I can’t say for sure what is the difference between cutlets and meatballs, and whether there is any at all. I only know that the meatballs are always round. Therefore, I boldly call my today’s dish that way – fish meatballs.
And I will cook them from cod, as the ratio of its price and quality always impresses me very much.
Recipe with photo step by step
How to cook fish meatballs from cod, we need:
- 600 grams of fish fillet
- 150 grams of stale white bread
- 1 head of onion
- 2 raw eggs
- salt, ground black pepper – to taste
- ground breadcrumbs – for breading
- vegetable oil for frying
Today I use fish fillet, however, there is a skin, and bones too. But cod is easy to clean, I separate the skin at a time, and the bones are only on the ridge, it is also easy to remove if there is a skill. If there is no skill, ask your men about it, they will be happy (I’m sure) to help you.
The flesh of the fish is ready, I clean one head of onion.
In a separate bowl, soak stale white bread. Usually I use milk for this, but today I got greedy and poured water.
I don’t think it will have much effect on the result.
After five minutes, the bread should be squeezed out. Still, minced fish is different from meat, it has much more liquid, so we don’t need extra water.
-All prepared products are alternately scrolled through a meat grinder
-Salt, pepper the minced meat, add two raw eggs to it
You can be content with one, but I’m playing it safe, since the minced meat turns out to be quite liquid, as I already said, and the eggs should hold it together well. To do this, I cover the bowl with the prepared minced meat and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Now you can start sculpting our fish meatballs. I do this with my hands soaked in water.
First I roll out the ball, then I roll it in ground breadcrumbs, then I press it down on top and bottom so that it becomes flatter and takes on the shape I need. Then I sprinkle with breadcrumbs again. And I do this with everyone until the stuffing is over.
Then I heat the pan to the maximum temperature, pour in a little vegetable oil, let it warm up and spread the resulting meatballs at a short distance from each other.
I repeat once again, unlike meat, minced fish is very tender, soft, one might say, naughty, therefore it requires special attention. If the bits are at a sufficient distance from each other, they will be much easier to manipulate, i.e. turn over or move away from each other in time, if necessary.
For the same reason, I fry them in vegetable oil, and not in butter. It seems to me (this is just my personal observation, but time-tested) that vegetable oil seems to hold them together better, while butter, on the contrary, softens, makes meatballs even more fragile.
In any case, I fry them over medium heat (about 180 degrees) for ten to fifteen minutes on each side, until a beautiful golden crust appears
And then I close the pan with a lid, and let them sweat over low heat for another ten minutes.
In this situation, they will definitely turn out to be tender and airy inside, but with a fried crispy crust on the outside.
Such fish meatballs will not leave anyone indifferent, believe me! I always get a little tense when I cook them, as they have a lot of fiddling with them, and they are eaten in an instant. Therefore, I definitely take care of the side dish in advance (and mashed potatoes or rice are perfect for them) and try to serve it with it (if I have time!) Although I, of course, am a little cunning – there is no better praise for me than a rapidly empty plate!
This time, however, I was on the alert, I even managed to photograph them for you, so that you would appreciate my culinary work. This, of course, is only a picture, but I think you also liked it, and you will definitely use my recipe for cod fish meatballs on occasion. Good luck!
