Homemade Polish gefilte fish with beet chrein are a sweet-and-sour treat that will change the way you think about traditional Jewish food. Care, good ingredients and attention to detail make this a dish worth savouring!
Authentic Polish Gefilte Fish with Beet Chrein
2020-03-28 15:48:52
Serves 8
Ingredients
- Chrein (horseradish-beet sauce)
- 7 oz raw horseradish
- 5 oz raw beets
- 1/2 TB sugar
- 1/2 TB salt
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- Fish broth
- 1 fish head and bones when buying your fish, ask the fish monger to keep the head and bones in a bag for you; if you’re filleting and cleaning your own fish, make sure to keep the head and bones
- 1 carrot peeled and sliced into rounds
- 1 onion quartered
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 whole peppercorns
- 5 whole allspice berries
- One parsley stem
- 1 beet peeled and quartered (optional; my Ukrainian grandmother does this, but it takes the recipe in a decidedly non-Polish direction. However, this will give your gefilte fish an appealing pinkish hue)
- Water
- Polish gefilte fish
- 1 kg carp ground
- 700 g whitefish ground (pickerel or rockfish, cod and haddock are also acceptable replacements)
- 1 onion chopped finely (you may fry your onion first for additional flavor; if doing this, take care not to brown onion)
- ½ cup matzo meal. Gluten free alternative – replace this with GF matzo meal or omit altogether.
- 2 TB sugar
- 4 tsps salt
- 2 tsps pepper
- 2 TBs sunflower oil
- 1 egg
- Large lettuce or kale leaves for presentation
Chrein (horseradish-beet sauce)
- Peel beets and horseradish, and soak them in cold water for an hour (this saves you the hassle of cooking the beets).
- Drain well, and grate using a box grater or a food processor fitted with a fine grating disc.
- In a bowl, mix with sugar, salt and vinegar, taking care to incorporate all ingredients completely.
- Transfer to a jar, cover with lid and let rest for at least two hours before serving (chrein keeps well in the refrigerator, only getting better with time).
Fish broth
- Wrap fish head and bones in a cheesecloth pouch (cut a large square of cheesecloth, wrap fish head and bones in it, and tie together with kitchen twine).
- Add sliced carrots, onions, bay leaf, peppercorns, allspice berries, parsley stem and beets (if using) to pot. Add enough water to cover ingredients.
- Cover with a lid and bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and continue simmering for 30 minutes, until carrots can be easily pierced with a fork.
- Polish gefilte fish – best to do this while your fish broth is cooking
- Combine all gefilte fish ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands until well combined.
- Wet the palms of your hands and form oval shaped patties the size of a golf ball.
- Place gefilte fish balls into fish broth; add enough water to ensure gefilte fish are submerged fully.
- Simmer over a low flame slowly for 1.5 hours. Carefully remove all the patties and carrot slices from the broth. Set aside to cool.
- OPTIONAL: After the fish has been removed, strain off the cooking liquid. This stock will jell when chilled, providing a traditional sauce to serve with the gefilte fish.
- To serve gefilte fish, arrange lettuce or kale leaves on a large platter. Carefully place gefilte fish patties on top of the greens. Top each patty with one of the cooked sliced carrots, and a dollop of chrein. Serve with more chrein on the side.
Notes
- If you cannot find a fishmonger who will grind the fish into burger meat for you, you can process it yourself in a food processor or a meat grinder. However, please take care to take out all the bones before doing so – and save them for the fish broth
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Ksenia Prints is a Russian-Israeli food blogger based out of Montreal. She spends her nights cooking, writing and photographing food for At the Immigrant’s Table and other freelance publications. Her cooking and writing are a mélange of cultures and traditions that somehow turn out well. Ksenia and her work can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.
