Farshyrovana Ryba (фарширована риба, Odesa stuffed fish)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A fish kettle, wide stockpot, or deep roasting pan large enough to hold the fish
• •Fine sieve
• •Kitchen string or toothpicks
• •Long serving platter
• •Meat grinder, food processor, or sharp knife for mincing

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the fish

   Ask the fishmonger to remove the flesh from the skin in one piece if they can, keeping the head, bones, and skin for you. At home, scrape every good bit of flesh from the frame and pull out any obvious pin bones. The skin is your serving dish now, so keep it cool and don't worry if it tears once or twice; fish mixture patches better than pride.

   If a whole stuffed skin feels too much, make thick oval fish patties from the same mixture and poach them in the same broth. A bit more modern, much easier, and still very much the Odesa table.
2. 2

   Sweeten the base

   Warm the sunflower oil in a wide pan and sweat the diced onions with the grated carrot until they soften, turn glossy, and smell sweet instead of sharp. Don't brown them. This is the one why that decides the dish: the slow onion and carrot go into the fish at the end so their sweetness stays bright and clean, instead of flattening into the poaching stock.

3. 3

   Make the filling

   Mince the fish flesh finely with a knife, meat grinder, or food processor, stopping before it turns to paste. Mix it with the cooled onion and carrot, eggs, matzo meal, sugar, salt, and pepper. Beat it with a spoon until it gets sticky and starts to hold together, the sound changing from loose slap to a thicker thud against the bowl. Aunt Nadia would have written only 'until it sounds right,' and for once she would be annoying but correct.

4. 4

   Stuff the skin

   Lay the fish skin on a board and fill it loosely with the mixture, shaping it back into the look of a whole fish. Do not pack it tight; matzo meal swells and fish firms as it poaches. Sew the belly with kitchen string or close it with toothpicks, then rub the outside with a little salt. It should look generous, not strained.

5. 5

   Build the poach

   Line a fish kettle, wide stockpot, or deep roasting pan with the fish bones, head, sliced carrot, beet if using, bay leaves, peppercorns, and dill stalks. Set the stuffed fish on top and pour in cold water to barely cover. Bring it up slowly until the surface trembles. Not a boil. A hard boil clouds the aspic and bullies the fish.

6. 6

   Poach gently

   Keep the liquid at the quietest simmer, the kind that makes small lazy bubbles at the edge and smells cleanly of sweet fish, onion, and carrot. Spoon the broth over any exposed skin now and then. Cook until the fish feels firm when pressed and the broth tastes rounded, not watery. If the kitchen smells harsh or muddy, turn the heat down; the pot is shouting at you.

7. 7

   Set the aspic

   Lift the fish out carefully onto a long platter and strain the broth through a fine sieve. Taste it boldly now, because cold food mutes salt. Reduce the broth if it seems thin, until it coats a spoon lightly and feels a little sticky between your fingers. Spoon a shallow layer over the fish, arrange the carrot coins along the top, and chill until the broth sets into a clear, trembling aspic.

8. 8

   Serve cold

   Serve the fish cold, sliced thickly, with its own aspic, dill fronds, lemon, and khrein. The knife should meet gentle resistance, then the slice should open pale and speckled inside, sweet onion against clean fish. Make it ahead. This dish likes a night to gather itself.

Chef Tips

• •Carp gives the best body to the aspic because the skin, head, and bones are rich in gelatin. Pike is leaner and elegant, but you may need to reduce the broth a little longer.
• •Cold food needs more seasoning than hot food. Taste the strained broth before chilling; it should seem just a touch too salty while warm.
• •The whole-skin version is beautiful, but the filling is forgiving. If the skin tears badly, shape the mixture into ovals and poach them on the bones with the same vegetables.
• •For Passover, use matzo meal. Outside Passover, fresh white breadcrumbs or a soaked slice of challah make a softer filling, a bit more modern and very kind to nervous hands.
• •Do not chase a rubbery set. A good aspic trembles. If it slices like a school eraser, you've gone too far from the table and into a shop window.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the fish at least 8 hours ahead so the aspic can set and the flavor can settle.
• •It keeps well, covered and chilled, for 2 days. Slice it cold with a sharp knife.
• •The fishmonger can prepare the skin, head, bones, and flesh for you a day ahead; keep everything very cold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 170g)