Gefilte Fish
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Fish
1 medium 1 2 large 1.5 lbs 0.5 lbs 4 3 T 1 T 3 large 1 T 2 T 1 T 1 t 6 T Stock 1 medium 1 2 large 1 1 T 1 t |
onion celery stalk carrots boneless, skinless salmon, whitefish, striped bass boneless, skinless trout, pike, carp green onions, green part only fresh parsley dried tarragon large eggs vegetable oil sugar salt pepper flour or matzo meal (can be gluten free) onion, large chunks celery stalk, large chunks carrots, sliced on bias fennel bulb, large chunks (optional) black peppercorns salt |
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Fish
- Coarse chop 1st set, pulse in food processor until finely chopped but still with a bit of texture, transfer to large bowl.
- Cut fish into 2" chunks, pulse in food processor until finely chopped but not total much, transfer to bowl with veggies.
- Whisk 3rd set in a separate bowl, then mix into fish mixture with your hands.
- Split mixture into two piles on parchment, gently form into loaf shapes with your hand, and roll up with the parchment.
- Note in 2025 I used our large snap-top food storage containers to portion and also roughly shape the loafs. I sprayed them with oil first. Worked great and made shaping much easier. I just rolled up the loaf and didn't have to shape. Also, these are large loafs that like to fall apart. I'd suggest 3 loafs for a 1x batch and 4 loafs for a 1.5x batch next time. Alternately, buy some 3" meat netting (#10 size) off Amazon and apply that once frozen but before cooking.
- Transfer to a tray and freeze overnight. Transfer to plastic bag once frozen for long term storage.
- Simmer stock set in roughly 12 cups of water in a large pot (e.g. a 6-quart pot filled half-way) for an hour
- Strain out solids, keeping stock and keeping carrot slices. Discard other solids. Store carrot slices in the refrigerator for later.
- Simmer frozen, parchment-wrapped fish loaves (one or both in a single pot) in stock for 1 hour.
- Remove fish, keeping it in it's wrapper, and chill. Discard stock or save it (it's probably quite tasty).
- Slice like bread and serve each plate with several carrots on top, a sprig of fresh parsley if you like, and beet horseradish.
- Source: Modified from NYT Cooking
- Yield: Two large loafs. Roughly 24 small servings total.
- Note on fish: I just use whatever Costco frozen fish I have in my freezer for this so it's slightly different every year but always good. I've use salmon, tilapia, hoki. Gefilte fish traditionally has a base of salmon and/or whitefish and of those two. My recommendation would be to use 1 to 1.5 lbs salmon as a base and some sort of "white" fish as the rest.
- Note on Gefilte Fish: This stuff gets a bad rap because most people buy the jared stuff in the gelled stock. If you have a jewish market you may be able to buy frozen loafs of gefilte fish. Ungar's is the brand that I used to get and you can use Google to see a picture of that product. It's crazy easy to cook and so much better than the jarred stuff. However, I can't buy it anymore in Tucson so I started making my own version in 2019. It's easy to make for sure. But the Ungar's product is very good and even easier if you can find it.
Category: Jewish Modified 4/6/25
