Contents
Pelengas in the oven: how to bake? Video
Pelengas is a large fleshy fish found in the Far East and the Black Sea. There it is caught in late spring and autumn, but you can buy it frozen in stores at other times of the year. If the storage rules have not been violated, the meat of the frozen pelengas will remain as tasty and tender as fresh.
How to bake pelengas in the oven
What products do you need
The average bearing weighs 2-3 kg, it is quite possible to bake it whole in the oven. It has a large head, which also has a lot of meat, but you can cut it off and then boil the fish soup. Pelengasa clean and cut – remove the head and entrails, cut the fins and tail with kitchen scissors.
In addition to the fish itself, you will need:
- ½ lemon
- 1 large onion
- ½ carrots
- ½ sweet bell pepper
- 1 large tomato
- fresh herbs: parsley, cilantro, dill
- ground coriander beans
- ground black pepper
- ground nutmeg
- 1–2 cm fresh ginger root
- 1-2 bay leaves
- salt
It is important to defrost frozen fish correctly. Leave it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator overnight or defrost it at room temperature
How to bake pelengas in the oven
Wipe the gutted and washed pelengas carcass dry with paper kitchen towels. Rub the inside and outside of the carcass with salt and pepper, ground coriander and nutmeg. Leave the fish, covered with a clean napkin or parchment, for 15–20 minutes at room temperature.
Now you need to prepare the filling. Cut the peeled onion into half rings, grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Peel the ginger and try to cut it into thin slices or grate it on a coarse grater. Core the bell pepper, remove the seeds. Cut it into thin strips and cut the tomato into thin slices. Chop the herbs finely. Stir herbs and vegetables, a broken bay leaf, salt and pepper a little, add a little lemon juice to this mixture.
Ginger, sometimes having a rather intricate shape, is convenient to peel off the skin with a regular teaspoon
Place a sheet of foil on a baking sheet. Put the pelengas carcass on it and put the vegetable filling in its belly, if it remains, you can sprinkle it on the fish on top. Cut the lemon into thin slices and place them on top of the carcass. Cover the fish with a second sheet of foil and wrap the edges in a bag, leaving an empty space for steam to circulate.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, put a baking sheet with the bearing in it and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 150-160 degrees and leave the fish for another 15 minutes. Pull out the baking sheet, do not unfold the foil yet – the cooking process is still in progress. After 10-15 minutes, remove the foil, transfer the pelengas to a dish and serve. You can make mashed potatoes or stewed vegetables with it as a side dish.