Whole Wels Catfish Baked with Potatoes and Garlic

A whole large fish on the tray looks festive but cooks unevenly: heat reaches the backbone much later than it reaches the sides. Accordion-style cuts solve exactly that — they let heat and marinade in without cutting the carcass apart, so the catfish stays whole.

Soy sauce with lemon in the marinade does two different jobs. The sauce salts and colors the skin, while the lemon juice removes the muddy taste that often makes people dislike large catfish. An hour and a half in this marinade for a fish weighing several kilograms isn't a whim — it's the minimum.

The potatoes are marinated separately, with starch. A teaspoon of starch in oil with soy sauce forms a thin film on the wedges that turns into a golden crust in the oven — without it, the potatoes next to the fish just steam in its juice.

Fish and potatoes on the same tray can cook two different ways: wels catfish baked with vegetables under a lid steams in its own moisture, while wild carp with potatoes baked under a mayonnaise glaze goes under foil instead.

Caloric content: 155kcal

Notes

• Don't cut all the way through. The knife should stop about a centimeter short of the belly, or the carcass will fall apart into pieces right on the tray.
• Lemon juice is for the muddy taste. In catfish over five kilograms it's pronounced. Soy sauce doesn't mask it — acid removes it.
• Starch is for the potatoes, not the fish. One teaspoon for the whole potato marinade. It doesn't go into the fish marinade.
• Add the cherry tomatoes in the last ten minutes. Added earlier, they burst and flood the tray with juice, in which the potatoes stop browning.
• Marinate for an hour and a half, turning occasionally. The fish sits unevenly in the marinade, and without turning, one side stays almost bland.

Questions and Answers

How long should a whole catfish be baked?

Forty to sixty minutes at 180 °C depending on the size of the carcass. As a guide: twenty minutes per kilogram plus ten to heat through.

Why is there starch in the potato marinade?

It forms a thin film that turns into a golden crust. Without it, the potatoes next to the fish just steam.

How do you get rid of the muddy taste?

With lemon juice in the marinade. It's pronounced in large catfish, and acid is the only thing that reliably works.

Can it be made without marinating?

You can, but then the salt won't penetrate deep into the cuts and the muddy aftertaste will remain. The minimum is an hour and a half.

Recipe and step-by-step photos — kolizhanka.net.ua.