West Coast cooks have found a new twist on this old stand-by—salmon!
Gefilte fish, parve balls of ground up fish, which do not require deboning and thus can be eaten on the Sabbath, are traditionally made with a mixture of pike and whitefish. In many Jewish families, gefilte fish recipes date back to Europe and the shtetl.
Gefilte fish was ‘invented’, if you will, to stretch the amount of fish the family could afford to buy. By grinding it up and adding fillers such as onion, matzo meal and eggs the fish could be ‘stretched’ to feed more than just a few people.
Cooks living on the West Coast have reinvented the traditional recipe with salmon, a West Coast staple. My family lives all over the United States. The West Coast side of the family, me in particular, is in charge of the Passover dinners and I make salmon gefllte fish.
“I like to keep Passover meals traditional, but, after trying my first batch of gefilte fish, I couldn’t get over the muddy taste.”
That is when I decided to add a little West Coast verve to the dish. Building on recipes for salmon mousse, I incorporated poached salmon into my gefilte fish recipe.
Tips: Ground fish has the best texture for gefilte fish but you can process the fish fillets in a food processor, if necessary. A good fish monger will fillet and grind your fish for you.
Salmon Gefilte Fish
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 carrot roughly chopped
- ½ onion roughly chopped
- 1 celery stalk roughly chopped
- ½ bunch parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups water
- 6 ounces pike
- 6 ounces white fish
- 12 ounces salmon
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley stemmed
- ⅓ cup fresh dill stemmed
- ½ cup onion about 1 medium onion
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon matzo meal
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fillet and debone all fish, reserving heads and bones. Grind fillets (see tips).
- In a large stock pot, combine all stock ingredients along with reserved fish heads and bones. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for several hours, until reduced by one third. Strain and store for later use.
- Roughly chop dill and parsley.
- Place onion in the food processor and process until liquid in consistency. Add the herbs; pulse to combine.
- In a large bowl, mix together the 3 types of fish. Add herb and onion mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and water; add to fish mixture.
- Sprinkle in matzo meal and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring strained stock back to a simmer.
- With a wet hand, create small balls from the fish mixture. Drop them into stock. Wait for the balls to float to the surface and cook for 3 minutes (time recommended for a 1½-ounce ball).
- Taste and season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Serve with herb sauce and/or horseradish.
- Contributed by: Jenn Felmley
24 ounces of fish and you can decide how many ounces are In each fish ball. Make them big or make them small! Enjoy!
I also want to know how many fish balls this makes.
How many fish balls does this recipe make? I couldn’t find this information on the recipe page.
to get a smooth consistency, I use my food processor–try it!
Hello,
I hope you can help me with my dillema. I have a generations old recipe for gefilte fish that is quite different from the rest. First and foremost it is not sweet (I cannot stand sweet fish, sorry), it is quite peppery, and uses sauteed onions instead of raw. I grew up eating this fish, as did my mother, grandmother, etc. Now the dillema is, I use ground fish (mostly carp and pike), and the balls/patties, come out kind of coarse, not smooth like the frozen loaves. I happen to love the coarser texture, but my kids preffer the smoother one. I usualy buy the fish and have the fish monger grind it for me. I cook the fish patties in the broth (bones, onions, water). How do I achieve smooth consistency? Also, what is the best way to freeze gefilte fish, before cooking, after cooking, in broth or out?
Please help.
Thank you
I put the fish into my kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment and let it aerate for about 20-30 minutes. then, on low, i add the other ingredients. i use a traditional recipe too. i use raw onions, matzo meal and eggs. lots of eggs, just enough matzo meal to keep it together. then i make the balls using spoons dipped in ice water and put it into the broth. it’s always smooth and delicious. i’ve been making it this way for 42 years. everyone loves. it. i am going to try the salmon version for passover this year, i think. but with my ingredients. by the way, no sugar for me too.