Wild carp roe patties
Roe is something you do not buy. It comes only from your own catch, turns up suddenly and does not keep long: raw roe spoils faster than the fish itself, and its fate has to be decided the same evening. Patties are the simplest thing to do with it, and the most reliable: they come out of any roe, even if the roe sacs tore while the fish was being gutted.
Three ingredients in all — roe, an egg and three spoons of flour. The batter must not be thick here: the flour holds the patty together, it does not make it. Add too much and instead of a roe patty you get a pancake that smells of fish.
Wild carp roe and carp roe are interchangeable in this dish, as are bream roe and pike roe. The difference is only in the size of the grain: the finer it is, the denser the patty. If there is not much roe, it is better to make fried carp roe with onions out of it — there it goes on its own rather than into a batter.
The same roe is whipped into batter in wild carp roe fritters with sour cream, and is a filling rather than the base in braised cabbage with wild carp roe.
Caloric content: 205kcal
Clean the roe of the membranes
Let the water drain off
Add the egg
Salt and stir
Sift the flour
Mix the batter
Spoon them into the pan
Fry on both sides
Serve
Notes
- The boiling water goes on twice, and it is not about cleanliness. Hot water sets the membrane of the roe sac, and after the second time it comes away by itself, together with the small debris. Cold water will not do that: the membrane stays, and in the finished patty it turns up as a rubbery thread.
- Let it stand in the sieve. The water left in the roe thins the batter, and the patty spreads across the pan. A few minutes in a sieve — and you will need exactly three spoons of flour, not five.
- Spoon them out, do not shape them by hand. The batter is runny; it takes its shape in the pan; an attempt to shape a patty in your palm ends with it running out between your fingers.
- Medium heat. Roe cooks quickly, and over high heat a crust will appear on the outside while the batter inside is still raw.
- A paper towel is a must. Roe patties soak up more oil than fish ones, and without it the dish comes out heavy.
Recipe and step-by-step photos — kolizhanka.net.ua.