Pan-Fried Whiting Cutlets

Prepare the necessary ingredients for cooking pollock cutlets in a pan. I prefer to make homemade fish mince because store-bought mince is very liquid after defrosting and it's unclear what it's made of. Choose quality fish, especially if you can only buy frozen pollock. When buying pollock, pay attention to its appearance. The carcass should be attractive, light, without yellow spots, mechanical damage, or signs of spoilage. There should be no snow or ice on the fish, only a thin layer of ice. The aroma should be pleasant, slightly sweet. If possible, it's best to buy chilled carcasses. When buying carcasses with heads, pay attention to the eyes - they should be transparent, not cloudy. If you have the opportunity to buy quality pollock mince, it will greatly simplify the process of preparing the cutlets. You can choose spices for seasoning the mince to your taste. Complex spices for fish work great. You can use aromatic pepper, lemon pepper, dried herbs. Spicy herbs with a hint of bitterness such as oregano, tarragon, and marjoram also pair well with fish. Rosemary, basil, and thyme also harmonize well with fish. Use good-quality butter with a fat content of at least 82% and a natural composition. Adjust the amount of garlic according to your taste. It's best to use white bread that is two to three days old, but you can also use stale bread or a bun. In the mince, you can replace the bread with wheat or rye flour, grated fresh potato (zucchini, carrot, cabbage), soaked oats in milk, or starch. Take the pollock out of the freezer in advance. Move it to the refrigerator compartment and thaw completely.

Cut the bread into pieces. Transfer to a deep bowl. Pour room temperature milk over it. Let it soak for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure all the pieces are soaked with milk. You can use water instead of milk.

Cut the butter into small pieces, about 5 grams each. We will need as many pieces as there will be cutlets. From the specified amount of ingredients, I usually get about 10-12 pieces. Put them in the freezer.

Heat 20 ml of vegetable oil in a pan. Add diced onion. After 2-3 minutes, add minced garlic. Cook for about a minute over low heat, stirring.

Grate the peeled and rinsed carrot finely. Add the carrot shavings to the onion. Simmer over low heat, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables become soft. Let the fried vegetables cool to room temperature.

I have cleaned and headless mackerel carcasses. Trim all fins. Remove the black film inside. Rinse well and pat dry with a paper towel.

Separate the fillets from the backbone. I do this with a knife.

Remove the skin from each fillet.

Dice the fillets. If the fillets contain a lot of moisture, it is desirable to remove any excess liquid from the meat. The weight of the finished fillets is 650 g.

Pass the fish fillets through a meat grinder 2-3 times, using a fine grate, to grind any remaining small bones.

Grind the swelled bread crumbs in a meat grinder. Add to the fish mixture. I didn't squeeze the milk out of the bread.

Add the cooled fried vegetables to the fish mixture. Mix well with a spoon.

Add semolina. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Mix. At this step, I do it by hand. And beat it well, lifting the mixture with my hand and throwing it back into the bowl with a little effort. Repeat 10-15 times. This action will make the mixture denser.

The weight of the prepared mixture is about 960 g. I divided the whole mixture into 10 parts. Each piece of the mixture is approximately 90-100 g. So I will get 10 cutlets. Moisten your hands slightly with water. Shape it into a ball. Flatten it into a pancake shape. Add a piece of butter in the center.

Connect the sides of the pancake and pinch, leaving the filling inside. Shape the cutlet base into the desired shape. I wet my hands with water and toss the base several times from one palm to the other. It becomes oval and smooth.

Transfer the bread crumbs for breading to a deep convenient bowl. Dip the blanks and bread them on all sides. Repeat these steps with the remaining fish mince.

Advice. At this step, you can freeze the pollock patties and use them when needed. Cover the cutting board with food wrap. Place the blanks at a small distance from each other. Cover with food wrap on top and put in the freezer for 3-4 hours at a temperature of -18 degrees on a flat surface.

Pack the frozen patties into containers or bags and be sure to label them (name and date).

To defrost, take the patties out on a flat plate or cutting board covered with food wrap and put them in the refrigerator.

To get a crispy crust, sprinkle the thawed patties with bread crumbs.

You can place the frozen patties on a frying pan with vegetable oil and fry over very low heat under a lid or use a steamer. Frozen patties can be stored in the freezer for no more than 2 months at a temperature of -18 degrees.

Put the frying pan on the fire and heat well with vegetable oil. I line the frying pan with parchment paper. In this case, the patties are not fried too much and the cookware lasts longer. But this is optional.

Place the pollock patties in the pan. Fry over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes on one side.

Turn over. Continue frying for the same amount of time.

My patties are well cooked, so I don't take any additional steps. But I know that many housewives often worry that the patties (any kind) will remain raw inside.

To calm down, you can transfer them to a heat-resistant dish and put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees. Or add 5-6 tablespoons of water to the pan with the patties, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat.

Put the patties on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. You can serve them separately with sweet and sour sauce, fresh vegetables, vegetable garnish, or porridge.

The fried hake cutlets are ready. Enjoy your meal!