Recipes for smoking eel and its beneficial properties. Instructions for smoking eel

Smoked eel - general cooking principles

Eel can be either sea or river. Both types have a pleasant taste and are widely consumed. Salads, appetizers and other dishes are prepared from smoked fish. You can also find fresh, frozen and chilled eel in stores. For home smoking, it is better not to use a product that has been frozen.

Before smoking, it is important to remove all mucus from the surface of the eel. It spoils not only the taste, but also the appearance, and during the cooking process it can give the product a gray color and an unsightly appearance. Mucus can be removed with a knife, newspaper, coarse sand or salt.

Like any other product, eel needs to be marinated before cooking. Spices and salt are used for this. It is advisable to salt the fish well so that there is no ichor left inside.

Eel can be smoked either cold or hot. At home, you can use both conventional and electric units. The fish are hung on hooks or laid out on racks. Cooking time depends on the temperature and size of the fish. You can cook whole carcasses, but at home it is better to cook them in small pieces.

Recipe 1: Smoked eel at home

Eel has fairly soft meat, which allows smoke to pass through well and absorbs odors. The main difficulty you may encounter is the ichor along the ridge. Therefore, it is not recommended to smoke large fish whole.

Required Ingredients

Bay leaf;

Peppercorns.

You will also need a smokehouse, chips or sawdust from fruit wood, alder or oak.

Cooking method

1. Prepare a brine from water, salt, spices. For 1 liter of liquid there are 100 grams. salt. Bring to a boil, cool.

2. Prepare the eel. We clean the mucus from the surface with a knife, then sprinkle it thickly with salt. After a few minutes, we remove the remaining mucus together with it and thoroughly clean the gills. We rip open the belly and remove the entrails. If necessary, cut the carcass into several parts.

3. Soak the eel in brine and leave for at least 5 hours. It is better to leave the fish for two days so that it marinates well. In this case, even if it is not smoked, it will still be ready.

4. Rinse the fish with running water. We hang the whole carcass on a hook, and lay out the pieces on the wire rack. Let the eel dry thoroughly.

5. Fuel the smokehouse, lay out the wood chips. If they are too dry, they need to be slightly moistened to prevent fire.

6. Place the fish in the smokehouse and cook until done. It is determined by the appearance of the carcass. Transverse folds should appear on the skin. If the fish is whole, the belly will open.

Recipe 2: Smoked eel in a barrel

An option for preparing smoked eel for those who do not have a special smokehouse. You will need a large barrel, a small electric stove, and also a frying pan in which you will need to put sawdust.

Required Ingredients

Small acne;

Tarragon;

For smoking you will need sawdust, juniper berries, and a piece of sugar. For hanging eels, pieces of wire.

Cooking method

1. Clean the eel of mucus, sprinkle it thickly with salt mixed with pepper and tarragon. Place a bay leaf in the cleaned belly. Leave the fish to salt for at least 10 hours.

2. Place the stove in the barrel and turn it on to medium temperature. Place a frying pan on it with sawdust, hop cones, and put a piece of sugar on top.

3. Wash the eels with running water.

4. We make hooks from wire, put on the fish, hang it in the air and dry it.

5. We hang the eels in the barrel, closer to the walls. Cover with a lid. Let it cook for 4-5 hours, then open it, take out one eel and take a sample. If necessary, the process can be extended.

Recipe 3: Smoked eel with rice

One of the simplest smoked eel dishes that can be prepared at home. You can use regular white rice, but if you want to add something unusual and healthy to the dish, then the unrefined brown version is suitable.

Required Ingredients

0.4 kg eel;

0.3 kg rice;

3 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce;

Black pepper, spices, herbs.

Cooking method

1. Wash the rice in several waters, boil until tender in plenty of water. Then place the rice in a colander and let the water drain.

2. Mix soy sauce with any spices to taste, add black pepper. Mix well.

3. Add sauce to rice and stir. Place in a heap on a large, flat dish.

4. Cut the eel into thin slices and place on top of the rice. Sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Recipe 4: Smoked eel with egg and bell pepper

Appetizer salad with smoked eel, which has a divine aroma and taste. It doesn’t take much time and looks elegant. Perfect for the holiday table.

Required Ingredients

0.1 kg eel;

1 PC. bell pepper;

Lettuce leaves;

20 ml each of soy sauce and olive oil.

Cooking method

1. Boil the eggs hard, cool and cut into cubes.

2. Place the lettuce leaves on a plate, after washing and drying.

3. Place chopped eggs on top of the salad and top with peeled and finely chopped peppers.

4. Mix soy sauce with vegetable oil, pour eggs and pepper in a thin stream.

5. Cut the eel into strips and place on top of the pepper.

Recipe 5: Smoked eel with sauce

To prepare this smoked eel dish you will need demi-glace fish sauce. It is better to buy it in the store, as it is quite difficult to prepare it yourself.

Required Ingredients

0.4 kg eel;

Demi-glass 0.1 kg;

3 tbsp. spoons of cream;

0.5 tsp. turmeric;

Lemon and herbs for decoration.

Cooking method

1. Heat the demi-glace sauce in a small saucepan, add cream and turmeric to it. It is important not to bring the mixture to a boil.

2. Cut the smoked eel into beautiful, long strips, dip it into the hot sauce and keep until it cools completely.

3. Place the appetizer on a plate, decorate with sprigs of herbs and lemon slices.

Recipe 6: Smoked eel in tartlets

A spectacular appetizer that will replace the classic tartlets with red and black caviar, making them more impressive and tasty. It is not recommended to fill the containers in advance; it is better just before serving.

Required Ingredients

0.15 kg eel;

0.1 kg cream cheese;

Dill greens;

50 gr. any caviar;

1 spoon of mayonnaise.

Cooking method

1. Remove skin from smoked eel, then cut into small cubes.

2. Wash the dill, dry it, chop it finely and mix with the fish.

3. Add cream cheese and mayonnaise to the mixture. Mix everything well.

4. Fill the tartlets with smoked eel and cheese. We decorate the top with a small amount of red or black caviar, you can put a sprig of greenery.

Recipe 7: Smoked eel in rolls

Perhaps the most popular use of smoked eel is rolls. This dish has long ceased to be something unusual and many housewives enjoy preparing it at home. The recipe contains the amount of ingredients calculated for 1 sheet of nori.

Required Ingredients

Nori sheet 1 pc.;

Cooked rice 150 gr.;

Smoked eel 150 gr.;

Wasabi;

Sesame seeds;

1 fresh cucumber.

If desired, you can replace the cucumber with avocado in these rolls.

Cooking method

1. Place a noria sheet on a bamboo mat. The rough side should be on top.

2. Spread a thin layer of boiled rice over the entire surface, stepping back 1.5 cm from the far edge. It is more convenient to do this with your hands dipped in cold water.

3. Spread a thin layer of wasabi on top of the rice. The amount depends on taste, if you don’t like it spicy, you can skip this step or apply a thin strip on one side.

4. Cut the eel and cucumber into cubes. Lay out in a strip, sprinkle with sesame seeds, roll up. A strip of noria left without filling must be greased with water so that it sticks to the roll and the roll holds its shape.

Recipe 8: Salad with smoked eel and sun-dried tomatoes

An interesting salad that can be prepared either in a large dish or in portions. Dressed with soy sauce with the addition of honey and aromatic spices.

Required Ingredients

0.2 kg eel;

0.2 kg sun-dried tomatoes;

0.1 kg bell pepper;

1 red onion;

0.1 kg canned green peas.

For the sauce:

1 tsp. honey;

4 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce;

0.5 tsp. ready mustard;

Juice of ½ lemon;

Spice mixture for fish.

Preparation

1. Cut the smoked eel and tomatoes into strips and place in a salad bowl.

2. Peel the onion and cut into thin, transparent half rings. Pour some water, add vinegar and marinate.

3. Peel the bell pepper, cut it into strips and send it to the tomatoes and fish. Squeeze the onion from the marinade and also put it in a salad bowl, add green peas.

4. Mix soy sauce with honey, lemon juice and mustard. Add fish spices and mix thoroughly.

5. Season the chopped salad products with sauce, mix gently, if desired, you can add a little more salt or lemon juice.

Recipe 9: Salad with smoked eel and avocado

Nutritious and satisfying smoked eel salad with avocado. It is important that the exotic fruit is ripe enough, in which case the dish will acquire an oily taste, without heavy and harmful dressings.

Required Ingredients

1 avocado;

2 chicken eggs or 5 quail eggs;

0.2 kg smoked eel;

Green lettuce leaves;

1 cucumber;

1 tomato;

Vegetable oil, salt.

Preparation

1. Boil the eggs, cool, and peel them. Cut in half, then each half into 4 neat slices, set aside.

2. Tear the lettuce leaves into pieces, put them in a salad bowl, add the eel cut into strips, slices of fresh cucumber and tomato.

3. Remove the pit from the avocado, cut into small pieces and add to the salad, add salt and a little vegetable oil, mix everything well for a minute.

4. Place the salad on a flat dish and place slices of boiled egg around it.

Recipe 10: Smoked eel in the ear

The first dish with smoked eel, according to experts, outshines all other recipes. The fish soup has an incredible aroma, but it cooks very quickly. In this recipe, all vegetables are placed raw, but if desired, you can fry onions and carrots.

Required Ingredients

0.3 kg eel;

2 potatoes;

1 carrot;

1 onion;

Greens, salt, bay leaf;

A handful of millet.

Cooking method

1. Place a saucepan with 1.5 liters of water on the stove and bring to a boil.

2. Peel the vegetables, cut the potatoes into strips, grate the carrots, and dice the onion.

3. Salt the water in the pan, add the onions and carrots, and bring to a boil.

4. Add washed millet.

5. Place the potatoes into the boiling fish soup. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Cut the eel into pieces, add it to the soup, and cook over low heat. Bring until cooked, at the end add bay leaf and herbs, add more salt if necessary.

Smoked eel - tricks and useful tips

The skin of smoked eel contains the bulk of the fat, so people watching their weight should remove it when preparing dishes.

If you have difficulty cleaning the fish from mucus or simply don’t have time, then you need to cover it with salt and rub it after a while. It is better to do this with gloves. The mucus will come off the carcass well, all that remains is to rinse it with running water.

Useful substances are found in both sea and river fish. Small and large carcasses are rich in them. The taste qualities of adult and young eels are also not very different. Therefore, you should not fall for the tricks of sellers, buy the fish that you like.

Salads with smoked eel are not very fond of fatty and mayonnaise sauces; it is better to give preference to lighter dressings. But such dishes love spices, in any quantity, including spicy and Korean ones.

Eel is a freshwater fish. It is valued for its taste and rich composition of nutrients. It has a unique taste and is widely used in cooking all over the world. Smoked eel is used to prepare especially savory dishes. It is added to delicious salads, sushi and rolls are prepared. Smoking eel at home is a completely feasible process. The main thing is to have a hot or cold smoker, desire and a little time.

Calorie content, composition of smoked eel

In addition to its excellent taste, fish has a very healthy composition. Rich in iodine, phosphorus, iron, potassium, as well as high-quality protein and fat. Vitamins E, A, B, D, contained in large quantities, prevent the development of many diseases, which include cancer.

Including such a product in the diet regulates the functioning of the thyroid gland, improves vision, and slows down the aging process of the body. Due to its qualities, the consumption of smoked eel is recommended to improve men's health. Fish is quite high in calories, so it is better to eat it in small portions.

100 g of smoked product contains:

  • Protein – 17.9 g;
  • Fat – 28.6 g;
  • Carbohydrates – 0.0 g;
  • Calorie content is 326 kcal.

Hot smoked eel

To prepare hot smoked eel, it is better to choose fresh, not frozen fish. Then the meat will be tastier and more aromatic. The smokehouse can be any kind - purchased or made with your own hands. You also need to stock up on firewood and wood chips. Oak or beech wood is perfect.

The carcass itself must be well-fed, at least 4 cm in diameter. If the fish is alive, a saline solution will help kill it quickly. To do this, you need to make a strong saline solution and place live eels in it. After a while they will die, then you can clean them.

There is a lot of mucus on the skin of the fish. You can remove it with a steel brush or coarse salt. It is necessary to thoroughly rub the carcasses with salt, then rinse under running water. If the mucus is poorly removed, the product will be spoiled.

Also, the fish need to be gutted, but there is no need to touch the head. Make an incision from the lower abdomen to the jaws and remove all the insides, especially the kidneys. Rinse the carcasses thoroughly again. Next you need to prepare the brine: mix 5 liters of water with 1 kilogram of salt. The carcasses will not be salted for long, and it is enough to keep them in the brine for 20 minutes, then rinse with water.

Afterwards, they need to be blotted with a towel, placed on a skewer or iron rod, and dried in a draft for about an hour. Insert wooden spacers inside the abdomen. When smoking, this will allow the smoke to penetrate evenly deeper and prevent the edges from drying out.

While the fish is drying, you can prepare for smoking. Make a fire, let the wood burn out so that the heat is not strong. Pour 2-3 handfuls of wood chips into the smoker, cover it with foil or place a tray. Load the eels into the smokehouse, close the lid, and put on fire. The fish should dry over low heat for about 2 hours.

After 2 hours, the temperature inside the smokehouse will rise to 50 degrees, so the fish should cook for another 30 minutes. Then you need to bring the temperature to 75⁰ and leave the carcasses for another hour. Afterwards, remove the smokehouse from the fire and let it cool along with the fish. The finished eels should be dark golden in color. As soon as they cool down, you can immediately treat yourself to a delicious dish.

This product can be stored for no more than 3 days, at a temperature from 0 to +2⁰. You can extend the shelf life by using vacuum packaging or deep freezing (-30⁰). This way the fish will be edible for up to 30 days.

The cold smoking process is quite lengthy, but it is worth it. In this way, you can save a large amount of caught fish, and the taste and aroma of the dish will be excellent.

A prerequisite for cold smoking is a special smokehouse. At home, any small outbuildings in which you can build a fire are suitable: a barn, a storage room. In camping conditions, you will need a fire pit and a closed canopy over it: a tent, a marquee, a hut. You will need a lot of firewood, so supplies should be made in advance.

You will also need wood chips from fruit wood, oak or alder. It will be convenient to make a fire in a barbecue, barrel or iron box. In order to hang fish in the smokehouse, you will need poles or ropes with hooks. If you have a purchased smokehouse, this will make the process much faster and easier.

Before smoking, eel needs thorough preparation:

  • Clean the fish from mucus and entrails (as with hot smoking).
  • Rinse thoroughly and place in lightly salted water for 15 minutes to wash out the blood.
  • Place a layer of salt (coarse) on the bottom of a suitable container.
  • Rub each carcass with salt and spices (chopped bay leaf, tarragon, herbs, pepper).
  • Place in a container and sprinkle generously with salt on top.
  • Cover the container and keep in a cool place for 2 days.
  • Rinse the salted carcasses and hang them in a draft to dry (2-3 hours).

Then the prepared and dried eels can be loaded into the smokehouse. Fish should be smoked with cold smoke 30-35⁰. The fire must be kept continuous, but not intense. Hang the carcasses in the smokehouse at a distance of 1 meter from the fire, constantly making sure that the smoke at the bottom of the smokehouse does not get too hot. Maintain constant fire for the first 8 hours. Then you can take breaks.

In this way, the fish will be treated with smoke for 4-5 days. Do not immediately remove cooked smoked meats from the smokehouse; let them hang there for several hours. Then the eels need to be hung in a draft to ventilate for about 12 hours. After this you can taste it.

The delicacy can be stored for up to 3 weeks at a temperature of 0+2⁰. If deep-frozen, the eel will last up to 5 months. Bon appetit!

Many sea and river inhabitants were valued by chefs from different countries for their qualities. This fish has a unique taste and is considered very healthy. The tender and slightly sweet meat is nutritious and is used as an ingredient in a wide range of dishes. What can be prepared from smoked eel will be discussed in this article.

Variety of dishes

There are river and sea eels. This spicy fish, practically without bones, has been used in the cooking of various nations for a long time. Appetizers, salads, soups, and main courses were and are being prepared from smoked eel. It has a very pleasant taste.

The simplest recipe

For several servings of a dish, simple and everyday, but with an original taste and therefore worthy of attention, you should take a glass of rice, three large spoons of soy sauce, one medium eel (0.3-0.4 kg), hot smoked. You can also use pickled ginger and ground black pepper as spices and sprigs of herbs for decoration.

Preparation


Salad mix

This dish with smoked eel looks appetizing due to the variety of its ingredients. We recommend you try it - you won’t regret it! Of course, such a dish is festive in its essence, and should look formal in terms of decoration (we use greens and lemon slices).

Ingredients: smoked eel (0.3-0.4 kg), a couple of fresh cucumbers, a little olive oil, a couple of sweet peppers (bell peppers), a handful of sesame seeds, juice of half a lemon, Chinese cabbage - 100 grams, spices and salt.

Preparation


Rolls

What else can you cook with smoked eel? Rolls! They are one of the most popular dishes in the world using this ingredient.

We will need: 1 sheet of noria (if there are more sheets, then we automatically increase the quantity of each ingredient), smoked eel - 150 grams, rice for rolls - 150 grams, a little wasabi (caution: spicy!), a couple of fresh cucumbers (can be replaced with fruit avocado).

Preparation

  1. Place the nori on a special bamboo mat with the rough side up.
  2. We place it in a thin layer, retreating from the edge by about one and a half centimeters. This is most conveniently done with hands moistened with cold water.
  3. On top of the rice is wasabi, but very carefully! Out of habit, you can overdo it.
  4. Cut the eel and cucumbers into pieces in the form of small bars.
  5. Lay out the last 2 ingredients in a strip, sprinkle with sesame seeds and roll up the rolls.
  6. We moisten a strip of nori sheet without filling with water and stick it to the resulting roll. This way it will keep its shape.
  7. Serve with pickled ginger and soy sauce.

Eel with mushrooms

We will need: 300 grams of smoked eel, a bunch of lettuce, 300 grams of champignons, a little olive oil, three medium-sized pickles, a couple of tomatoes, a bunch of green onions, lemon juice, as a spice - paprika, sea salt and ground black pepper.

Preparation

  1. We free the eel from seeds and skin. Cut into slices.
  2. Cut the mushrooms into slices and fry in oil.
  3. We tear the salad by hand.
  4. Cut the cucumbers and tomatoes into cubes. Cut the onion into pieces 1-1.5 cm in length.
  5. Mix everything in an appropriate bowl and season with olive oil and lemon juice. Salt and pepper, sprinkle with paprika. Ready!

Note: smoked eel has a fairly high calorie content - 325 units. It depends on how it is processed. Therefore, many salads containing this fish should not be used as dietary food. However, smoked eel meat is full of vitamins and microelements, Omega-3 acids, which are very beneficial for the human body. In addition, Japanese centenarians from Okinawa traditionally eat some dishes from this phenomenal fish.

Smoked eel soup "Yanagawa nabe"

Smoked eel dishes are available not only in the form of rolls and salads. Some soup recipes include this ingredient.

We will need: one eel, one bell pepper, zucchini, onion, a little sesame oil, a sauce called “Teriyaki”, green onions, sesame seeds.

Preparation

  1. Cut the peppers, onions and zucchini into strips and fry in vegetable oil. Pour a drop of Teriyaki sauce into the sauté pan.
  2. Dissolve the Hon-dashi broth in water and bring to a boil.
  3. Place the finely chopped eel in the broth, add the sauté mixture there, add the egg and cook over low heat until it sets.
  4. Before serving, first pour a pinch of sesame seeds into a plate, then pour in the soup and add chopped green onions.

Smoked eel is a delicacy with high taste and nutritional qualities.

The tender, sweetish meat of this fish has many beneficial properties and is highly valued in world cooking.

Smoked eel - general cooking principles

Eel can be either sea or river. Both types have a pleasant taste and are widely consumed. Salads, appetizers and other dishes are prepared from smoked fish. You can also find fresh, frozen and chilled eel in stores. For home smoking, it is better not to use a product that has been frozen.

Before smoking, it is important to remove all mucus from the surface of the eel. It spoils not only the taste, but also the appearance, and during the cooking process it can give the product a gray color and an unsightly appearance. Mucus can be removed with a knife, newspaper, coarse sand or salt.

Like any other product, eel needs to be marinated before cooking. Spices and salt are used for this. It is advisable to salt the fish well so that there is no ichor left inside.

Eel can be smoked either cold or hot. At home, you can use both conventional and electric units. The fish are hung on hooks or laid out on racks. Cooking time depends on the temperature and size of the fish. You can cook whole carcasses, but at home it is better to cook them in small pieces.

Recipe 1: Smoked eel at home

Eel has fairly soft meat, which allows smoke to pass through well and absorbs odors. The main difficulty you may encounter is the ichor along the ridge. Therefore, it is not recommended to smoke large fish whole.

Required Ingredients

Bay leaf;

Peppercorns.

You will also need a smokehouse, chips or sawdust from fruit wood, alder or oak.

Cooking method

1. Prepare a brine from water, salt, spices. For 1 liter of liquid there are 100 grams. salt. Bring to a boil, cool.

2. Prepare the eel. We clean the mucus from the surface with a knife, then sprinkle it thickly with salt. After a few minutes, we remove the remaining mucus together with it and thoroughly clean the gills. We rip open the belly and remove the entrails. If necessary, cut the carcass into several parts.

3. Soak the eel in brine and leave for at least 5 hours. It is better to leave the fish for two days so that it marinates well. In this case, even if it is not smoked, it will still be ready.

4. Rinse the fish with running water. We hang the whole carcass on a hook, and lay out the pieces on the wire rack. Let the eel dry thoroughly.

5. Fuel the smokehouse, lay out the wood chips. If they are too dry, they need to be slightly moistened to prevent fire.

6. Place the fish in the smokehouse and cook until done. It is determined by the appearance of the carcass. Transverse folds should appear on the skin. If the fish is whole, the belly will open.

Recipe 2: Smoked eel in a barrel

An option for preparing smoked eel for those who do not have a special smokehouse. You will need a large barrel, a small electric stove, and also a frying pan in which you will need to put sawdust.

Required Ingredients

Small acne;

Tarragon;

For smoking you will need sawdust, juniper berries, and a piece of sugar. For hanging eels, pieces of wire.

Cooking method

1. Clean the eel of mucus, sprinkle it thickly with salt mixed with pepper and tarragon. Place a bay leaf in the cleaned belly. Leave the fish to salt for at least 10 hours.

2. Place the stove in the barrel and turn it on to medium temperature. Place a frying pan on it with sawdust, hop cones, and put a piece of sugar on top.

3. Wash the eels with running water.

4. We make hooks from wire, put on the fish, hang it in the air and dry it.

5. We hang the eels in the barrel, closer to the walls. Cover with a lid. Let it cook for 4-5 hours, then open it, take out one eel and take a sample. If necessary, the process can be extended.

Recipe 3: Smoked eel with rice

One of the simplest smoked eel dishes that can be prepared at home. You can use regular white rice, but if you want to add something unusual and healthy to the dish, then the unrefined brown version is suitable.

Required Ingredients

0.4 kg eel;

0.3 kg rice;

3 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce;

Black pepper, spices, herbs.

Cooking method

1. Wash the rice in several waters, boil until tender in plenty of water. Then place the rice in a colander and let the water drain.

2. Mix soy sauce with any spices to taste, add black pepper. Mix well.

3. Add sauce to rice and stir. Place in a heap on a large, flat dish.

4. Cut the eel into thin slices and place on top of the rice. Sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Recipe 4: Smoked eel with egg and bell pepper

Appetizer salad with smoked eel, which has a divine aroma and taste. It doesn’t take much time and looks elegant. Perfect for the holiday table.

Required Ingredients

0.1 kg eel;

1 PC. bell pepper;

Lettuce leaves;

20 ml each of soy sauce and olive oil.

Cooking method

1. Boil the eggs hard, cool and cut into cubes.

2. Place the lettuce leaves on a plate, after washing and drying.

3. Place chopped eggs on top of the salad and top with peeled and finely chopped peppers.

4. Mix soy sauce with vegetable oil, pour eggs and pepper in a thin stream.

5. Cut the eel into strips and place on top of the pepper.

Recipe 5: Smoked eel with sauce

To prepare this smoked eel dish you will need demi-glace fish sauce. It is better to buy it in the store, as it is quite difficult to prepare it yourself.

Required Ingredients

0.4 kg eel;

Demi-glass 0.1 kg;

3 tbsp. spoons of cream;

0.5 tsp. turmeric;

Lemon and herbs for decoration.

Cooking method

1. Heat the demi-glace sauce in a small saucepan, add cream and turmeric to it. It is important not to bring the mixture to a boil.

2. Cut the smoked eel into beautiful, long strips, dip it into the hot sauce and keep until it cools completely.

3. Place the appetizer on a plate, decorate with sprigs of herbs and lemon slices.

Recipe 6: Smoked eel in tartlets

A spectacular appetizer that will replace the classic tartlets with red and black caviar, making them more impressive and tasty. It is not recommended to fill the containers in advance; it is better just before serving.

Required Ingredients

0.15 kg eel;

0.1 kg cream cheese;

Dill greens;

50 gr. any caviar;

1 spoon of mayonnaise.

Cooking method

1. Remove skin from smoked eel, then cut into small cubes.

2. Wash the dill, dry it, chop it finely and mix with the fish.

3. Add cream cheese and mayonnaise to the mixture. Mix everything well.

4. Fill the tartlets with smoked eel and cheese. We decorate the top with a small amount of red or black caviar, you can put a sprig of greenery.

Recipe 7: Smoked eel in rolls

Perhaps the most popular use of smoked eel is rolls. This dish has long ceased to be something unusual and many housewives enjoy preparing it at home. The recipe contains the amount of ingredients calculated for 1 sheet of nori.

Required Ingredients

Nori sheet 1 pc.;

Cooked rice 150 gr.;

Smoked eel 150 gr.;

Sesame seeds;

1 fresh cucumber.

If desired, you can replace the cucumber with avocado in these rolls.

Cooking method

1. Place a noria sheet on a bamboo mat. The rough side should be on top.

2. Spread a thin layer of boiled rice over the entire surface, stepping back 1.5 cm from the far edge. It is more convenient to do this with your hands dipped in cold water.

3. Spread a thin layer of wasabi on top of the rice. The amount depends on taste, if you don’t like it spicy, you can skip this step or apply a thin strip on one side.

4. Cut the eel and cucumber into cubes. Lay out in a strip, sprinkle with sesame seeds, roll up. A strip of noria left without filling must be greased with water so that it sticks to the roll and the roll holds its shape.

Recipe 8: Salad with smoked eel and sun-dried tomatoes

An interesting salad that can be prepared either in a large dish or in portions. Dressed with soy sauce with the addition of honey and aromatic spices.

Required Ingredients

0.2 kg eel;

0.2 kg sun-dried tomatoes;

0.1 kg bell pepper;

1 red onion;

0.1 kg canned green peas.

For the sauce:

1 tsp. honey;

4 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce;

0.5 tsp. ready mustard;

Juice of ½ lemon;

Spice mixture for fish.

Preparation

1. Cut the smoked eel and tomatoes into strips and place in a salad bowl.

2. Peel the onion and cut into thin, transparent half rings. Pour some water, add vinegar and marinate.

3. Peel the bell pepper, cut it into strips and send it to the tomatoes and fish. Squeeze the onion from the marinade and also put it in a salad bowl, add green peas.

4. Mix soy sauce with honey, lemon juice and mustard. Add fish spices and mix thoroughly.

5. Season the chopped salad products with sauce, mix gently, if desired, you can add a little more salt or lemon juice.

Recipe 9: Salad with smoked eel and avocado

Nutritious and satisfying smoked eel salad with avocado. It is important that the exotic fruit is ripe enough, in which case the dish will acquire an oily taste, without heavy and harmful dressings.

Required Ingredients

1 avocado;

2 chicken eggs or 5 quail eggs;

0.2 kg smoked eel;

Green lettuce leaves;

1 cucumber;

1 tomato;

Vegetable oil, salt.

Preparation

1. Boil the eggs, cool, and peel them. Cut in half, then each half into 4 neat slices, set aside.

2. Tear the lettuce leaves into pieces, put them in a salad bowl, add the eel cut into strips, slices of fresh cucumber and tomato.

3. Remove the pit from the avocado, cut into small pieces and add to the salad, add salt and a little vegetable oil, mix everything well for a minute.

4. Place the salad on a flat dish and place slices of boiled egg around it.

Recipe 10: Smoked eel in the ear

The first dish with smoked eel, according to experts, outshines all other recipes. The fish soup has an incredible aroma, but it cooks very quickly. In this recipe, all vegetables are placed raw, but if desired, you can fry onions and carrots.

Required Ingredients

0.3 kg eel;

2 potatoes;

1 carrot;

1 onion;

Greens, salt, bay leaf;

A handful of millet.

Cooking method

1. Place a saucepan with 1.5 liters of water on the stove and bring to a boil.

2. Peel the vegetables, cut the potatoes into strips, grate the carrots, and dice the onion.

3. Salt the water in the pan, add the onions and carrots, and bring to a boil.

4. Add washed millet.

5. Place the potatoes into the boiling fish soup. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Cut the eel into pieces, add it to the soup, and cook over low heat. Bring until cooked, at the end add bay leaf and herbs, add more salt if necessary.

The skin of smoked eel contains the bulk of the fat, so people watching their weight should remove it when preparing dishes.

If you have difficulty cleaning the fish from mucus or simply don’t have time, then you need to cover it with salt and rub it after a while. It is better to do this with gloves. The mucus will come off the carcass well, all that remains is to rinse it with running water.

Useful substances are found in both sea and river fish. Small and large carcasses are rich in them. The taste qualities of adult and young eels are also not very different. Therefore, you should not fall for the tricks of sellers, buy the fish that you like.

Salads with smoked eel are not very fond of fatty and mayonnaise sauces; it is better to give preference to lighter dressings. But such dishes love spices, in any quantity, including spicy and Korean ones.

Smoked eel is a wonderful gourmet delicacy. Any good restaurant will offer you this fish as an amazing main dish or in tandem with other ingredients in a salad. In addition to its excellent taste, this product has excellent nutritional value. Smoked eel is also healthy, its meat contains iodine, potassium, iron and other minerals necessary for the body, vitamins E, A. How to prepare this miracle fish, where to buy it and what products are best combined with it? Let's look for answers to all questions.

Where in the capital is smoked eel sold?

Moscow is a huge metropolis. In this city you can find any product, even the most scarce one. Smoked eel is stored on shelves in grocery stores along with other types of fish. It is better to look for it in supermarkets, since small private stores are unlikely to find this outlandish product. If the price of smoked eel seems too high to you or you don’t want to waste time searching, you can try to make this culinary masterpiece yourself. It will turn out no worse than store-bought!

We cook ourselves

If you have a smokehouse at home, then it would be a sin not to use it to cook eel. Immediately before starting the process, the fish must be prepared. The eel should be thoroughly washed and cleaned, and absolutely all the insides should be gutted. After this, it is advisable to lower the fish into the water again, after treating it with salt. Before you start, you need to salt it for a short period of time. A special brine will help with this. To prepare it, you only need water (6-7 liters per 5 kg of fish) and salt (1 kg). The fish should be kept in this brine for no more than 10 minutes, and if the pieces are small and thin, then you need to spend half as much time. After this, the eel should be thoroughly washed and then dried. Now it’s just a matter of small things - we light a fire in the smokehouse, warm it up to a temperature of no more than 80 degrees. This is the thermometer reading that needs to be maintained throughout the entire process of cooking the eel, and this will take 1-1.5 hours depending on the size and thickness of the pieces. You can smoke this fish using also. When using this cooking method, the eel will turn out less fatty. It should be noted that wood from fruit trees or oak is more suitable for smoking. It is better not to use coniferous species - they will give the fish a bitter taste.

What goes with smoked eel?

Recipes include various variations of dishes with this delicious fish. For the inexperienced, the best dish will be smoked eel, served with black bread and onions. This product is often used as it is best to eat this fish with vegetables, fruits, salads, and flour products. Smoked eel is a high-calorie product and is completely independent; it should play the first violin in any dish. Therefore, you should not combine it with heavy foods that have an unusual taste. There should be one accent on the plate.

Salad with smoked eel

There are a lot of recipes, and the first one, which we will tell you about, is the simplest and most unpretentious. To prepare a dish such as a salad with smoked eel, you will need the smoked eel itself (300 g), 2 cucumbers, red bell pepper, lemon juice, any lettuce leaves, vegetable oil (preferably olive) and salt. Vegetables need to be cut into strips, like fish. Lettuce leaves should be torn into small, easy-to-eat pieces. Mix all ingredients, add dressing and spices, and add salt. You can decorate the dish with sesame seeds.

The second version of the salad has claims to the love of gourmets. The list of necessary products includes smoked eel (350 g), Chinese cabbage, some pine nuts, a little more than half a glass of prunes, olive oil, juice of one lemon, cognac (1 tablespoon), mustard (half a teaspoon) and apples ( 2 small). into strips, chop the vegetables, add dried fruits. Now let's start preparing the sauce. To do this, mix oil, lemon juice, mustard and cognac. Peeled and chopped apples should be added last to prevent them from turning black. Dress the salad and serve immediately. You can decorate the dish with pomegranate or herbs. Don't forget that the deli salad is served in small portions. Bon appetit!