Vendace is a freshwater fish belonging to the salmon family. It is a commercial fishery in the northern regions.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, it was caught in tons, but the population was declining, and some of its species were included in the Red Book.
Rarely found on store shelves. In Europe, this fish is grown artificially. Vendace lives in cold northern waters at depth with a sandy or clay bottom. Avoids warm water and shallow water.
In Russia this fish can be seen in large lakes (Ladoga, Onega, Beloe etc.). Less common in rivers. Also lives in the bays of the Baltic Sea. It can also be found in Denmark, Scotland, Belarus, Scandinavia, Germany and Finland.
The fish reaches on average up to 20 cm, but there are very large individuals that reach 35 cm in length. It is similar in shape to a herring. The body has large scales, the sides are silvery, the back is gray-blue, and the belly is white. Feeds on small crustaceans. Spawning begins in late autumn or early winter. Females lay up to 3600 eggs. The ability to reproduce appears in the 2nd year of life, when the size reaches 7 cm.
This fish is caught using seines of various designs.. Rarely gets hooked. Fishing in winter is more interesting. Vendace from the ice can be caught with a jig, hook and garland. The nod must be given firmly. The fish are caught in the depths, so in windy weather on the ice you can’t do without a tent.
Vendace contains proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Its meat is rich in omega-3 acids, phosphorus and calcium, and has a high magnesium content (175 mg per 100 g of product). It has low calorie content, making it suitable for dietary nutrition.
The nutritional properties of fish provide complete nutrition to the heart, muscles and brain cells. When smoking and salting, all beneficial substances are preserved.
There are many different ways to prepare this fish. It is valued fresh, salted and smoked.
Like any other fish, fried vendace is good. There are a lot of cooking recipes. The fastest way to fry vendace in a frying pan is to cook it in egg batter.
You will need:
First you need to clean the fish from scales. You don’t have to gut it before frying; it will be more convenient to remove the head and entrails at the time of consumption. And gutted vendace can fall apart during frying. Then you need to beat the eggs (by hand or using a mixer) and add salt and spices to them. Salt the carcasses and dip in the egg mixture. Next, place in a preheated frying pan and fry over medium heat until cooked through for 10 minutes. The vendace turns out aromatic and has a crispy crust.
You will need the same amount of salt for 400 g of fish. As seasonings you can use ground black and allspice pepper, bay leaf, and garlic. Be sure to clean and gut fresh fish. If you have caviar, it is better to leave it, as it is very tasty when salted.
We take a container, onto the bottom of which is poured an even layer of salt, pre-mixed with dry seasonings. The fish is placed in layers close to each other. Garlic cloves are placed in the spaces. All layers need to be sprinkled with seasoning. The dish in such a salt coat must be placed under pressure and put in a cool place (in the refrigerator) for 36 hours. After this, the vendace needs to be washed to remove excess salt, dried and can be eaten.
You will need:
The fish must be cleaned, washed, dried and rolled in salt and flour. Next, fry in oil. Cut the potatoes into large slices and fry. Cut the onion into rings, dip in spices. Place the cooled fish on a plate and place potatoes and onions next to it. The dish is ready.
This dish is prepared in the oven. Ingredients:
Clean and gut the fish, wash and salt. Line the bottom of the baking sheet with bay leaf. Lay out the carcasses in a layer, place onion rings on top, then potatoes, cut into slices and pour sour cream on top. Then fish again, and so we repeat the layers. You should get two layers of each ingredient.
The baking sheet is placed in a preheated oven. Cook for 30-40 minutes. The resulting dish can be cut into pieces and served in portions.
Ingredients:
Vendace fish soup can be cooked either over a fire or in a saucepan.
You don’t have to gut the fish, just remove the scales. It has very few bones, and the insides will not spoil the taste of the finished dish. And the carcass can fall apart, making the broth cloudy. Next, wash with cold water, add bay leaf and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. After this, the fish must be removed from the broth and the meat separated from the heads and bones. Then chop the onion, dice the carrots and add to the broth. Add salt and put potatoes there (cut as you wish). Then pour in vodka, add herbs and cook until the carrots and potatoes are ready. A few minutes before cooking, add the fish.
Its other name is "Kalakukko". This is the national dish of Finland and is only prepared at home. Vendace is used as a filling.
You will need:
For the filling:
First you need to knead the dough. Pour water into a bowl, add butter, salt and flour. Roll out the finished dough, the edges should be thin. Pour rice into the middle of the cake, place vendace on top and sprinkle with salt. Then add chopped bacon into slices and add salt.
Grease the free spaces on the cake with water, make an “envelope” (fold the ends from the sides, top and bottom). Straighten the joints using a knife moistened with water. Sprinkle flour on top of the cake and place on a baking sheet previously lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 minutes. Grease the finished pie with butter, wrap in paper and then in foil and put back in the oven for 4 hours to bake over medium heat.
Vendace meat contains more magnesium than other types of fish, which is why it is so valued in cooking. Magnesium goes well with histidine, which is also present in fish. They help stimulate the human immune and nervous systems. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce this valuable product into your diet, especially since it is not difficult to prepare.
Today, almost every person’s diet includes fish dishes. And this is not surprising, since they contain fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that the human body needs for its normal development. Vendace is considered truly universal in cooking - it is salted and smoked, boiled and fried, steamed, baked, and so on. This product makes excellent soups, main courses and even baked goods. It is vendace that is part of the famous Finnish pie, which is famous throughout the world. But let’s find out what it is.
Vendace is a fish that belongs to the whitefish group. Outwardly, it looks like a herring, since its body is slightly compressed on the sides, the upper jaw is somewhat shorter than the lower one. The belly of the fish is white, the sides are blue, and the back is grayish. Vendace usually does not reach more than twenty centimeters in length, but there are individuals whose size is thirty-five centimeters.
This freshwater fish is found in Russian lakes, sometimes in rivers, as well as in the bays of the Baltic Sea. In addition, it can be found in Germany, Scotland, Finland, Belarus and Denmark.
Vendace has a very low calorie content. Fish (we already know where it is found) is extremely beneficial for the human body. Its meat contains a lot of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, as well as other useful substances, vitamins and elements. It also contains a huge amount of magnesium, which helps normalize the functioning of the nervous system. However, it tends to spoil quickly, so it is recommended to cook it immediately. Let's look at several simple recipes for preparing vendace.
The fish is washed thoroughly, rubbing with your hands so that the skin comes off. Then it is placed in a large bowl and scalded with boiling water, cooked, stirring gently. The cooked fish is placed in a colander and cooled. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. To do this, boil water, where vinegar, bay leaf, chopped horseradish root and salt are first added. The vendace is placed in another container in layers, alternating with a mixture of dill, bay leaf and ground pepper. Then the container is filled with dressing and left to infuse for three days. During this time, all the fish should be soaked in vinegar. Then a pressure is placed on top and left for two weeks, and then the container is sealed.
Let's consider other, no less popular, vendace dishes.
Ingredients: five hundred grams of fish, five potatoes, one carrot, three tablespoons of vegetable oil, two hundred grams of mayonnaise, one spoon of chopped dill, one onion, salt and spices to taste.
Preparation
First of all, the vendace must be cleaned and washed. The fish is then put aside and they begin to work on vegetables. So, the potatoes are peeled and cut into slices, mixed with a small amount of mayonnaise (one hundred grams), sprinkled with spices to taste. The onion is cut into half rings, the carrots are grated. All this is placed in a greased form, vendace is placed on top, smeared with mayonnaise, sprinkled with various spices. The form is sent to the oven for forty minutes. The finished fish is served cooled.
“Kalakukko” is a national dish that cannot be found in restaurants, since it is prepared at home. The filling is vendace fish, a photo of which is attached. The pie looks like a regular loaf of bread, but the filling inside it is very tasty.
Ingredients: four glasses of wheat flour, four glasses of rye flour, three glasses of water, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, two tablespoons of salt.
For the filling: seven hundred grams of peeled fish, one hundred and fifty grams of bacon, one spoon of rice, one spoon of salt.
Preparation
First, knead the dough: pour water into a bowl, add vegetable oil, salt, and flour. The finished dough is rolled out, making the edges thin. Long rice is poured into the middle of the cake, vendace (fish), the recipes for which we are studying today, is laid out on top, sprinkled with salt, then bacon cut into slices is placed and also salted. Then the free spaces on the cake are greased with water, an “envelope” is made, folding the ends from the sides, and then from the top and bottom. The boundaries of the joints are carefully straightened using a knife moistened with water. The top of the pie is sprinkled with flour, placed on a lined baking sheet and baked for forty minutes. During this time it should brown.
The finished pie is greased with butter, wrapped in paper and then in foil and put back in the oven for four hours to bake over low heat. During this time, the vendace (the fish inside the pie) will steam well, its bones will become very soft, so the pie can be safely given to children.
Ingredients: one kilogram of cleaned fish.
For breading: one hundred and fifty grams of crispbread, one and a half tablespoons of salt, half a spoon of ground white pepper, butter for frying.
Preparation
The bread is ground well using a blender. Or you can place them between towels and run a rolling pin on top so that they turn into crumbs. Salt and spices are added to this crumb. Vendace (the fish whose recipes we are considering) prepared in advance is breaded and fried in butter. The finished fish is cooled and served with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam.
Ingredients: four spoons of wheat flour, one spoon of curry, eight hundred grams of fresh frozen vendace, one spoon of dry dill, half an onion, one kilogram of potatoes, one spoon of dry paprika, one spoon of salt.
Preparation
Do you want to know how to cook vendace in the Ural style? First, of course, you need to defrost it, then peel, rinse, dry and roll in salt and flour. Then the fish is fried in oil.
Peeled potatoes are cut into large slices and fried. The onion is cut into rings and dipped in various colorful spices. The cooled fish is placed on a dish, potatoes and onions are placed next to it and served.
Ingredients: one and a half liters of water, three potatoes, half an onion, one fish, salt and spices to taste.
Preparation
Ukha is very tasty when it is made from a product such as vendace (fish). First, bring the water to a boil, then add the diced potatoes. When the water boils again, put the fish and onions cut into pieces into it and cook for fifteen minutes. A few minutes before the end of cooking, salt the fish soup and add spices. The finished dish is poured into plates, pieces of fish are placed, and decorated with herbs if desired.
Ingredients: five hundred grams of fish, two carrots, one onion, two hundred grams of low-fat sour cream, dill and ground black pepper.
Preparation
Remove the tail and head from the cleaned fish, wash it well, setting aside the caviar, if any. The vendace is salted and peppered, mixed, rolled in flour and fried in oil for two minutes on each side. Place the finished fish on a plate and set aside.
Place sour cream, dill and caviar, salt and spices in a bowl, add a small amount of water or fish broth and mix well. Place chopped onions and carrots on top of the fish, pour sour cream over everything, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for fifteen minutes. The finished dish is sprinkled with dill and served.
Fishermen clean vendace in their own way. It has long been customary to remove the gills with the finger of the right hand and pull out the entrails in one motion. Then the fish is washed in lake water. This experience is passed on in fishermen's families from generation to generation. Vendace is a fairly tasty fish, and it is prepared in different ways. You can roll it in breadcrumbs and fry it in oil. This is how vendace is cooked over an open fire. It is interesting that the meat of this fish contains much more magnesium than other types of fish, which is why it is so valued in cooking. What is especially valuable is that magnesium combines well with histidine, which is also present in vendace. They contribute to strong stimulation of the nervous and immune systems of the human body. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce into your diet such a valuable product as fish called vendace, especially since preparing it is not difficult.
Today it is impossible to imagine the human diet without fish dishes. This is right. Fish contains many substances beneficial to the human body. Freshwater fish vendace is considered universal in cooking.
In appearance it looks like a herring. It has large scales, silvery sides and a light blue back. Its abdomen is white and its fins are gray. The body is strongly compressed from the sides. This is a relatively small fish, but in the photo it looks like a real queen.
Previously, vendace fish was called the royal herring. It was included in the royal dinner menu. And today the festive table can be perfectly decorated with vendace. The photo of this royal herring is proof of this.
Vendace is a low-calorie product. Contains many microelements and vitamins that are beneficial to health. But it deteriorates very quickly. It must be prepared immediately. Fresh fish can only be stored for a day. For transportation, vendace is frozen using a special technology, which preserves all its beneficial properties for the body.
There are many options for dishes prepared from this product. There are almost no bones in it. It can be salted and boiled, fried, baked and steamed. The caviar of this fish is also used for food. Any dish based on it will not only have excellent taste, but also look great, as can be seen in the photo.
There are multiple ways to prepare vendace. But the most common are the following:
In the oven:
It cooks perfectly in the oven. In addition to this, you will need several peeled potatoes, an onion, salt to taste and a few tablespoons of sour cream. Suitable spices include bay leaves and black pepper. The cooking recipe is as follows:
It also has excellent taste when salted. Pickling recipe very simple:
You can also prepare other popular dishes from this delicious fish.
From fried vendace makes a great dish, in which everything healthy and tasty is preserved. The recipe is as follows:
You can prepare fish soup quite simply. She ready in half an hour according to the following recipe:
The pie-pie will have an exquisite taste with this fish. It is recommended to serve it to the ear.
It is very tasty smoked and salted. But the dried vendace looks elegant and appetizing in the photo. You can dry it at home according to the following recipe:
Vendace is able to provide adequate nutrition to brain cells, muscles and heart. Magnesium and histidine are elements that stimulate the functioning of not only the immune system, but also the nervous system. The nutritional and beneficial properties of fish are not lost during any processing.
Vendace is one of the Finns' favorite fish products. Fish dishes are always placed on the festive table. And for street celebrations they fry on Finnish olive or rapeseed oil, having previously rolled the fish in flour.
It has no contraindications for use. But people who are prone to allergic reactions to food need to be careful.
Vendace fish and delicious recipes from it
Vendace is a small fish that looks like a herring to many people, but it is smaller in size. You can prepare different dishes from it, but for this it is important not only to know the recipes, but also to choose the right fish. The carcass should be elastic and have a shiny skin. You definitely need to look at the eyes of the fish - they should not be cloudy.
Fried raba is the most popular dish. Vendace has its own original taste, so there is no need to use any additional ingredients.
To prepare this recipe you need to take the following products::
Preparation:
This recipe for cooking fish in Siberian style has been known for quite a long time. The time to spend on this dish is 1 hour.
To prepare 4 servings, you need to take the following products::
Preparation:
Small salted fish is an excellent stand-alone snack, but it can also be used for other dishes. Everything is prepared simply, so anyone can handle the process.
For this recipe you need to take the following products::
Preparation:
This recipe prepares very tasty fish with an appetizing crust. It can be eaten alone or served with various side dishes.
Preparation:
This pie is the national dish of Finland. It is served extremely rarely in restaurants and is mostly prepared at home. Externally, the pie resembles ordinary bread.
For cooking you need to take the following products:
Preparation:
The first dish turns out very tasty and aromatic. We are sure that not only adults, but also children will like it.
To prepare this dish you need to take the following products:
Preparation:
Fish prepared according to this recipe is not only tasty, but also very tender. It will decorate any side dish.
Fry medium-sized vendace for 3-5 minutes on each side over medium heat without a lid.
Wash the vendace; if you really want to, gut it and remove the head, but you can peel it right while eating.
Remove scales from vendace - vendace scales are soft and pliable and can be easily removed with a regular dishwashing sponge (the spongy side).
At this point, you can place the frying pan over medium-high heat.
Place the fish in a plastic bag, add flour, semolina or bread crumbs (for each fish - a quarter tablespoon of flour, that is, 2 tablespoons is enough for 8 fish), add spices for the fish. Shake the bag thoroughly so that the flour and spices coat the fish on all sides.
Place the vendace in a frying pan, sprinkled with oil, next to each other in one layer, fry for 3-5 minutes until golden brown, then repeat the same on the other side.
How to clean vendace
You can clean vendace very quickly: pry the head with your fingers, pull out the insides and tear off the head completely.
How to cook vendace deliciously
In Karelian style: it’s delicious to fry vendace in butter, on an onion bed, with potato wedges: add water to the top of the food level and simmer for 30 minutes at low bubbling, adding pepper and bay leaves. Then it is delicious to serve with the resulting gravy. Additionally, you can add sour cream at the end. Or you can clean the vendace from the entrails, head and backbone, and marinate the fillet in lemon juice and pepper for about 10 minutes - it will take about 5 minutes to fry.
How to eat vendace
Pinch off the back - it is edible. Then remove the side meat from the skeleton, holding it by the head.