Editor's note:This recipe is excerpted fromThe 2nd Avenue Deli Cookbook, by Sharon Lebewohl and Rena Bulkin.
Gefilte fish, today a prized delicacy, dates from the Middle Ages in Germany, where it was conceived as a fish stretcher — an ancient relative of Hamburger Helper. Religious Jews embraced it as a highlight of Friday-night dinners, because it solved a spiritual dilemma: though the Talmud suggests eating fish on Friday nights, it is forbidden (because it's considered work) to separate fish from bones on the Sabbath. We've found that most people who say they don't like gefilte fish have only tasted the supermarket variety, sold in jars, which is like saying you don't like filet mignon when you've only tasted beef jerky. Happily, preparing authentic gefilte fish from scratch is not an arcane skill possessed only by Jewish great-grandmothers. With today's food processors, it's not even especially difficult. Our recipe is sweet, in the Polish tradition; Russian gefilte fish is more peppery.
Ingredients
Makes 12
For the gefilte fish balls
For the cooking
Step 1
1. In a food processor or grinder, grind fish (refrigerate heads and bones for later use), 2 onions, 1 stalk celery, and half a carrot. (If you use a food processor, make sure you leave no large pieces of fish or bones; you may want to transfer the mixture, bit by bit, into a wooden bowl, and go over it vigorously with a hand chopper.)
Step 2
2. Place fish mixture in a large bowl, and add eggs, sugar, salt, pepper, and corn oil, mixing thoroughly with a wire whisk. Stir in matzo meal, and continue to mix until everything is thoroughly blended. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more (longer, even overnight, is better).
Step 3
3. Fill 2 large stockpots three-quarters full of water, and bring to a vigorous boil. In each, throw in half the fish heads and bones, 2 onions, half the celery, and a carrot. Divide batter into 12 patties of equal size. (Don't worry that your batter is a little loose; it has to be that way to keep your gefilte fish light.) Transfer each patty to a large cooking spoon, shape into an oval, and very gently lower it into the boiling water. Put 6 in each pot. Lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Step 4
4. Remove fish balls and carrots from pots, and refrigerate on a covered plate. Discard everything else. Serve chilled with red and/or white horseradish. Slice carrots for garnish.
· Because whitefish, carp, and pike are no longer commonly eaten, your fish store will probably require that you order them ahead of time and buy the whole fish. Be aware that you should order twice as many pounds of whole fish as you want of the finished fillets. Thus, to get 1 1/2 pounds of whitefish fillet, you should order 3 pounds of whole fish — approximately 2 fish. · For the best flavor, we prefer a mix of all 3 kinds of fish: 2 whole whitefish, 1 whole pike, and about 1/3 of a whole carp (save the rest for another use). After filleting, this comes out to about 1 1/2 pounds of whitefish fillet, 1 pound of pike fillet, and a 1/2 pound of carp fillet. · To keep the patties very delicate, we like to form them with 2 large cooking spoons rather than making patties: Use one spoon to scoop up a heaping spoonful of batter, then use the other to gently push the batter into the boiling stock. Made this way, the recipe will yield more than 12 patties. They will be slightly misshapen, but extremely light.
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Reviews (17)
Back to TopI have been making gefilte fish for years using my grandmother's recipe from Lithuania, where sweet fish is enjoyed. To make the fish sweet I add slices of parsley root and parsnip to the broth and even grind (using my kitchenaide food grinder attachment) the fish, a carrot, a thin parsnip and small piece of parsley root into the fish. I add egg yolks to the mixture and beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. The egg whites are gently folded into the fish before the knaidles are made. I wrap my skin and bones in cheesecloth and place on the bottom of the stockpot, then add the knaidles,placing a slice of carrot, parsley root or parsnip between them to prevent the knaidles from sticking together, and gently fill the pot with cold water. Everyone tells me they have never tasted anything so delicious, and no one in my family is willing to eat the stuff out of the jar - there's just no comparison.
kgoldberg2
Long Island, NY
3/5/2012
Whitefish, carp and pike may no longer be sold at general fish shops, but if you go into any Orthodox Jewish area, fish stores commonly stock these items. In fact, sliced carp or sliced whitefish are eaten often on Shabbat or holidays.
dinif
10/5/2011
I have been making my own gefilte fish for many years. There is no comparison between what comes in a jar, and a homemade version. When I lived in Zambia, there was an annual Passover gefilte fish competition at our synagogue between me and a man whose family was from Poland. He went so far as to catch his own fish! His was sweet, and contained ground almonds. Mine was mild, with only a pinch of sugar (not even 1/8 teaspoon-- it adds a nice depth to the flavor), and a slice of lemon in the stock. It's hard to say who actually won, but I do know there were never any left over. Chag sameach, however you take your gefilte fish!
Anonymous
Planet Earth
3/28/2010
To miss ldberman. The tip about the broth is great; i'm doing it next yuntiff.
Anonymous
Merion, PA
4/11/2009
corn oil on Passover? NO NO NO
Anonymous
San Rafael, ca
4/10/2009
I have not made this particular recipe however when I make gefilte fish I first make the broth in a pressure cooker with the head skin and bones. It makes the richest broth that will eventually gel. I then cook the fish balls in the finished broth which makes it most flavorfull.
ldberman
4/2/2009
I can't honestly say how this recipe tastes, because I haven't tried it, but the whole sugar in gefilte fish thing is a regionalism. If you are from a Polish family or from certain other parts of E. Europe (regions of Hungary, I believe), sugar is a MUST in gefilte fish. But if you are from Russia, for example, this is disgusting. (The same rule, BTW, applies to challah, though it is easier to get used to sweet challah than sweet fish.) Personally, my great-grandma was from Lodz, and I LOVE sweet gefilte fish. You just have to go with what you grew up with.
beccaklempner
3/30/2009
EW EW EW, horrendous, yucky and all other horrible adjectives, including whoever wrote the note . Never, never, never, put sugar in gefilte fish-ulch. I've been making this wonderful dish for hundreds of years and even made it for several (not relatives) families. However, that tip about putting the bones in cheesecloth is excellent. I sometimes add a small handful of ground almonds. P.S. I make gefilte fish at least twice a year and will be doing so until I can't and then my grandson will take over.
Anonymous
Merion, PA
3/26/2009
Frankly, anyone who would put sugar in Gefilte fish would put scorpions in a baby's bed!
cooker613
Denver, Co
3/17/2009
I haven't made this yet either but, yes, definitely add the sugar, which adds balance. I make my own gefilte fish regularly, but I use an admittedly non-traditional combination of tilapia and salmon, and flavor it with a little dill (fresh or dried) and a good squeeze of lemon. Instead of making patties I make a loaf which I wrap in waxed paper, place in a loaf pan, add stock, and then cook (covered) in the oven rather than the stovetop. I also make my own beet- horseradish sauce by grating baked, peeled beets, then adding prepared horseradish, vinegar, salt, pepper, and, yes, sugar. My guests are always very favorably impressed.
Anonymous
north of boston, ma
4/17/2008
I haven't made this recipe yet, but by looking at it, and from my memories of my mother and father making it, it looks just right. My folks had their own metal grinder that screwed on like a vice to the the back of a chair, and my father would turn the crank while my mom placed a bowl on the table to catch the ground fish. They worked like a well-oiled machine, and the whole process of making the fish took all morning. The grinder was inherited from their parents and grandparents (that was REALLY a long time ago since my father died 10 years ago at age 92) and they would buy the three kinds of whole fish and make it fresh...I am pretty sure that they used sugar too in the recipe. Their fish was just amazing...to this day my brother and I find it very difficult to eat jarred fish. My parents would used their hands to form the balls of fish, so perhaps the fish mixture was a bit thicker than the recipe calls for. I can't wait to try this to see if it comes out the same..
jokatz56
PA, but a native New Yorker
4/13/2008
A helpful hint for those wishing to make geflite fish. If you can find the canvas stuffing bags sold at Thanksgiving for stuffing a turkey buy them. When preparing the fish stock put the fish head, bones, skin etc. in them. When the broth is done cooking you just pull the bats with all of the fish guts out.......it is cleaner and neater than picking through the broth.
sandbb
Vernon CT
4/9/2008
My father's mother's family came from near Krakow and although she was the Jewish bubbie from hell, she was a fabulous cook, and her excellent gefilte fish was the usual sweet style favoured by Polish Jews. What made it particularly delicious, was that she used four kinds of fish - pike and whitefish for sure, and some fresh salmon too. I don't think she used carp, but could be mistaken. The ultimate snob, she tended to purchase the more expensive types of fish and then grind it herself. Also, she would cook the fish in broth in large loaves for slicing, so the consistency was both firm and moist.
waterdragon
Toronto, Canada
4/9/2008
I understand the sugar-phobes. I originally made it using sugar in the recipe until my Grandfather (for whom I was making it) told me that his Mother (born in Lithuania) always made it by grinding up ginger root instead of sugar. It is Delicious!
Anonymous
Chicago, IL
4/9/2008
是的当然糖!鱼的味道be slightly sweet, salty, and peppery. I make my own recipe, no matzoh meal and half the eggs are boiled first. A midway point between jarred fish and homemade are premade, raw, frozen loaf fish. try A& B brand.
mrubie
Jerusalem, Israel
3/31/2008
