River catfish is a fish that has pleasant taste and beautiful white meat, moderately fatty. From catfish you can cook a lot delicious meals, from fish pies to flavorful steaks. But cooking catfish has its own nuances, so if you managed to catch a catfish or just buy it in a store or market, you need to know a couple of secrets on how to clean it and get rid of the smell of mud.

How to clean and cut a catfish

The catfish is not covered with scales, but has a viscous mucus. It is important to properly cut the catfish so as not to spoil the tender meat. To cut a catfish you need:

1. Roll the whole fish in salt, then rub the fish well with a sponge. Thus, the fish is easy to get rid of mucus.
2. Scrape off the salt and remaining mucus from the fish until the skin is light in color.
3. Rinse the fish and proceed to cutting.
4. Make a longitudinal incision near the gills and smoothly cut the belly of the fish along to the tail.
5. Taking the fish's head by the gills, gently cut off the head with a knife and carefully remove it along with the insides.
6. Rid the peritoneum of the films.
7. Cut off the fins and then cut the fish into steaks or in the way necessary for the dish.

How to get rid of mud smell

Catfish, like many river fish, has a persistent smell of river mud, which, even after cooking fish, can ruin any dish. There are a couple of ways to get rid of this problem:

• Cut fish can be thoroughly washed with one liter of water with a spoonful of vinegar.
• For a softer and more reliable disposal of fish meat from mud, you can soak pieces of catfish in milk for an hour.
• Pour the juice of several lemons and water into the fish in a ratio of 1: 1 and leave for a couple of hours.
• You can also rid the fish of the smell by soaking it for an hour in saline.

Fish pie with catfish fillet

This cake can be served festive table and surprise guests not only with the taste of such pastries, but also with a beautiful presentation. The filling from the catfish fillet comes out juicy and soft due to the fatty layer of the catfish, and the tender and fragrant dough pleasantly complements the taste of the fish.
Ingredients:

• onion - 1 pc.
• catfish fillet - 600 g
• carrots - 1/2 pc.
• dry yeast - 10 g
• egg - 1 pc.
• flour - 500 g
• water - 200 ml.
• sugar - 2 tbsp.
• lemon - 20 g
• salt - 1/2 tbsp.
• vegetable oil - 60 ml.

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water and pour into the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, salt. Add butter to the dough and knead a soft circle. Cover the circle of dough with a waffle towel and send it to heat for an hour so that the dough rises well.
2. Chop the onion and fry together with the grated carrot.
3. Cut the fillet into strips, pepper and salt.
4. Roll out the risen dough into an oval shape.
5. Arrange the fish and vegetables in a triangle in the center of the dough. Cut the dough around the triangle into strips, leaving the base of the triangle intact.
6. Wrap the strips of dough crosswise, like a pigtail, forming the tail of a fish.
7. And on the other hand form the head of the fish.
8. Lubricate the cake with an egg and put in the oven for half an hour at 180 degrees.

Catfish fish hee

This Korean dish has long captivated lovers of marinated fish with its simplicity and spicy taste. Heh is perfect as a snack to the table, goes well with absolutely any side dish. It is extremely simple and easy to prepare. It is best to take rather fatty varieties of fish for hex and catfish just like that.
Ingredients:

• catfish fillet - 500 g
• onion - 4 pcs.
• garlic - 2 cloves
• carrots - 2 pcs.
• vinegar - 1 tbsp.
• bell pepper - 1 pc.
• cilantro - 1 bunch
• coriander - 1 tsp
• salt - to taste
• spices - 1 tsp
• sugar - to taste

1. Thoroughly wash the catfish fillet and cut into thin strips. Salt the fish, add vinegar, mix and leave for half an hour.
2. Chop carrots into strips and fry in vegetable oil.
3. Chop the onion into rings.
4. Put carrots on top of pickled catfish, then onion rings, add chopped greens, garlic and spices.
5. Mix heh thoroughly and bring to taste with salt, sugar and vinegar.
6. Send the dish to the refrigerator for a day.
7. Serve marinated heh to the table, sprinkled with fresh cilantro.

Catfish fish sticks

A light and tasty snack that can be prepared in just half an hour. The main advantage of this dish is that such fish nuggets are easy to freeze for future use and fry when you need a quick bite, but there is no time for cooking.
Ingredients:

• catfish fillet - 600 g
• Breadcrumbs - 100 g
• Flour - 100 g
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper - to taste
• Paprika - 1 tsp
• Egg - 1 pc.

1. Cut the fish fillet into oblong pieces. Season the fish to taste, salt.
2. Whisk egg with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of water.
3. Mix breadcrumbs with paprika. Such a breading blow will give the fish sticks a beautiful golden color.
4. Roll the fish fillet in flour.
5. Then dip the fish in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs.
6. Fry the finished fish sticks in vegetable oil until golden brown.
7. Serve hot with mustard sauce or tartar sauce.

Baked catfish with golden brown

Beautiful and fragrant catfish with appetizing crust would be a great option for dinner. The dish is very tasty and easy to prepare.
Ingredients:

• catfish fillet - 800 g
• soy sauce - 3 tsp
• cornmeal - 100 g
• spices for fish - 1 tsp
• sour cream - 100 g
• salt - to taste

1. Cut the fillet into small pieces and carefully grease with the sauce. Sprinkle fish pieces with spices.
2. Roll the pieces of catfish in cornmeal.
3. Lay the fish on baking paper and bake on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
4. Serve fish with sour cream sauce from sour cream, herbs and pickles.

catfish balls

A spicy and beautiful appetizer will conquer lovers of ruddy fish. The dish is delicate in taste and presentable in appearance.
Ingredients:

• catfish fillet - 1 kg
• potatoes - 2 pcs.
• green onions - 3 tbsp.
• thyme - 1 tsp
• egg - 2 pcs.
• salt - to taste
• breadcrumbs - 150 g

1. Bake the spiced catfish fillet in the oven until done.
2. Peel and boil potatoes. Mash potatoes, season with salt and thyme.
3. Beat the baked fillet in a blender with mashed potatoes, eggs, onions and half the breadcrumbs. Season with spices and bring to taste.
4. With wet hands form small fish balls and roll them well in the breadcrumbs.
5. Put the balls on a baking sheet and bake at 200 degrees in the oven for about half an hour. To make the balls more crispy, you can fry them in a large amount of oil or in deep fat.
6. Serve balls with sour cream sauce or tartare.

Catfish dishes are very easy to prepare and very tasty. Although catfish is a very familiar fish to us, it can be prepared in a variety of, tasty and original ways. Try various recipes from this handsome river, which is not only juicy in dishes, but also goes well with a variety of ingredients.

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Catfish is a bottom fish, its skin is covered with a thick layer of mucus, and it is the skin of the catfish that has a strong unpleasant odor. And if you remove the skin from the catfish, then the fish meat will not have an unpleasant odor. From experience, if you cut fish in an apartment, it is most convenient to first wash the catfish well and remove mucus from it, and it is more convenient to do this in the bath. So, we wash the catfish and remove a thick layer of mucus from its skin with a large knife. Then wash the fish again and transfer to a large flat surface. Make a circular incision around the head with a sharp knife. After that, dip your fingertips in salt, as your fingers will not slip on the skin of the catfish. And gradually we put our fingers through the incision under the skin of the fish. Slowly tear off the skin from all sides, then turn it inside out and remove it like a stocking. Be careful around the fins. Then we wash the fish again, dry it and cut it into fillets and portioned pieces. From the head, tail and fins, we welded and.

How delicious to fry catfish

Cut a large catfish into portions, salt, pepper, sprinkle with dried basil, sprinkle with lemon juice. Let the fish brew with spices for half an hour.

Then we bread each piece of fish in flour and fry it in a pan with heated vegetable oil on both sides. Grilled fish is traditionally served with mashed potatoes.

I also made batter-fried catfish. I made the batter from a glass of beer, one protein and three to four tablespoons of flour. Beat the egg white with a little salt, add the beer and gradually add the flour. Beat the batter well with a fork. Heat up a large amount in a frying pan. vegetable oil. Dip each piece of fish in batter and fry on both sides until golden brown. Mashed potatoes are also great as a side dish.

I decided to bake large pieces with a fish bone, and as it turned out, my culinary experiment was successful. Salt and pepper a piece of fish weighing a kilogram and a half. Drizzle with dry white wine and top with sprigs of fresh parsley and marjoram.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour and a half. Then wrap a piece of fish in foil and bake it in an oven preheated to 180-200 degrees for 20 minutes. Then unfold the foil and bake the fish for another five minutes until golden brown.

We wish you all bon appetit!

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You can cook a large number of different dishes from catfish meat: cutlets, pies, pies, baked fish and even barbecue. But in order for them to be tasty and fragrant, you need to know how to clean the catfish correctly.

Outlandish fish - catfish

Catfish live in almost all major rivers of Russia. They lead a nocturnal lifestyle. During the day, catfish lie in deep pools on the muddy bottom of reservoirs, buried in mud. This is a truly huge fish that can reach 5 meters in length and weigh up to 3 centners. But such giants are rare, and getting such a trophy out of the water is very problematic. For cooking, specimens are used much more modestly - up to 20 kg. Properly cooked young catfish meat is very tasty.

In addition, this fish has absolutely no scales, which means that during its processing the kitchen will remain clean. Another significant advantage of catfish is that catfish do not have small bones in the muscles and tail - only spinal and ribs.

How to clean catfish before cooking

There are no scales on the skin of catfish, but it is abundantly covered with mucus, which has an unpleasant smell of mud. If you do not get rid of it, then you can thoroughly spoil the cooked dish. But in general, cleaning catfish is easy.

• First, sprinkle the fish with coarse salt (or roll in it).
• Rub with an old sponge or napkin (you can just use a gloved hand).
• With the blunt side of the knife, carefully scrape the salt and mucus from the skin. We must try to make the skin a light shade.
• Rinse the fish well.
• If the mucus is not completely cleared, you need to repeat all the steps again.
• In "marching" conditions, you can clean the catfish using wood ash instead of salt.

The skin of this fish is strong, so you can safely clean it without fear of damaging it.

Catfish do not have sharp spines on the dorsal and ventral fins, like perch or zander, but on the front fins (near the gills) there are sharp spines that can hurt you. Such punctures are very painful. Therefore, during work, care should be taken, or, first of all, remove the fins by cutting them off with kitchen scissors or a knife.

gutting

After you have finished cleaning the catfish, you can start gutting. For this:

• Putting the fish on its back, a shallow puncture should be made next to the head, so as not to damage the insides. Insert the tip of the knife into the hole with the blade up and, slightly pulling the peritoneum with it, cut the belly from the head to the anus.
• Open the incision and carefully remove the entrails without tearing them away from the head, trying not to crush the gallbladder - the bile that gets on the meat will make it bitter.
• Cut off the gills and pull them out along with the insides.
• The inner walls of the abdomen must be well cleaned of films.
• Make cuts on both sides along the fins, then pull them out with your hand or pliers, starting from the side of the tail to the head.
• If caviar is found during gutting, then it must be carefully removed and then cleaned from the film. This is easy to do with a regular fork. Salted or fried catfish caviar is a real delicacy.

When bile gets on the meat, most often the pieces are cut out and thrown away. Should not be doing that. Bile should be washed off or wiped with a napkin, and the place where it got to, rub with salt. After a couple of minutes, wash off the salt and you can safely send these pieces to cooking.

How to separate the pulp

If necessary, separate the fillet from the bones. To do this, you first need to cut off the head. Then the fish should be laid on its side. From the tail, along the back, make a shallow incision, placing the blade of the knife parallel to the countertop, trying to make it go along the spinal bones. Then, pulling the edge of the pulp along the incision, deepen the incision to the costal bones with the tip of a knife.

Turning the blade along the ribs, carefully remove the flesh from the front of the carcass, without cutting off from the tail. Raising the cut part of the fillet, place the knife parallel to the spinal bones and, moving along the spine, cut the fillet from the tail. Turn the carcass over and remove the fillet on the other side.

The head and bones do not need to be thrown away, they can be used to make broth or for boiling when preparing a double fish soup.

We remove the skin

For the preparation of minced meat or barbecue, the skin is not needed, which means that it can be removed. It is more convenient to do this with a whole catfish carcass, and not with a removed fillet.

• First, the fish must be washed, gutted and fins removed.
• After that, with a sharp knife, you need to make a circular incision in the skin across the body behind the gills and another one in the middle of the back along the body.
• Grab the edge of the skin near the head with pliers and pull towards the tail, cutting if necessary with a knife.
• Having removed the skin from one side of the carcass, they are similarly removed from the other.

You can cut the carcass into portions or remove the fillet.

It is the skin that has a strong smell of mud, so removing it from the carcass, you can almost completely get rid of this smell.

It will be much more convenient to remove the skin from the fish if you hang it by the gills.

How to get rid of a peculiar smell

Catfish are not always taken to cook because of the specific smell of mud that its meat has. Moreover, the larger and older the fish, the more sensitive this smell. You can significantly reduce the unpleasant odor by removing the skin from the catfish. To get rid of it completely, before cooking, pour lemon juice or dry white wine over the meat, let stand for 15-20 minutes, then rinse.

You can soak the catfish in milk for 2-3 hours. This will not only remove the smell, but also make the meat tastier. During cooking, it will not be superfluous to generously flavor the catfish with spices, including allspice and black pepper.

This smoked fish is very good, and it does not matter if it is cold or hot smoked. It makes excellent barbecue steaks and even shish kebabs.

From properly cleaned and processed catfish meat, you can cook many different dishes that will not leave anyone indifferent.

Advice

Advice

The choice is yours:

Often, catfish, especially large ones, smell slightly of mud. You can get rid of this smell in the following way: big fish(up to 5 kg) you need to pour lemon juice and stand for ten to twenty minutes. Larger fish need to be skinned. Hang the fish on a rope (it can be passed through the eyes or gills), make a thin cut around the head with a sharp knife, grab the cut skin with a dry cloth and pull it off like a stocking with a sharp movement from top to bottom.
If the catfish is caught in a river or lake, and not bought in a store (where it most likely came from a fish farm), it is recommended to soak its meat in milk for several hours. All bad odors will disappear.
And even before cooking catfish, experienced housewives recommend rubbing the skin of the catfish with salt, and then washing it off.

Soma is divided as follows:
Wash the fish under cold running water. This fish does not have scales, so the catfish should only be slightly scraped with a knife and gutted.
Lay the fish out on a cutting board. Take the sharpest knife. Make an incision from tail to head.

Carefully take out the insides and clean the abdominal cavity from the films.

The gallbladder is removed - it is located at the base of the liver.

It is very important when gutting fish not to damage the gallbladder (it can be clearly seen in the photo).
Advice : If you still damaged the gallbladder, do not rush to throw out those parts of the fish that got bile. It is worth rubbing them with salt, rinse in cold water, and they will become quite suitable for food.

Now you need to remove the gills. They are notched with a knife or scissors, removed and discarded. Then the fish is washed well under cold water.

Next, the head and tail are cut off from the fish.
The dorsal and ventral fins are removed as follows: cuts are made to the spine along the entire fin on both sides. Then the fingers pull the fin out of the body of the fish.
Advice : Do not rush to throw out the head, tail and fins, you can cook a delicious fish soup from these parts.

The fish is cut into portions for later cooking.

Soma is cooked in different ways: boiled, fried, made from catfish barbecue.
The choice is yours:

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