Wild carp roe fritters with sour cream
Roe fritters differ from roe patties not in shape but in the batter. In patties the roe stays as grain and you can see it in the finished dish; here the mixture is whipped with a blender, the grain breaks up and you get a smooth batter that rises in the pan.
What lifts it is the baking soda together with the sour cream: an acid medium and an alkali produce carbon dioxide, and the fritter turns out fluffy. Without sour cream the soda works at half strength — so it is here for the reaction rather than for the taste.
The last step — ten minutes under a lid with water — looks unnecessary, but it is the one that makes the dish. In four minutes a side a roe fritter sets on the outside and stays dense inside; the steam finishes it off without letting the crust toughen. If you want to feel the grain, make roe patties instead — there the batter is not whipped.
The roe stays grainy rather than whipped into batter in wild carp roe patties, and cooks down with vegetables in braised cabbage with wild carp roe.
Caloric content: 220kcal
Measure out the roe
Clean off the membranes
Whip the batter with a blender
Spoon it into the pan
Fry until golden
Braise them under a lid
Serve
Notes
- A kilo of roe means a big fish or several medium ones. You do not buy roe: it only comes from your own catch, and there is no sense collecting it one fish at a time — in two days in the fridge it will go off before you have the amount you need.
- Take the membranes off before whipping. The blender does not break them up but winds them round the blade, and afterwards they turn up in the fritters as rubbery threads.
- Soda without sour cream does not do its job properly. If you have no sour cream, replace it with kefir or a spoonful of lemon juice — but not with water.
- Granulated garlic rather than fresh. Fresh garlic in a runny batter gives damp pieces that will burn before the fritter itself does.
- Four or five minutes a side, and no more. Roe cooks fast, and overcooked it takes on a slightly bitter aftertaste you can no longer get rid of.
- Use only a little water for the braising — a finger's depth on the bottom. Its job is to give steam, not to boil the fritters.
Recipe and step-by-step photos — kolizhanka.net.ua.
