcrumbs or cheese. Gourmet recipes advise adding spicy herbs and exotic spices to the belly. Once you have mastered the basic recipe, you can try experimenting.
Crucian carp in sour cream in the oven - step-by-step recipe
Before cooking crucian carp in sour cream , the fish should be prepared accordingly. Clean the crucian carp from scales in a way convenient for you - this can be either a special device for cleaning fish or a regular knife. Spread your bellies. Take out the entrails. Large crucian carp may contain caviar inside. It is not very suitable for pickling, but you will certainly get delicious caviar pancakes or pancakes.
Be sure to remove the gill. Additionally, you can cut off the fins and tails of each fish, but, in my opinion, with them the fish looks more appetizing. If you bake large crucian carp in sour cream, be sure to make oblique cuts on the back so that they are well fried. You can also make a mesh of cuts. After this, rinse the crucian carp thoroughly from the inside. Place in a bowl. Prepare sour cream sauce.
Wash the onions, carrots and dill. Grate the carrots on a medium grater.
Cut young green onions into circles.
Chop the dill.
Place the prepared vegetables in a deep bowl.
Add sour cream to them.
Sprinkle with spices and salt.
Stir the sour cream sauce. During this time, water formed in the bowl with the fish. You can simply drain it and start pickling the crucian carp. I advise you to rinse the fish again and dry it with a paper towel. After this procedure, pour sour cream over the crucian carp. Salt and sprinkle with spices.
Mix them in sour cream. Thanks to sour cream and spices, the fish will get rid of the characteristic river smell of mud.
Heat the oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Additionally, grease it with sunflower oil. Place crucian carp in sour cream on it.
Sprinkle the vegetable coat in sour cream sauce over the fish.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. As soon as the crucian carp in sour cream in the oven turns golden brown, we can consider that they are ready.
Using this recipe you can cook carp, bream, perch, roach, sakhana and many other fish. Enjoy your meal.
Crucian carp in sour cream in a frying pan with onions
If you don’t want to burden yourself with lighting the oven, washing baking sheets, or have a limited time limit, we recommend using this recipe. Crucian carp it turns out no less tasty and will especially delight lovers of onion flavor in fish.
You will need:
- Crucian carp – 4 pcs.
- Onion – 2 pcs.
- Sour cream – 500 g.
- Oil for frying.
- Spices, herbs.
Preparation:
- Clean and fry the fish in the same way as in the first recipe.
- Sauté the onion, cut into half rings, until translucent and golden.
- Place the fish on the onion, pour sour cream into the pan. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 20-25 minutes.
- At the end of cooking, taste the sour cream sauce. If necessary, add salt and spices.
- Serve the fish piping hot, sprinkled with chopped herbs.
Note to housewives
Since butter tends to burn, fry the fish with a gradual increase in heat. For each new portion, use fresh oil. Professionals use ghee for frying, which does not burn.
According to this recipe, the crucian carp is not covered with a sour cream golden crust, but it becomes more juicy and aromatic.
Crucian carp baked in sour cream - recipe
As in the previous recipe, the crucian carp should be cut. Add a pinch of salt to the flour and stir. Dredge each fish in flour. Place on a hot frying pan. Fry the crucian carp until golden brown on each side. Peel and cut the onion into rings. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.
Place the fried crucian carp in a baking dish. Place onion rings on top of the fish. Mix sour cream with salt and ground black pepper. Pour it over the fish. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Cover with foil or a lid. Bake them at 190C for about 25-30 minutes. Crucian carp baked in sour cream is traditionally served with vegetable side dishes, salads or porridges.
Crucian carp in sour cream without bones in a slow cooker
The presence of small bones in the back makes the process of eating crucian carp a real challenge for many. Boniness causes a lot of inconvenience when serving such a dish to guests. We suggest using our proprietary know-how, which will eliminate the need to deal with the bones.
The ubiquitous multicooker will come to our aid. The secret is that to soften the bones, the fish must be baked for a long time at a high temperature. In the old days, this function was performed by a Russian wood-burning stove. The crucian carp were left to languish overnight, and in the morning not a trace remained of the bones. But a multicooker can cope with this task without difficulty. Another advantage of this miracle technique is the combination of frying and baking in one pan.
Food basket for 4 servings:
- Small crucian carp – 1 kg.
- Onion – 1 pc.
- Juice of 1/2 lemon.
- Olive oil.
- Sour cream – 200 g.
- Garlic – 2 cloves.
- A bunch of greens to taste.
Make transverse diamond-shaped notches on the cleaned fish. Pour lemon juice over the crucian carp and set aside to marinate for half an hour. Lemon juice will perform a double function: it will enhance the taste of the fish and partially soften the bones.
In the future, thanks to the incisions, the high temperature will gain access to the small bones and make them almost imperceptible. The rib and vertebral bones will naturally remain, but it is much easier to separate them. Mix flour with salt and pepper and roll the crucian carp in it.
Step-by-step preparation in a slow cooker:
- Set the “Fry” mode and add oil. Fry the crucian carp on both sides. Turn off the mode.
- Chop the greens and stuff the carcasses with it.
- Place a layer of chopped onion on top of the fish.
- Chop the garlic cloves and mix with sour cream.
- Pour garlic and sour cream sauce over crucian carp. Turn on the “Baking” mode for 40 minutes.
- At the end we take a sample. If the bones have not softened, continue cooking for some time in the same mode.
Serve hot, pouring the resulting sauce over the side dish.
As you can see, cooking crucian carp in sour cream is extremely easy even for a culinary novice. The dish can be a great everyday dinner. By adding new ingredients, you can diversify the treat with savory flavors. Try, for example, adding carrots, cranberries, capers or prunes to the onion fry. The sweetish taste of crucian carp is in harmony with both sweet and sour components.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the seasonings. Suitable for baked river fish: mint, basil, lemon balm, parsley, rosemary. If you are cooking for the first time, add herbs sparingly. The main thing here is not to overdo it!
For the festive feast, let's try to aim for something on a larger scale to amaze the guests and please loved ones.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
An important point is the selection and purchase of good quality fresh fish. High-quality crucian carp should have a slight coating of transparent mucus, shiny scales should be intact, the gills should be reddish in color, and the carcass itself should be elastic.
A good fish does not leave any dents when pressed on the surface. There should be no unpleasant odor from such a product. Fish carcasses are first washed, cleaned, fins are cut off, gutted, and then transverse cuts are made on both sides and small bones are removed.
Important! If the fish has cloudy eyes and green gills, or an unpleasant odor, then you should refuse such a purchase.
Recipe No. 1
easily
Stuffed crucian carp in sour cream
Ingredients:
- Large crucian carp – 2 pcs.
- Tomatoes – 3 pcs.
- Potatoes – 2 pcs.
- Lemon – 1 pc.
- Onion – 2 pcs.
- Sour cream – 100 g.
- Oil for frying.
- Greens, spices to taste.
Preparation:
- For stuffing, it is better to take large, selected specimens. Prepare them according to all the rules: clean, wipe dry, make cross-shaped cuts, sprinkle with lemon juice or white wine, sprinkle with spices and salt.
- Cut the onion into thin rings, the tomatoes into slices, the potatoes into cubes, and chop the greens.
- Stuff the bellies of the crucian carp with tomatoes and herbs. Leave a few slices of tomatoes for decoration.
- Grease the mold with oil. Place the potatoes in the center and place the prepared fish around the edges.
- Top the fish with onion rings. Pour sour cream over everything.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes after the sour cream boils. Then swap the potatoes and fish and place them back in the oven until the potatoes soften.
Place the stuffed crucian carp on a plate, garnish with lemon and tomato slices, sprigs of herbs and invite guests to the table!
Crucian carp in sour cream in the oven. Photo
Crucian carp in sour cream under a cheese crust also turns out very tasty and appetizing.
Ingredients:
- Crucian carp – 1 kg.,
- Sour cream – 500 ml.,
- Onions – 2 pcs.,
- Hard cheese – 100 gr.,
- Flour – 20 gr.,
- Ground black pepper,
- Salt,
- Sunflower oil.
