Wild Carp Fillet Baked in White Wine

Filleting removes wild carp's main inconvenience — the large bones that, in a whole carcass, have to be worked around with a knife right at the table. The small intermuscular bones remain, though, and it's more honest to say so right away: wild carp fillet isn't the same thing as pike-perch fillet.

Dry white wine in the marinade works as an acid. It softens the surface of the fibers and, together with the soy sauce, gives the fish a more distinct flavor than salt alone would. Thirty minutes is enough: after an hour the wine's acid starts breaking down the flesh, and it falls apart after baking.

The trimmings from filleting aren't thrown away. The backbone with the head makes a rich broth, so one large fish yields two dishes — baked fillet today and fish soup tomorrow.

Filleting the fish isn't required — wild carp with lemon and sour cream, baked in the oven goes in whole. Swap the wine for vegetable juices instead, as in pike-perch baked in the oven with vegetables.

Caloric content: 130kcal

Notes

• We clarified the wine measurement. The source states "1 ст." ("1 st."), which reads as either a tablespoon or a cup. For fillet from one fish, use about a hundred milliliters.
• Half an hour of marinating is enough, an hour is the ceiling. Longer, and the wine's acid breaks down the fibers, and the fillet falls apart into pieces after baking.
• Turn the pieces in the marinade. The fillet sits in the liquid on one side, and without turning, the other side stays bland.
• Thickness determines the time. Thin pieces are done in thirty minutes, thick ones in forty. Go by the thickness, not the clock.
• Small bones remain in the fillet. Only the large, rib bones are removed. The intermuscular bones of carp-family fish can't be picked out at all.

Questions and Answers

How long should wild carp fillet be baked?

Thirty to forty minutes at 180 °C depending on the thickness of the pieces.

What can replace white wine?

Lemon juice diluted with water in equal parts, or apple cider vinegar — about a spoon per hundred milliliters of water. What matters here is the acid, not the alcohol.

Can it be marinated longer?

Better not to. After an hour the acid starts breaking down the flesh, and it falls apart in the oven.

Does wild carp fillet have bones?

The large ones are removed during filleting, while the small intermuscular ones remain — a feature of all carp-family fish.

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