Chef Lesia
Bychky v Tomati (бички в томаті, Azov gobies in tomato)
Small Azov gobies go into tomato bright as market cloth and come out soft enough that the bones give up. This is Mariupol food: cheap, red, generous, and better tomorrow.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Malosolna Khamsa (малосольна хамса, salted anchovy)
Created by
The fish go into the bowl silver and nervous, and by morning they have turned firm, glassy, and briny enough to make bread taste necessary.
Main Dishes
Ukrainian
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
Batch Cooking
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•12 hr 20 min total
Yield6 to 8 servings
The most beautiful thing about khamsa is that you barely cook it at all. The tiny anchovies go into the bowl silver and nervous, layered with salt, and by morning they have turned firm, glassy, and briny enough to make bread taste necessary. This is food from the Black Sea edge: cheap, quick, sharp with onion, softened with green sunflower oil, eaten with fingers if the table is honest.
Malosolna means lightly salted, so the salt must be measured against the fish, not thrown in like a handful of winter road. Too little and the fish stays soft and uncertain; too much and you've made something for storing, not eating tonight. Six percent by weight is where I start. Aunt Nadia would write, "until it looks like glass," and annoyingly, she was right.
Keep everything cold. This is the one place where I want your scale and your fridge working harder than your romance. Once the fish has tightened and the flesh turns translucent at the backbone, you rinse only if it tastes too salty, then dress it simply: onion, dill, black pepper, Ukraine in a bottle of oil. Enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian.
Khamsa is the Black Sea anchovy, especially tied to Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and the Azov-Black Sea fishing coast, where autumn and winter shoals made it one of the most democratic seafoods on the table. Light salting was a household and market method, different from long preservation salting: it made fish ready by the next day, still tender and bright, sold from buckets and eaten with bread, potatoes, onion, and sunflower oil.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small anchovies, ideally Black Sea khamsa
Quantity
1 kg
very fresh or previously frozen, kept cold
fine sea salt
Quantity
60g
6 percent of the fish weight
red or white onion
Quantity
1 small
very thinly sliced
unrefined sunflower oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
dill
Quantity
1 small bunch
roughly chopped
black peppercorns
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lightly crushed
bay leaf (optional)
Quantity
1
crumbled
cold water or mild brine from the bowl (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for loosening
rye bread or boiled potatoes (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small anchovies, ideally Black Sea khamsavery fresh or previously frozen, kept cold | 1 kg |
| fine sea salt6 percent of the fish weight | 60g |
| red or white onionvery thinly sliced | 1 small |
| unrefined sunflower oil | 3 tablespoons |
| dillroughly chopped | 1 small bunch |
| black peppercornslightly crushed | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaf (optional)crumbled | 1 |
| cold water or mild brine from the bowl (optional)for loosening | 1 tablespoon |
| rye bread or boiled potatoes (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •A digital scale
- •A glass or enamel bowl
- •A small plate for pressing
- •A sharp small knife, if cleaning the fish
Instructions
- 1
Chill the fish
Keep the anchovies cold from the moment they reach your kitchen. If they are fresh-caught, freeze them first for parasite safety, then thaw in the fridge. They should smell clean and marine, not sour or tired. Tiny fish forgive a lot at the table, but they don't forgive warmth.
Use previously frozen anchovies if you are not buying from a fishmonger who can speak clearly about raw cure safety. This is lightly salted fish, not a long preserved one. - 2
Clean if needed
Rinse the fish quickly in very cold water and drain well. If the anchovies are tiny, you can salt them whole, the southern market way. If they are larger or your guests are nervous, pinch off the heads and pull away the guts with them. Work quickly, over a cold bowl, until the fish still feel firm under your fingers.
- 3
Weigh the salt
Weigh the drained fish, then weigh salt at 6 percent of that weight: 60g salt for 1 kg fish. This number decides the dish. The salt pulls out a little moisture, firms the flesh, and seasons the fish through without turning it into something dry and hard.
- 4
Layer the cure
Scatter a thin layer of salt in a glass or enamel bowl, lay in a layer of anchovies, then salt again. Add the crushed pepper and bay leaf if using, then continue until everything is used. Cover and press lightly with a small plate so the fish sit close together but are not crushed.
- 5
Rest until glassy
Refrigerate overnight, or until the fish have released a little clear brine and the flesh has tightened. Look at the thickest fish near the backbone: it should be translucent and glossy, not raw-looking and cloudy. Taste one. If it tastes alive, clean, and properly salty, it is ready.
- 6
Dress and serve
Lift the fish from the brine. If they taste too salty, give them a quick cold rinse and pat dry; if they taste right, leave them alone. Fold with the sliced onion, dill, black pepper, and sunflower oil. Let it sit just long enough for the onion to lose its sharp shout, then serve with rye bread or boiled potatoes.
Chef Tips
- •Six percent salt gives a lightly cured fish for eating soon. For longer storage, this is not the method; use a stronger cure or freeze the fish.
- •Whole tiny khamsa are normal at the Black Sea table. Cleaning them is a bit more modern and kinder to cautious guests, not a betrayal.
- •Unrefined sunflower oil matters because it is the sauce. Use the green-gold, nutty one if you can find it.
- •Eat malosolna khamsa within 2 to 3 days, always refrigerated. If the smell turns sour, bitter, or ammoniac, throw it away.
Advance Preparation
- •The anchovies need an overnight cure in the fridge, usually 8 to 12 hours depending on size.
- •The finished fish keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated, covered in its brine or dressed with oil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 170g)
Calories
245 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
3500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
29 g
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