How to clean carp from scales. Tips and features for cleaning carp before cooking

Carp fish are quite common in our country. Many delicious dishes can be prepared from carp. But before you start implementing any recipe, you need to competently and quickly get rid of the inedible elements of this fish. Few people know how to properly clean carp. It has a very dense cover of small scales. It is very difficult to remove these scales from the fish. Therefore, the question of how to clean carp quickly and correctly remains always relevant. The fishermen themselves and their wives are trying to come up with new tricks that would help them in such a useful and not very pleasant activity. lovers fish dishes making your own is sometimes difficult.

Multi-stage cleaning methods

Through trial and error, methods were devised on how to wash carp from the mucus present on its carcass, and how to clean carp from scales and other inedible parts. We list the most popular of them, often used by the people, due to their availability and effectiveness.

Carp is cleaned in three approaches. But before cleaning the fish, they first prepare it, wash it from mucus and dirt. Then the scales are removed from the surface of the fish carcass. The final step in cleaning the carp will be getting rid of the offal and washing the cleaned product.

My fish

Carp should be washed in plenty of cold water. It is more convenient to do it under pressure. During this procedure, you need to cut off all the fins with the help of large kitchen scissors.

Wipe the washed fish with a clean rag or paper towels.

How to clean carp from scales quickly and without harm to the kitchen

In fact, there is a special device that allows you to remove dense scales from a fish without making much effort. The device is similar to a grater, with which the scales are torn off. The process is easy and doesn't create as much debris as if using a regular knife. However, this device can also wreak havoc in your kitchen.

Basin with water

How to clean carp so that the kitchen also remains clean? During the procedure using a knife or special devices, shiny scales still scatter around the kitchen. In the future, while the hostess is fiddling with the fish, the scales dry out and stick quite firmly to the surfaces. This makes it difficult to remove them from dishes and walls. A method was invented on how to clean carp in water.

To do this, a deep basin is filled with cold water and the cleaning itself is carried out in this basin. We lower the fish into it and clean off the dense, firmly adherent scales with water.

polyethylene bag

For those who do not like to spend a lot of time in water (during cleaning), the following method is suitable. For example, how to clean a carp in a plastic bag. To do this, the carcass of the fish is placed in a spacious bag so that you can freely work in it with your hands, and the scales are cleaned in the bag. Having finished processing the fish, the bag must be tightly tied and sent to the trash.

For easier removal of the scales from the fish, use the following trick - dip the fish in boiling water, hold it in it a little and start cleaning. Do not overdo it, otherwise you will get the ear earlier than you expected: the fish can be boiled in boiling water.

We get rid of offal and butcher the fish

And now about how to clean carp from giblets. When outer side the fish looks more appetizing, we start cutting the carcass. We cut the abdomen with a knife and clean out all the insides. You need to be especially careful with the gallbladder, if it is pierced, then the taste of the fish will irreparably deteriorate. Take Special attention removal of the dark film lining the belly of the fish. This film also spoils the taste, so we remove it with passion, but so as not to damage the pulp.

The final step will be the removal of the head and washing the carp carcass. Cut it into pieces if necessary.

Carp in sweet and sour sauce

Products:

cut carp - not less than a kilogram;
corn starch;
vegetable oil without aroma;
a handful of pine nuts (peeled) - optional.

For sauce:

half a glass of cold water and tomato sauce, you can take ketchup;
2 tablespoons of sugar;
1 tablespoon rice vinegar;
fresh ginger root - about one centimeter;
white part of leek - 1 piece;
1-2 small spoons of starch (corn);
salt - to taste.

Technological process

Separate the fillet from the gutted carp from the backbone. This must be done in such a way that the skin and some of the pulp still remain attached to the tail.

Lay the fillet skin side down on the surface of the table and make several cuts in it at an angle. It is important not to damage the skin of the carp, then the dish will turn out to be more beautiful. Do this procedure with both sides of the fillet.

Breaded fish meat and head in starch and fry in vegetable oil. If you do not like the head of the fish that will be in the cooked dish, you can not use it.

cooking sauce

To prepare the sauce, mix in a bowl. tomato paste and water until smooth. In the process of mixing the pasta with water, you need to introduce sugar, salt and vinegar into the future sauce. Its taste should be sweet and sour. Add sugar or salt (or vinegar) of your choice if needed.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and add ginger and onion, cut into small pieces. Pour the prepared starch into the pan. To do this, you need to dilute it in water in a ratio of one to one (how many tablespoons of starch, so many tablespoons of water). Bring the resulting mixture to a boil and add the oil remaining from frying the fillet. Boil the tomato sauce for about five minutes.

Serving the dish

Fish with a head (or without) beautifully laid on a flat dish. Top the fried carp with a delicate sweet and sour sauce and garnish with nuts. There are practically no restrictions in decorating a dish. You can add vegetables to the sauce, and then there will be no need for nuts.

Fried carp

Pour the pieces of fish with milk for thirty minutes. At this time, prepare a batter of three eggs. You also need to prepare two tablespoons of breadcrumbs for breading and flour. Salt.

Remove carp pieces from milk and roll in salted flour. Then dip in beaten egg and roll again, this time in breadcrumbs. Put the fish in a frying pan with hot vegetable oil. Fry carp on both sides until golden brown. This will take approximately 15 minutes.

fb.ru

The classic way to clean fish

In general, fish is easier to clean if it is fresh. Therefore, if your faithful came from fishing, it is better to clean the entire catch at once and only then place the fish in the freezer for storage. It is even better to clean the fish right next to the pond - this way the risk of dirtying the kitchen is minimal.

If the fish is very slippery in your hands, sprinkle it with salt. This will make the cleaning process easier.
Carefully cut off all fins except for the tail. Without a tail, it will be much more difficult to clean the fish. The fins are cut off in order not to get hurt - in some species of fish, these fins are quite sharp.
Next stage- cleansing fish from scales. To do this, take a large sharp knife. The larger the knife, the easier it is to clean. Place the fish on a cutting board, grasp the tail with one hand. With your other hand with a knife, remove the scales from the fish, swiping from the tail to the head, that is, against the location of the scales.
If the scales are scattered all over the kitchen, you can draw some water into the sink and lower the fish into the water. Clean the scales under water so that they do not fly apart.
When all the scales are off, rinse the fish with water. The next step is gutting. To do this, take a thin knife, which must be very sharp. Spread the belly of the fish from the head to the rear lower fin. Carefully take out the insides of the fish and try to peel off the thin film that covers the belly from the inside. When removing the entrails, be careful with the gallbladder of the fish - do not damage it. Otherwise, the fish may acquire an unpleasant bitter taste.
When eviscerating, pay attention to the contents of the belly. Sometimes there may be caviar that should not be thrown away in any case.

If the recipe calls for the whole fish (including the head) to be cooked, then the gills must be removed.
Do not forget to rinse the fish again after cleaning.
If you are not going to bake the whole fish, but want to fry it in pieces, then it must be cut. First cut off the head and tail. The rest is cut into small pieces. Then the fleshy part of the fish is cut, then with a sharp blow knife you need to break the spine of the fish at the cut point. Then the rest of the fish is cut.
If you need a fish fillet, cut it across into pieces should not be. You need to take the fish by the tail and cut the flesh along the carcass with a sharp knife, as close as possible to the ridge. You will get two halves - on one spine and ribs, and on the second only ribs. After that, the ribs and large bones are easily removed. Then the fillet is cut into portions - into pieces of the desired size.
If you plan to cook fish cakes, you need to peel the fish along with the bones.

After that, the fish can be sent to the pan, oven or pan.

How to clean different types of fish

Cleaning fish depends largely on its type. Some types of fish may not be cleaned at all, for example, salmon or goby. They are fried together with scales, because it is quite soft and small.

Other types of fish are cleaned by completely removing the skin from them, for example, catfish, burbot, eel. To do this, you need to make a small incision near the head of the fish and pull the skin off in one motion.

Some fish (for example, crucian carp) are cleaned very easily, with the help of fingers. To do this, you just need to thoroughly rinse the crucian with a stream of water. And if you sprinkle small fish of any kind with salt, the scales will move away without any problems.

Pike, perch and pike perch can be scalded with boiling water. To do this, clean fish must be lowered into boiling water for a while. Blanching time depends on the size and freshness of the fish and can vary from 30 seconds to three minutes. It is very important here not to overcook the carcass, otherwise the scales will go away along with the boiled meat.

If you decide to cook tench, then you must first thoroughly rinse it from mud and mucus. If this does not help, put the washed fish in the sink and pour boiling water over it. You will immediately see the mucus begin to curdle like egg white. After that, you just need to rinse the fish. Some believe that it is not necessary to remove the scales from the tench, they say, it is so thin that it simply dissolves in the ear. If the smallest particles bother you, you can dip the tench in boiling water for a minute and remove the scales along with the skin.

If river fish smell like mud, and you are afraid that after cooking the smell will remain, you need to leave the washed fish carcass in salt water for a couple of hours. And just before cooking, pour the fish with lemon juice. And then you will get only a pleasant appetizing aroma of cooked fish.

We have put together a few more tips for you to make cleaning fish really quick and comfortable.

Some clean the fish with a grater. It is very convenient, besides, the scales do not fly off half a meter. Take an ordinary grater, and preferably a four-sided one - it is easier to hold it in your hands. Carefully drive the grater over the fish against the location of the scales.
If the fish is not needed right now, it can be pre-salted. Just sprinkle the carcass with salt, place in a plastic container and leave in the refrigerator until morning. In the morning, the scales will come off along with the skin.
Fish can also be frozen first. This will make the cleaning process easier. Leave the fish in the freezer for a day, and then take it out. After an hour, when the scales have already melted, and the fish itself will still be frozen, it will be very easy to clean it.
Most cutlery sets have a special knife for cleaning fish. Its serrated edges do everything for you - cleaning fish in this way is a pleasure.
In hardware stores today there are a huge number of newfangled devices for quickly and safely cleaning fish. This is a cutting board with a special clip that secures the tail of the fish. And a universal fish scaler, which is a plane with sharp notches.
In field conditions, when there is no knife at hand, the fish can be easily cleaned with a metal spoon or fork.

If with any type of cleaning the scales scatter throughout the kitchen, you can use a plastic bag. Put the fish in there and clean right in it. After that, the package can be thrown away along with the peeled off scales.
In field conditions, you can attach the fish to the board for ease of cleaning using an ordinary nail or awl.
To make it easier to clean fish of any kind, a stick or toothpick is inserted into its mouth so that the mouth of the fish is fully open.
To make cleaning quick, pre-stretch the fish “to a crunch”. To do this, secure it with a nail or clip in the tail area, and with your other hand, pull the carcass by the eyes. After a characteristic crunch, it will be much easier to clean the fish.
If there is nothing at hand that would help clean the fish, you can use a piece of tin, a small bar and a nail. Make holes in the tin with a nail so that all the notches look in the same direction. Nail the tin with the flat side to the bar and get a ready-made fish cleaning tool.
Fish can be cleaned with a piece of wood and a few beer caps. Nail the lids to the wood so that the sharp part is facing out. The fish is cleaned with such a tool quickly, easily and efficiently.

Our simple tips help you do complex things easily.

Cleaning fish is a rather unpleasant task, perhaps one of the most unpleasant processes in all cooking. However, do not give up on delicious fish dishes because of this. Clean fish easily, quickly and comfortably!

howtogetrid.com

Features and value of carp

Carp is an artificially bred variety of fish, the progenitor of which is carp. The word "carp" comes from the Greek language and is translated as a fruit. And for good reason: one female gives up to 1.5 million eggs. The Chinese were the first to breed domesticated carp. Historians believe that this fish began to be used as food as early as 1000 BC. e. Carp dishes became a favorite treat for Chinese emperors. Later, fish began to be bred in other countries of Asia and Europe.

Carp meat has great benefits for the body. It is very soft and sweet in taste. Fat content in muscle tissue fish is lower than in lean beef, which is important for people on a low-fat diet, as well as for children and athletes. Carp is a source of many important nutrients, proteins and omega-3 fatty acids. These unsaturated acids have a positive effect on cardiac function and help prevent cardiovascular diseases. Another feature of carp is its easy digestibility, due to the special structure of muscle fibers.

It takes three or four years to grow carp in artificial reservoirs. Three-year-old individuals reach a weight of about 2 kg, and four-year-olds weigh more than 2.5 kg.

Fresh carp are easier to clean. If you buy fish from a store or market, try to get them from the aquarium. You can kill her with a strong blow on the head to a point slightly above eye level, or simply by cutting off the head (if you are not going to bake the whole carp). There is a more humane way to kill fish - put it in the freezer for an hour, and it will fall asleep.
If you do not have the opportunity to buy live fish, it is better to choose fresh chilled fish, as frozen fish loses a large amount of minerals when thawed. When buying fresh fish, choose a copy with a head. Only in this way can you be sure of its freshness.
Before buying, look into the eyes of the fish: in fresh ones, they should be bright, slightly moist and bulging.
Be sure to inspect the gills and look for one with clear, bright red gills.
The body of a fresh fish is quite elastic, without white coating and dried crusts, and the tail should hang freely from the palm of your hand.
When buying frozen carp, pay attention to its glaze. If the fish has been properly frozen and stored under all necessary conditions, the glaze on it should be even, without the presence of cracks. If the carp was frozen using dry freezing, then the carcass should be smooth and firm, without the presence of ice.

It is best to thaw frozen fish in room temperature water. To reduce the loss of minerals during thawing, add table salt to the water (7-10 g per 1 liter of water).

Cleaning and cutting carp

Currently, a huge number of recipes for cooking carp have been invented. It is baked with a side dish of vegetables, potatoes and cereals, and also boiled with spices, stuffed different ways and simply fried in vegetable oil until crispy. On the shelves of shops you can find gutted frozen fish, fillets and ready-made semi-finished products. But you will get the most benefit from fresh or live carp. Do not be afraid of the upcoming hassle with cutting fish. Having mastered a few simple rules, you can easily turn a live carp into a culinary masterpiece.

Most often on sale there is an ordinary and mirror carp. The latter is a little easier to clean, due to the fact that its scales are large and not very tightly pressed against each other. With an ordinary carp, you will have to tinker longer.

What you need to work

For proper and easy cleaning and cutting of fish, you will need tools:

sharp knife for cutting fish;
fish scissors;
scraper for cleaning fish, you can use a spoon.

You also need to prepare:

a plastic bag or bucket for bones and other debris;
thick paper or newspaper;
work gloves.

Step-by-step instructions for cleaning, gutting, cutting carp

Cover the table with thick paper or newspaper. The paper will absorb the liquid that the fish will release during cutting, and prevent contamination of the workplace. Some housewives prefer to clean and butcher the fish right in the sink, after closing the drain with a special silicone or metal mesh.
Put on work gloves.
If you don't need the fins for cooking, cut them off with kitchen scissors. This will help to avoid painful punctures during work.
Press the fish in the area of the head or tail and with a scraper, and if it is not available with a knife or spoon, remove the scales first diagonally from the abdomen to the back, and only then from the tail to the head. The movements should be short, try to get under the scales, pushing them up. Don't worry if there are some scales left on the fish. Of course, it is tasteless, but it will not harm your health.
To remove the whole skin, from the side of the belly, cut it around the gills to the vertebral bone, break the bone upwards. Carefully remove the offal from the belly through the incision. Then draw the tip of the knife under the skin and begin to remove it with a stocking, separating the skin from the carcass with your fingers. When you get to the fins, cut them off from the inside with sharp scissors. Before reaching 1.5-2 cm to the caudal fin, cut the tail from the inside.
If skinning is not required, then make a shallow cut in the bottom of the carcass near the fin and cut it along the belly, stopping at the base of the head. Take out the insides, being careful not to crush the gallbladder, otherwise the meat of the fish will become bitter. If you failed to keep the gallbladder intact, and the bile spilled onto the carcass, immediately rub it from the inside with salt, and then rinse with cool water.
Remove the brown film inside the abdomen and, depending on the method of preparation of the future dish, remove or leave the head. This part of the carp is considered very tasty, so it should be left. If you leave the head, take out the gills and eyes.
If you want to get rid of numerous small bones, then remove the dorsal fin by pulling it from the tail to the head of the fish.
Rinse the fish thoroughly with cool running water. inside and outside.

How to skin a whole carp - gallery

How to fillet fish

When cutting carp into fillets, you need to separate the meat from its inedible parts: skin, spine, bones. To do this, it is not necessary to first gut and clean the fish from scales.

With a sharp fillet knife, make an incision along the gills of the fish to the spine, but do not cut through it.
Using the sharp end of a knife, make an incision from the side of the dorsal fin along the vertebrae up towards the head. Lead him until he connects with the original one.
Cut the carcass of the fish in the tail with a knife. Having reached the anus, pierce the carcass through and cut off the loin from the tail.
From the side of the dorsal fin, lift the fillet, and trying to bypass the ribs of the fish, separate the meat from them. Use a sharp fillet knife, and then the procedure will not seem tedious.
When you get to the belly, cut off upper part fillet. You should end up with two pieces of fish. One piece will be deboned, the other will still need to be processed. Flip the fish to the other side and remove the fillet from the second part of the fish.
Place the fillet on a cutting board, skin side down, press it down with your hand and make a slit in the middle down to the skin.
To remove the fillet, run a knife along the tail and separate it first from one half, and then from the other. The same will need to be done with the second half of the carcass.
All leftovers after carp filleting will come in handy when you cook fish soup. Do not forget to remove the giblets and wash the fish thoroughly under running water.

legkovmeste.ru

cleaning tool

Usually, to clean carp, a standard kitchen knife. For people who have not encountered this, at first glance, a difficult matter, it is better to use a blunt knife, spoon or fork. On sale there are also special tools - scrapers for cleaning fish. They are very convenient to use.

You can also use a special grater made by yourself for this work. Tin beer corks are nailed to a plank of wood. A good grater will come from a tin can with holes in the bottom pierced by a nail.

To free the carcass from scales, it is better to purchase a vegetable peeler with a longitudinal blade. It will make the task easier and make the job faster. For cleaning large and large individuals, it is better to use the bathroom. The vegetable peeler should be separate and used only for cleaning fish.

Preparation

First of all, the carp should be washed under cold water, wetting the scales abundantly. Then immediately get to work so that the scales do not have time to dry, otherwise the cleaning process will be slow and difficult.

Rigid scales, close to the skin, will not be easy to remove. It is better to put such a fish in boiling water for a few minutes, the main thing is not to overdo it.

In order not to get hurt during the procedure on hard fins, they must be removed by cutting with kitchen scissors.

Fresh fish must be kept in the refrigerator, not left on the table for too long. After buying it, you must immediately remove all the insides and gills, since this is where bacteria multiply. Before placing the carp in the refrigerator, it must be washed and wiped with a paper towel.

How to clean fish from scales?

The main question that arises in the process of processing carp is what to do so that the scales do not fly off into different sides?

Many people clean fish by putting it in a bowl of water. The scales remain in the water and do not need to be removed afterwards.
You can put the carcass in a tight plastic bag and clean it there. All waste will remain inside the bag.
The carcass can be cleaned on the table by nailing the tail to a wooden cutting board. The fish is pulled out, holding by the head, and calmly cleaned, starting from the tail, against the growth of scales. True, after this procedure, you will have to wash the table and kitchen utensils.

carp processing process

After the cleaning process, the fish must be gutted. The carcass is laid belly up and opened with a sharp knife from head to tail.
Then all the insides and the brown film inside the abdomen are removed. Depending on the type of future dish, the head of the fish is either removed completely, or the gills are pulled out of it.
The fish is thoroughly washed and the preparation of the dish is started.
After the end of the treatment process, the surface of the kitchen table and all kitchen utensils must be washed well with a cleaning agent, but it is better to scald.

Fresh carp are easier to clean. Having brought home a purchased or personally caught fish, you should not put it in the freezer, it is better to immediately do this not very pleasant, but necessary process.

mschistota.ru

Carp - a large and useful fish

Carp meat is very useful, as it contains a wide variety of minerals, vitamins and other substances necessary for the normal functioning of the human body. The presence of iodine in meat improves blood composition, normalizes metabolism, and prevents endocrine disorders. The high content of phosphorus has a beneficial effect on the functioning of brain cells. The meat of this fish contains antioxidants that preserve our youth and protect the cells of the body from the negative effects of free radicals. The use of carp is recommended for people who watch their weight - the meat is well absorbed by the body, gives saturation without extra calories.

We clean fresh carp at home

Carp, whether it is a large mirror carp, which is covered with a small amount of scales, or a regular freshwater carp, covered with small scales, requires cleaning before cooking. For this procedure, a regular knife is suitable. If you do not have the necessary skills, take a knife that is not very sharp. To avoid injury, you can use a spoon or fork. To clean the fish, metal scrapers are also used, which can be bought at the store or a vegetable peeler with a longitudinal blade - the work will go easier and faster with it.

How to Clean Live Fish Quickly and Cleanly

Before cleaning, the carp must be thoroughly rinsed with cold water to remove mucus and dirt. If the mucus is not washed off, the fish will slide on the surface - the cleaning process will be difficult.

If the carp will be cooked without the head, do not cut it off before cleaning, because it is convenient to hold the fish by it while doing the work.

You can also clean the carp on the kitchen table, but in this case the scales will fly around, then you will have to clean it for a long time. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to clean the carp from scales in water - directly in the sink or in a dish of a suitable size. You can put the carp in a tight bag and clean inside the bag, then the scales will remain there.

Before cleaning, we place the washed carp in a suitable container and pour boiling water on both sides - the scales will soften and it will be easy to clean.
We put the carp with its head towards us, hold it by the tail and, in the direction from tail to head, clean the fish on both sides with a knife or a scraper.
Wash the carp well.

How to clean the carcass from scales using the method of "removing chain mail"

For this cleaning method, you will need a sharp knife with a thin and long blade.

We introduce a knife from the side of the tail between the skin and scales.
We cut the scales, gradually moving the knife forward. It is advisable not to immediately cut through the scales - it stretches and the knife does not damage the skin.
We cut near the head the place of attachment of the scales to the bone - it turns out "chain mail".
We repeat the process on the other side.

How to cut a carp

After the carp is scaled, it must be properly butchered. The process includes the removal of entrails, gills, fins, and the preparation of fillets.

How to properly gut

We cut the cleaned and washed fish on the board. To avoid a persistent fishy smell, grease your hands and board with lemon juice.
With a sharp knife or scissors, we make a longitudinal incision from head to tail, opening the belly of the fish.
Carefully remove the insides so that the gallbladder does not burst - the bile should not get on the meat, otherwise it will be bitter
Wash the fish thoroughly.

How to cut this fish

If we cook the whole carp, remove the gills and eyes with a knife. Otherwise, cut off the head.
Cut off the side fins with culinary scissors.
To remove the upper fin, we make longitudinal cuts along the ridge on both sides.
Cut off the tail.
If necessary, cut the carcass into portions or cut into fillets.

Video: cutting carp into fillets without gutting

Before cutting into carp fillets, it is also necessary to wash and clean from scales, but you can not gut it.

Carp - tasty, moderately oily freshwater fish. You can cook various dishes from it, especially tasty is the fish pie. Due to the fact that the scales of this fish are very close to the body, not every housewife knows how to clean carp correctly. Because of this, the kitchen space often requires thorough cleaning after carp cutting. But knowing some secrets can avoid such consequences. It must be cleaned fresh and in three stages: preparation, removal of scales, removal of the insides.

Preparing fresh fish

Carp lives in fresh water bodies, most often this fish comes to the table from the store or as a fisherman's catch. If he was caught on bait, then the latter must be removed from the throat, this can be done by directing a jet of water there, which will wash away all the excess. And also from the head you need to remove the gills, in which bacteria begin to multiply first of all. All this is necessary if the preparation requires the presence of a head, otherwise it can simply be cut off later.

The carcass must be thoroughly washed from silt and a slimy coating that protects the scales. To do this, simply rinse the carp under running water. And also you should first cut off the fins so that they do not interfere when it comes time to clean the carp from scales. They can get hurt easily.

Removing scales

At this stage, it is most difficult to clean carp, so it is imperative to know how to properly clean the fish from scales. It is best to use a special fish cleaning tool for this. They have sharp notches that freely separate even the tightest scales. Such devices are sold in stores or can be made independently.

During cleaning, the scales scatter in different directions. To avoid this, housewives recommend cleaning in a basin of water so that the scales remain in it. Or place the fish inside the bag and put your hands there to clean inside, so all the cleaning will remain there.

Advice! To make it easier and effortless to separate the scales from the fish, it must be placed in boiling water. The time required to achieve the desired effect is no more than 1 minute, otherwise the carp will cook.

Scales from large fresh carps can be removed with a knife. To do this, put the fish on a cutting board and, pressing down the tail with sharp movements, clean the carcass. But it is in this case that the hostess gets a situation when, after she has cleaned the carp, she needs to generalize the kitchen. Therefore, the above measures should be taken.

We cut the carcass

After making sure that both sides of the carcass are thoroughly cleaned, you can start cutting it. To do this, you need to put it on a cutting board and cut the abdominal cavity. From there, the insides should be carefully removed so as not to damage the gallbladder, otherwise it will spoil the taste of the meat.

And it is also important to remove the dark film that covers the abdominal cavity from the inside. Cut off the head. After that, the fish should be thoroughly rinsed under running water. If the dish requires it, you can separate the fillet from the bone. To do this, you need to make incisions parallel to the spine, up to the ribs without damaging them. Then run a knife under the ribs to remove the pulp from them. After that, cut the fillet from the tail.

Now this process will not cause difficulties for anyone. And everyone can enjoy this delicious lake fish.

Carp, or carp, is a river fish that is famous for its abundance of dense but tasty meat and a special approach to bone processing. Before you clean carp, you need to familiarize yourself with a number of specific points. Despite the apparent density of scales and skin, these individuals need careful handling. If the fish was caught on your own, then if possible it should be cleaned right in nature. This will not affect the taste of the product in any way, but it will save you from a lot of trouble.

Features of compulsory training

There will not be many problems with carp cleaning if the process is properly organized and everything starts with preparation. First of all, you need to choose the right tool. The scales of the fish are large, they sit quite tightly. In order not to spend too much time removing them, it is better to arm yourself with a vegetable peeler or profile device. In extreme cases, you can get by with a fork, spoon, or the blunt side of a knife. A good result is the use of a homemade grater. We simply nail several metal threaded plugs to a wooden plank and put the workpiece on a comfortable handle.

Tip: If the fish is very large, its meat will be tough. To soften the product, after cleaning and gutting, it should be soaked for half an hour in very fresh and low-fat milk. Even in the case of small fish, this will not be superfluous.

In addition, the preparation process will include the following points:

All tools are transferred to the bathroom. This is the best place for cleaning carp, everything in the kitchen will be covered with scales.
The fish must be thoroughly moistened with cool water, it is very difficult to remove the dried scales.
We cut the fins in advance with scissors. They are quite sharp and in the process of processing they can get hurt.

If it is obvious that the scales are very close to the surface of the skin, the carp should be scalded with boiling water or dipped in hot water for 20-30 seconds. Just do not process the fish for too long, it will begin to cook.

We clean carp from scales

There are no specific recommendations for removing scales from carp surfaces. There are only a few wishes for the organization of the process, the observance of which will allow you to minimally stain everything around and reduce the time of the procedure:

The easiest way to clean the fish is to put it in a container of water. But you do not need to fill the bath for this, it is better to use a large basin. Large scales can clog the drain.

Tip: The gills and entrails of a carp are a breeding ground for bacteria. Fish should be cleaned immediately after purchase or catch, otherwise its taste will steadily deteriorate.

If the carcasses are small, they are cleaned inside a plastic bag. After manipulation, you will only need to discard the contents and rinse the blanks.
It is better to nail a large fish to a wooden base and pull strongly by the head. Then we clean, moving from the tail to the head.

During the manipulation, especially problematic areas are scalded with boiling water, and if the fish is slippery, they rub it with salt.

How to gut a carp?

After the fish managed to be cleaned of scales, it must be gutted. To do this, lay the carcass belly up and rip it open with a sharp knife, making a shallow cut from head to tail. We remove the insides, a dense brown film, cut out the gills or completely cut off the head. It remains only to thoroughly rinse the workpiece under cold running water and you can proceed to its heat treatment.

All the time before cooking, the fish should be kept in the refrigerator or cold water. Do not leave it at room temperature even for a few minutes, this can adversely affect the aroma and taste of the meat. Only thoroughly washed product, dried with paper towels, can be removed in the refrigerator.

Carp in our country is a fairly common fish, it has been tried and loved by many, because it is a tasty and versatile fish, from which you can cook a lot of wonderful dishes. We will tell you how to cook carp and the most delicious meals which can be made from it.

Carp has spread around the world from China, where it was bred artificially. That is, in nature, such a fish simply did not exist, and carp is an artificially bred breed of carp, brought from China to Europe in the 12th century. Today it lives in ponds and rivers around the world, and several breeds of it have been bred - scaly, mirror, framed, naked. It is not found only in water bodies. South America, the islands of Madagascar and Australia.

It is very easy to buy fresh carp, as it is sold live - it tolerates transportation well even over long distances. However, not every housewife takes full advantage of this availability of this fish, and the reason for this is the most famous drawback of this fish - the abundance of small bones.

However, because of this, you should not refuse dishes from this fish - there are many ways and tricks on how to butcher carp quickly and without any problems. In addition, it is not only publicly available, but also inexpensive, has delicious juicy meat, slightly fatty, so a variety of fish dishes are prepared from it.

How to cut a carp

Having bought live fish, do not refuse the offer to clean it, but it is better to gut it yourself at home:

First you need to remove the dorsal fin, making shallow cuts on both sides of it along its entire length, then you need to pull the fin, wrapping it with a towel so as not to cut yourself, in the direction from the tail to the head;
Next, from the head to the tail, make an incision on the abdomen, carefully remove the liver and gallbladder (if it is torn, rub the places where the bile got into with salt or cut them out);
Remove the rest of the insides, gills and eyes of the fish, the film covering the vertebral bone must be cut along;
Rinse it with cold running water and then cut the fish depending on the cooking method.

How to clean carp from scales

If it is not possible to clean the carp immediately in the store, then do not despair, you can easily do it yourself. Don't let the old-fashioned methods scare you when it was cleaned with an anti-scale knife and the whole kitchen was dirty. there is a simple proven way to clean carp from scales.

To do this, put the fish in a deep cup and pour boiling water for 30 seconds.
Pour out the hot water and put the fish under a stream of cold water so that it cools and does not boil from boiling water.
Further, the fish can not be taken out of a cup of cold water, and placing your hands in the water, run your fingers against the scales, it will easily separate.
If the fish is large and the scales are very thick, it is difficult to separate, then you can pour boiling water over again for 10-20 seconds, again under cold water. Now the scales will definitely move away with ease.
You can also help yourself to separate the scales with a knife, but do it carefully so as not to cut the already steamed skin of the fish.

And now for the most interesting:

How to butcher a carp and get rid of small bones?

In China, in the homeland of carp, its fillet, having been cleaned of large bones, is simply ground into minced meat, and during the cooking process, the ground small bones soften and partially dissolve.

If the fish is cooked whole, then even in this case it is possible to cope with small bones: for this, before frying, stewing or baking, as well as steaming, deep cuts are made on the carcass of the fish from the back along its entire length, and they are made crosswise - the more frequent cuts you make, the more small bones will be crushed and softened during the heat treatment.

In addition, this technique allows the fish meat to be better saturated with seasonings and spices and cook faster.

The next way to cut carp into fillets will also help get rid of small bones.

How to fillet carp

cut off the head
along the ridge, cut the fish in half lengthwise into two halves,
cut off the backbone, fin and small bones adjacent to it,
cut the costal bones neatly in one layer,
feel for a groove with sharp bones in the fillet with your fingers, step back 5 mm from them to the left and cut the fillet to the skin, holding the knife at an angle of 45 degrees,
do the same, stepping back from those bones 5mm to the right,
tear a strip of bones from the skin,
also remove small bones in the tail of the fish.

As you can see, if you are willing to take the time to carp carp and remove the bones, then it is quite possible to turn a fish from a bony into a tender fillet.

The best carp dishes

There are also special recipes for cooking carp, focused on the fact that this fish has a lot of small bones, one of the most famous among such carp dishes is Chinese.

Ingredients:

1 fish about 1.2 kg in weight,
corn starch,
vegetable oil,
handful of pine nuts,
fresh green peas

Sauce Ingredients:

6 tbsp. cold water and ketchup / tomato paste,
2-3 tbsp Sahara,
1-2 tbsp rice vinegar,
1 cm fresh ginger root
1 stalk leek white part,
1-2 tsp corn starch,
salt.

How to cook Chinese carp in sweet and sour sauce

Clean and gut the carp, separate the head, separate the fillet from the spine without removing the skin from it, also remove the costal bones, but do all this so that the fillet with the skin remains attached to the tail.

Lay one fillet skin side down on the work surface, make cuts across the fillet, holding the knife at an angle, cutting to the skin, but without damaging it - this is done in the direction from the head to the tail.

Bread the head and fillet in starch, fry them separately in deep fat, heated to 190 degrees, put on a paper towel and dry.

For the sauce, dilute the tomato paste with water, mix with vinegar, salt, sugar - it should turn out sweet and sour to taste.

Heat the vegetable oil, quickly fry the finely chopped leek and ginger, add the sauce, bring everything to a boil, add starch diluted in a ratio of 1 to 1 with water and thicken the sauce by pouring 2-3 tablespoons into it. oil left in the fryer.

Put the fish with the head on a plate, pour over the sauce, sprinkle with a pot and toasted nuts.

It also turns out very tasty carp with vegetables.

Ingredients:

1-2 fish
250 ml sour cream
100 g smoked bacon,
6-7 potato tubers,
3 bell peppers
2-3 tomatoes
3 bulbs
red ground pepper,
butter,
flour,
salt.

How to cook carp with vegetables in the oven

Cut the fillet with rib bones and skin into portions, stuff the fish with lard, grate with pepper and salt.

Cut the potatoes into slices, boil until half cooked, put in a frying pan, greased with oil, put fish pieces on top, then chopped tomatoes, onions and peppers.

Pour everything with melted butter and bake until tender in an oven preheated to 200-220 degrees, pouring sour cream mixed with flour at the end.

Carp with vegetables in the oven is ready. Bon appetit.

It is very simple and tasty to cook carp in wine.

Ingredients:

200 ml red wine
500 g potatoes
1-2 bulbs
1 fish
1 garlic clove
pepper,
greenery,
salt.

How to cook carp in wine

Clean the fish, rinse, cut into medium-sized pieces, grate with pepper and salt, roll in flour, fry on both sides until browned.

Finely chop the onion, chop the garlic, put to the fish, pour in a little water and wine, pepper, close the lid and simmer until cooked. Sprinkle with herbs when serving.

Royal fried carp

Ingredients:

700 g fish fillet,
3 glasses of milk
2 eggs,
4 tbsp vegetable oil,
2 tbsp. flour and breadcrumbs,
salt.

How to cook fried carp

Rinse the fillet, cut it into portions, pour milk over it and leave for half an hour.

Salt the flour, roll the fillet pieces in it, dip them immediately in a beaten egg, bread in breadcrumbs. Fry the fillet on both sides until browned for 15 minutes.

It would seem that such a name is Royal fried carp, but in fact such a simple way of cooking.

However, with regard to this fish, this often happens - after all, it is really a very tasty fish that is difficult to spoil. By learning to cope with the main problem of carp - an abundance of bones, you can cook the most mouth-watering dishes from this wonderful fish.

To prepare carp fillets with sauce or cutlets with fillets, the costal bones are cut off, but for cutlets, as well as rolls, you can prepare the carp differently - gutting without peeling the scales, cut off the fillets on both sides, removing the skin from the scales, and the remaining bones, heads, tails and fins are used to make broth (gills must be removed).
The fish is cooked as a whole, and cut into pieces of 100 g in weight. If pieces of carp weigh more than 500 g, they should be placed in cold water, and smaller ones should be placed in boiling water. It is believed that carp cooked in large pieces is tastier and juicier than anything else.
When cooking fish, the water should constantly boil slightly. It is boiled as a whole with a weight of 1-1.5 kg for 50-60 minutes, in pieces of 100-150 g until cooked, 15-20 minutes of cooking is enough.
Small carp should be cooked whole, large - in pieces, it is believed that it turns out tastier if you fry the fish with the skin on.
Tastier fried carp will turn out if, after cleaning and washing it, then cutting it, put it in 15-20 in salted and peppered milk, after that it is breaded in flour and fried - best of all in a cast-iron pan with plenty of oil until blush and, covering cover, bring to readiness.
Fatty carp can be stuffed with leaner pike or zander.
It goes very well with minced meat, best of all with pork, this combination is suitable for making cutlets and meatballs, the proportions of fish and minced meat are one to one.

Useful video: How to cook carp with herbs

Author of the article "How to cook carp"

Taste a freshly caught fish from a cauldron, appetizingly fragrant on the river bank, meet a beloved husband from a “quiet hunt”, quickly prepare a catch and treat the household - these moments could be even more pleasant if it were not for cleaning the fish from slippery scales. This adds a "fly in the ointment" to the enjoyment of dishes from river fish.

We will not give up positions, and will try to optimize the objective reality. After all, dishes based on fish are healthy and tasty.

The basic rule for processing fish: clean from tail to head, with small sharp movements. First we clean the sides, then the belly of the carcass.

Preparing for cleaning

Cutting board.
Kitchen, large scissors.
Paper towels.
Sharp knife. If you are not a master, take a regular knife.
Scraper for cleaning small scales. This device is purchased at retail outlets.
A grater will also come in handy.

A difficult task is to remove adhering debris from the fish. This is grass, grains of sand, mud and more, so we wash the catch in cold water. If the water is running - great! If you have to wash the fish in the basin, change the water several times.

ADVICE! Do not cut off the head while cleaning. It will come in handy when removing scales. Cut it off when you begin to gut the carcass.

The method of liberation from scales and giblets depends on the type of fish. For some varieties, you need ingenuity when cleaning at home.

Quick and easy cleaning of the most popular river fish

Perch river and sea

First, cut off the fins with scissors, which can damage the skin of the hands. It's painful and unsafe.

Then dip the carcass in cold water, and clean against scales with a fork or knife. Grooves are obtained that raise the scales in some areas. Thus, they are easier to clean.

ADVICE! You can easily, quickly and safely remove the scales from the perch along with the skin.

Video tips

catfish

Catfish has smooth skin, and there are no small bones in the carcass. Removing the mucus covering it is the main task in preparation. Coarse salt will come to the rescue.

Ingredients

Servings: 4

catfish 1 PC
coarse salt 1 tsp

per serving

Calories: 143 kcal

Proteins: 16.8 g

Fats: 8.5 g

Carbohydrates: 0 g

8 min. Video recipe Print

Roll the catfish in salt.

Let's leave it for a minute.

We wipe the carcass (putting on a rubber glove beforehand) with a sponge or a clean rag.

With a knife (blunt side) scrape the skin to a light shade.

We wash off everything that is rubbed off. Then repeat at least once.

On " summer fishing» Salt can be replaced with ash.

Zander

Pike perch has a slimy surface, so we also use coarse salt.

We get rid of mud and mucus, wipe the carcass.
Cut the fins with a knife, capturing some meat.
We use boiling water to remove scales. We clean from the tail to the head, against the growth of scales. A metal grater cleans fine scales well. We attach the grater to the stick and, holding the handle, process the fish.
Now we remove the offal. We cut the skin of pike perch between the gills and bring the knife down to the tail, while holding the carcass by the gills.
We take out all the insides, not forgetting to remove the films. You can not remove the skin from pike perch.

ADVICE! Always clean the membranes inside any fish to avoid bitterness and an unpleasant taste in the finished dish.

Video guide

Tench

Tench has small, dense scales and mucus. To begin with, it washes away the mucus, then we dip it in boiling water and sharply shift it into cold water. Let's start cleaning the scales and entrails.

carp

Carp is the cleanest fish. We wash it in water, clean the scales with a knife. Gutted.

silver carp

Silver carp lends itself well to cleaning with a special tool (buy in a store or process with a grater). Keep the fish in the water if you do not want to collect the scales scattered around the house.

Cleaned and washed with cold water. It's time to learn about some features when cleaning the insides.

CAREFULLY! There is a lot of bile in silver carp, so when cleaning, try to take out the offal carefully! If you damage the place of accumulation of fluid secreted by the liver, you can say goodbye to the plans for the "fish day" - the pulp will become bitter in taste.

Be sure to cut the gill plates from the head. From a semi-finished product (head of a silver carp), you can cook an ear or fry it.

Carp

Carp has large and dense scales, it is better to clean it in a bowl of cold water, moving against the growth of the scales. Places that are difficult to reach for processing can be doused with boiling water. Then the scales will soften and it will become easier to move away.

Video instruction

For processing all types of fish, it is desirable to have a special cutting board. To prevent the fishy smell from being absorbed into the canvas, put on a plastic bag or lay paper on it.
Handling should take place as soon as possible after the catch (or purchase). Pull out the fish giblets on the same day.
If the fish is dry, soak it for a few minutes in cool water. Then start processing.
Rinse fish thoroughly after handling. This will allow you to notice the flaws of cleaning - a small scale that has not come off in places, a film inside the abdomen.
When the fish is intended for smoking and drying, it is better to leave the scales.
Does the fish give off the aroma of river mud? Soak after cleaning for an hour in salt water, the problem will disappear.
You can use the freezer. Place the carcass for a day. Take it out, wait for the moment when the scales thaw, and inside the pulp is still frozen. You can clean it, the scales will come off perfectly.

So it's time to look in your notes for recipes for fish dishes. Now you will deal with any "river guest" caught in the net or on the hook, and then straight to the kitchen.