Classic Pike-Perch Hoe with Vinegar

Name: Classic Pike-Perch Hoe with Vinegar
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 12 h
Total time: 13 h
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: Pike-perch fillet – 1 kg. Onion – 0.5 kg. Carrot – 150 g. Garlic – 5 cloves. Table vinegar 9% – 60 ml. Soy sauce – 80 ml. Salt – 0.5 tbsp. Ground black pepper – 1 tsp. Bell pepper – 150 g. Hot chili pepper – 30 g. Vegetable oil – 50 ml.

Published: 05.09.2026

Updated: 05.09.2026

🤤 Здорові рецепти щодня

Cooking time 13 hours Portions 6 servings

Hoe only looks like a raw fish dish. In reality, the pike-perch in it goes through the same protein denaturation as it would in a pan — it's just acid doing the work instead of heat. After six hours in vinegar, the meat turns from translucent to white and firm: it's cooked, even though the stove never came on.

Pike-perch isn't chosen for its flavor alone. It's a predator, not a carp-family fish, and that removes the main risk of raw curing — opisthorchiasis, which carp, wild carp, bream, and roach can carry in Ukrainian waters. Hoe made from carp-family fish requires prior freezing, and without it they don't reach the table.

The vegetables must be cooled completely before being combined with the fish. Hot, they start cooking the pike-perch a second time — this time with heat — and instead of firm meat you get something mushy.

Pike-perch is a predator, and it gets frozen for hoe by its own rules. Compare that with Korean-style hoe from pike with onion and carrot and wild carp hoe with cucumbers and bell pepper: carp-family fish need stricter freezing.

Caloric content: 115kcal

Ingredients

Pike-perch fillet – 1 kg.
Onion – 0.5 kg.
Carrot – 150 g.
Garlic – 5 cloves.
Table vinegar 9% – 60 ml.
Soy sauce – 80 ml.
Salt – 0.5 tbsp.
Ground black pepper – 1 tsp.
Bell pepper – 150 g.
Hot chili pepper – 30 g.
Vegetable oil – 50 ml.

Cut the fillet

Fillet the pike-perch, remove the bones, and cut the meat into small strips.

Place in a bowl

Transfer the pieces of fish into a deep bowl.

Pour in the vinegar

Add the vinegar and minced garlic, mix well, and place in the fridge for six hours.

Prepare the vegetables

Grate the carrot, cut the onion into thin half-rings, cut the bell pepper into strips, and mince the chili pepper with a knife.

Sauté and cool

Put the vegetables in a pan with oil and simmer over low heat for about five minutes, stirring. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

Combine

Add the fish, salt, pepper, and soy sauce to the cooled vegetables. Mix and place in the fridge for another six hours.

Serve

Serve the hoe cold, as an appetizer. Store for no more than three days.

Notes

Freezing isn't excessive caution. Even predatory fish can carry parasite larvae. A week at minus eighteen in the freezer settles the question completely.
The vinegar amount is exact for a reason. Sixty milliliters of 9% vinegar per kilogram of fillet. Less and the fish stays half-raw; more and it turns rubbery.
Cool the vegetables completely. This is the most common mistake: warm vegetables keep cooking the fish and rob it of its firmness.
Soy sauce replaces part of the salt. Together with half a tablespoon of salt it comes out just right; don't add extra salt "by eye" on top.
Store for no more than three days. This is a dish with no heat treatment, and on the fourth day it stops being safe.

Questions and Answers

How long to marinate pike-perch hoe?

Six hours in the fridge in vinegar with garlic, then another six with the vegetables and soy sauce. Twelve hours total.

Is it safe to eat hoe?

Under two conditions: the fish is a predator, and it has been frozen beforehand for a week at minus eighteen. Vinegar denatures the protein, but it doesn't replace freezing.

What fish can hoe be made from?

Classically from pike-perch and pike — both are predators. Silver carp, carp, wild carp and bream all belong to the carp family, and it is carp-family fish in Ukrainian waters that can carry opisthorchiasis: hoe is made from them only after a week of freezing at minus eighteen.

What can replace vinegar?

Lemon juice, but you'll need twice as much and the marinating time grows to eight hours. The flavor comes out milder.

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