Canned fish cutlets are very tasty, and cooking them is simple. At the same time, the low cost of the dish cannot but rejoice. It is not surprising that the recipes of such fish cakes are very popular.
There are several cooking options. But all recipes include only affordable products from an inexpensive price category. Our article will describe in detail the process of preparing this dish.
A delicious dish in the daily menu
This dish belongs to everyday cuisine. Delicious canned fish cakes will be a great addition to breakfast, lunch or dinner. They go well with pasta, vegetable and cereal side dishes.
This dish is usually honored with many flattering reviews. Fish cakes can become a real help for the student, because they help to solve two important problems at once: save and get enough. Experienced housewives praise the recipe for the fact that it does not require significant labor and time, while at the same time diversifying the family menu. Such cutlets are liked even by those who do not really like other fish dishes, because they have neither hard bones, nor an unpleasant smell of mud, which freshwater fish sometimes have.
Cutlets made from canned fish cannot be called a diet dish. But its calorie content is still relatively low - an average of 150 kcal per 100 grams of the finished product.
You should not store this dish for a long time. If there is such a need, cutlets must be folded into a container with a lid and sent to the middle shelf of the refrigerator. The dish is served both hot and cold. Judging by the reviews, both options have fans.
From the number of ingredients indicated in our article, an average of 15 cutlets is obtained. If necessary, proportionally increase the volume of the components.
Fish selection
What to choose canned food for fish cakes? Sardine, sardinella, mackerel, saury, pink salmon or tuna are best. Give preference to fish in oil or with the addition of oil. Options with tomato for this dish will not work, as well as canned sprats.
Product proportions
The most widely used recipe for cutlets from canned fish with rice. It is he who is considered the original. For such a dish you will need:
- canned fish - 1 can;
- rice - 1 cup;
- onion - 1 pc. (medium size);
- breadcrumbs or flour - a handful;
- spices and salt optional;
- frying oil.
If you want to cook cutlets of canned fish with potatoes, replace a glass of cereal with three tubers.
Additional ingredients for a variety of flavors
The usual recipe for canned fish cutlets with rice can easily be supplemented with a variety of products. Do not be afraid to improvise, add different ingredients to the recipe that go well with fish. It can be young greens, grated boiled carrots, cheese. It’s great to diversify the recipe if you have a couple of crab sticks left from cooking the salad: crumble them smaller and add them to the minced fish. And to add usefulness, you can finely chop a bunch of young spinach, which will not only enrich the composition with vitamins, but also give the finished meal a completely unusual greenish tint.
A recipe for canned fish cutlets with semolina is very popular. Instead of rice, a glass of semolina is needed for him. Since the semolina absorbs moisture well, the stuffing may turn out to be too thick. To avoid this, the housewives add mayonnaise or sour cream (1-2 tbsp. L. Each), getting a consistency more convenient for the formation of cutlets.
By the way, instead of rice, you can add other cereals: wheat, millet. This trick can come in handy if you firmly decided to cook this dish, bought a can of canned food, and there was no rice or semolina at home. Groats will need the same amount - exactly a glass.
Minced meat
Boil the rice in slightly salted water until tender. Try to evaporate all the liquid. If this does not work out, it is better to preload the rice on a sieve so that the excess glass water. Do not add rice broth to the forcemeat, otherwise it will turn out to be too liquid.
While the rice is cooling, open the canned food, drain the liquid and transfer the fish to a bowl or to a flat plate. Mash the flesh thoroughly with a fork, trying to remove all large bones and stiff fins. The oil in which the fish was stored in a jar should not be added to the forcemeat for future cutlets, moisture will be enough. But you don’t need to throw it away, it can still be useful to us for preparing the sauce.
Chop the onion as small as possible or grate. Add to the minced meat.
Combining fish, onion and rice, try minced meat, adjust the salt, add a pinch of allspice if desired.
If you cook canned fish with potatoes, you can use both raw and pre-boiled tubers in their uniforms. Before laying in minced meat, potatoes must be grated.
Semolina does not need to be pre-processed in any way. Just pour a glass of raw cereal into the minced meat, mix and let stand for a while so that the semolina swells. By the way, although it takes as much time to swell as boiling rice, it can be attributed to passive cooking, because your presence is not necessary. Having made minced meat with semolina, you can take the time to other things (but boiling rice must be strictly monitored so that it does not burn). Therefore, the complexity of the semolina variant of the recipe can be called reduced.
Cutlet formation
Stuffing should not be too liquid (which is why we drained the whole aromatic sauce from canned food and did not add an egg). While kneading, make sure that he keeps his shape well. To do this, try forming a cutlet with a tablespoon. It should not creep and lose shape.
But a lot depends on the other ingredients. Indeed, at different times of the year, onions have a different degree of juiciness, and fish can be dry or rather oily.
If the stuffing turned out to be too liquid, you can correct the situation with flour. Add it quite a bit, literally on a teaspoon, each time carefully mixing the mixture and evaluating the result.
In the event that you have turned out to be too dry a mass that does not mold, but crumbles into pieces, you can fix this with a raw egg yolk, a spoon of sour cream or mayonnaise.
There are various ways in which you can form neat and unbreakable cutlets. But some of them receive the most flattering reviews from experienced housewives. Let's look at them:
- A raw egg is required to form the items. Break it into a shallow bowl, mix thoroughly with a fork. Gather a lump of minced meat with a tablespoon, both hands moisten well with an egg. Sculpt the patty by spreading the egg evenly over the surface. Spread it in the heated oil immediately and start sculpting the next one.
- You can use a more familiar means - breadcrumbs, flour or semolina. Pour a thin layer of breading onto a flat plate and roll each cutlet in it. Try to crush flour or semolina well with your hands, as if driving it in, so that the patties do not crumble during frying.
- If you get dense mincemeat that molds well, you can form cutlets with greased hands with vegetable oil. But for this method, only a non-stick pan is suitable, on a regular one they can burn.
Roasting
Before you start frying cutlets from canned fish and rice, warm the oil well. But the process itself is desirable to produce on medium heat so that too high a temperature does not contribute to the fact that the cutlets will burn up and lose shape when turned over.
Do not rush with turning over. Allow one side to fry well until golden. If you start turning the cutlets too early, they can crumble and it will be very difficult to correct the situation. Use a flat spatula, it is most convenient to carefully lift the patty and put it in the pan with the back side.
To remove excess fat, lay the finished product on a double folded paper towel.
Sauce Option
Canned fish cutlets with crispy golden crust are delicious and tasty. But not everyone likes this option.
You can put them out before serving in the sauce, which will also be a great addition to any side dish.
Prepare the carrots and onions: peel, wash, finely chop. Heat oil and fry vegetables over low heat.
For the sauce, dissolve 2 tablespoons of tomato paste in a glass of broth or water. If you want a thicker consistency, add a tablespoon of flour to the sauce. Pour the liquid into the pan with the vegetables fried until golden brown, reduce the heat and wait for the boil, not forgetting to stir.
Place the patties, previously fried, carefully in a saucepan or a small saucepan, pour the sauce and simmer over low heat. Do not forget about your favorite seasonings! For this dish, dried dill greens, allspice, zira, asafoetida, marjoram, paprika are suitable. By the way, the oil drained from the fish before cooking the cutlets can also be added to the sauce. It will make the aroma even more saturated.
It goes well with such cutlets and gravy from cream or sour cream. The milk product is diluted with water to the desired consistency and is also used to extinguish cutlets.
It’s not necessary to stew cutlets for too long, because they are already completely ready for use. Excessive heat treatment can damage them. It is enough just to steam them lightly so that they become more tender.
Serving to the table
Canned fish cutlets harmonize very well with mashed potatoes, pasta side dishes, cereals and grilled vegetables. You can serve them as an independent dish for salads from seasonal vegetables, pickles, homemade sauerkraut, pickled mushrooms. Do not forget to serve young greens and delicious bread to the table.