Braised Carp with Vegetables in Tomato Sauce

Name: Braised Carp with Vegetables in Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: Carp – 400 g. Onion – 1 pc. Carrot – 1 pc. Tomato paste – 1 tbsp. Boiling water – 1 cup. Salt – to taste. Fish seasoning – 1 tsp. Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.

Published: 05.09.2026

Updated: 05.09.2026

🤤 Здорові рецепти щодня

Cooking time 50 minutes Portions 2 servings

Carp is fried here only until half-done and taken out of the pan right away. That's deliberate: it will spend fifteen minutes in the sauce anyway, and fish fried all the way through in the pan would come out of braising overcooked.

Tomato paste instead of sour cream changes the whole dish. It's a sour line, not a creamy one: the sauce comes out sharper, but it isn't afraid of long braising and doesn't separate — with it, the carp can be kept under the lid as long as needed.

The water goes in boiling. A cup of cold water on hot sautéed vegetables knocks down the temperature, and while the sauce comes back to a boil, the onion and carrot have time to turn to mush.

Tomato adds the acidity here; swap it for dairy and you get carp in sour cream, pan-fried. With no sauce at all, the fish braises in its own vegetable juices instead: catfish with vegetables in vegetable broth, pan-cooked.

Caloric content: 120kcal

Ingredients

Carp – 400 g.
Onion – 1 pc.
Carrot – 1 pc.
Tomato paste – 1 tbsp.
Boiling water – 1 cup.
Salt – to taste.
Fish seasoning – 1 tsp.
Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.

Cutting the carp

Clean the fish, rinse it, and cut it into portioned pieces no thicker than two centimeters.

Frying until half-done

Heat a spoonful of vegetable oil in a pan for braising and quickly fry the pieces over high heat — only until half-done. Transfer the fish to a plate.

Making the sautéed vegetables

Peel the onion and carrot, chop them, and fry in the same oil. Add a spoonful of tomato paste and stir.

Braising in the sauce

Pour in a cup of boiling water, salt, add the fish seasoning, and bring the sauce to a boil. Return the carp pieces, cover with a lid, and braise for fifteen minutes on low heat.

Serving

Transfer the carp with the vegetables to a plate and serve hot.

Notes

The fish is taken off underdone. Another fifteen minutes in the sauce will finish it. Carp fried all the way through falls apart during braising.
Cut the pieces no thicker than two centimeters. Thicker ones don't have time to cook through in the sauce in fifteen minutes, and holding them longer no longer makes sense.
The water goes in boiling. Cold water stops the sautéed vegetables from cooking, and they turn mushy while the sauce comes back to a boil.
The paste is heated with the vegetables. A spoonful of tomato paste needs a minute on the heat together with the onion and carrot — raw, it gives off a metallic note.
The small bones stay. Braising doesn't affect them. If that's a problem, use the back cut or score the fish before frying.

Questions and Answers

How long to braise carp?

Fifteen minutes under the lid on low heat, after it's had its turn in the pan.

Why take the fish off underdone?

Because it finishes cooking in the sauce. Carp fried all the way through falls apart after braising.

Why does the water need to be boiling?

Cold water knocks down the temperature of the sautéed vegetables, and they have time to turn mushy while the sauce comes back to a boil.

Can tomato paste be replaced with sour cream?

It can, but that's a different dish: a creamy sauce doesn't hold up to long braising nearly as well.

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