Cooking Right
Thawing frozen fish
Fish can be thawed in water or in the air at a temperature of 10-18 degrees. Depending on the temperature conditions, the thawing time of the fish changes.
Sturgeon breeds of fish, large specimens of catfish, and ice cream fillets are thawed in the air; the rest of the frozen fish - in the water. The speed of fish thawing also depends on the temperature conditions, the size of the fish and the amount of water. For 1 kg of fish, take 1.5-2 liters of water. Small fish weighing up to 1 kg are thawed for 1.5-2 hours; large fish weighing from 2 to 5 kg are thawed for 3-4 hours.
When thawing in water, the fish swells and increases in weight by about 5-10%, depending on the breed. In addition, it should be borne in mind that part of the mineral salts from fish passes into the water. Therefore, to reduce the loss of minerals, salt is added to the water (for 1 liter of water, 7 g of salt is required for river fish, and 10-13 g for sea fish).
In culinary practice, it is customary to divide fish according to the methods of cutting into two groups: a) with a bony skeleton (most scaly and scaleless fish); b) with a cartilaginous skeleton (sturgeon fish).
Small fish, cleaned of scales and gutted, are subjected to heat treatment as a whole. Some species of scaly fish, such as tench, have very dense scales. Such fish breeds are immersed in hot water for a few seconds before cleaning.
When cutting walleye, first of all, it is necessary to remove the dorsal fin, since it contains a poisonous liquid that causes prolonged suppuration of the affected area.
