Gefilte Fish
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2medium yellow onions, peeled
- 2celery stalks
- 3large carrots, peeled
- 1fennel bulb
- 6black peppercorns
- 2½teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1½pounds boneless, skinless salmon, whitefish or striped bass fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
- ½pound boneless, skinless trout, pike or carp (or a mixture of two), cut into 2-inch pieces
- 10chives
- 3tablespoons chopped parsley, tarragon, dill and/or a combination
- 3large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 to 6tablespoons matzo meal
- ½teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1head radicchio or endive, or both, for serving
- Prepared horseradish, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
216 calories; 8 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 584 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Fill a large, wide pot with 10 cups of water and place over high heat. While bringing to a boil, coarsely chop and add to the pot 1 onion, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot and the fennel bulb. Add the peppercorns and 1 teaspoon salt. Once water is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, while preparing the fish.
- Step 2
Coarsely chop the remaining onion, celery stalk and 1 carrot, then pulse in a food processor until finely chopped. Add fish, chives and 2 tablespoons parsley, tarragon and/or dill, and keep pulsing until fish is chopped but not mushy.
- Step 3
Move the fish mixture to a medium bowl and add eggs, oil, matzo meal, 1½ teaspoons salt (or more to taste) and the ground black pepper, and mix well with your hands.
- Step 4
Put your hands in a bowl of cold water. Using your hands, mold the fish mixture into a 3- by 2-inch oval patty (about 2 ounces) and gently place on a platter. Repeat with the remaining fish mixture, dipping your hands in water as needed.
- Step 5
Pop the third carrot into the simmering broth and gently add the patties to the pot. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes until patties are firm.
- Step 6
Use a slotted spoon to remove the fish and carrot from the poaching liquid to cool on a plate. Slice the carrot diagonally into thin rounds.
- Step 7
Place each patty on a leaf of radicchio or endive or both. Set the sliced carrot rounds on top of each patty. Garnish with the remaining tablespoon of fresh herbs and serve warm or at room temperature with horseradish, preferably homemade. If making a day ahead, refrigerate, covered, then return the patties to room temperature before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
I've been making this for years, but I switched to an even easier method. I use 3 lb fish, a mixture of salmon, ling cod, red snapper, and Dover sole (I live in WA). I use the other ingredients in this recipe but add grated carrots and herbs. I pour the mixture into a greased 12 cup bundt pan and bake at 325 for an hour. I get lovely slices of gefilte fish. I used to spend hours making balls. Now I have more time for other Seder items, and the fish "cake" is delicious.
I've been doing this for about 23 years having picked it up from my mother who picked it up from her mother-in-law who was from Poland. What intrigued me was losing the 2+ hours to get the broth. The question I had is that let the fish sit in the broth until they are ready to be eaten, and that can be as long as a week after I make them. Does the broth you generate - with a much shorter cooking time - work for that purpose ?
Maybe not appropriate: a scientist back in the 20's was watching his mother prepare gefilte fish and had an aha moment. He discovered the transmission route for a certain parasitic worm whose eggs established themselves in fish flesh. It seems only Jewish women, not men, were infected with the worm. The women who prepared gefilte fish were infected from tasting the raw fish and ingesting parasite eggs. Washing your hands isn't just for handling raw chicken.
I couldn't deal with this. It was mushy and tasteless all at the same time. The stuff in the jar is vile but this was just meh. I always think if I don't like something prepared, if I make it myself I will actually like it because I know what goes into it. But sometimes that doesn't happen (see also: borscht) so I think the recipe was fine, but I truly don't like gefilte fish.
I cooked the fish balls in a store-bought fish broth that had salt, and added some vegetables, and the fish bones and head from the filleted trout. Next time (next year!) I will add 2t salt instead of 1-1/2t to the fish mixture. I will also add the zest of a lemon to brighten the flavor. Otherwise, will repeat it all as written. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this with sole, cod, and haddock and otherwise followed the recipe. The result was meh. Next time I will mince the herbs more finely and add them sooner to the carrot onion celery mixture, and will add more salt earlier in the process. The result I got following the recipe tastes like under seasoned white fish and overcooked parsley. Will try again.
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