Salmon Gefilte Fish

This recipe has a story…

I made up this recipe one year when, Erev Pesach, the fish store near me had a sale on salmon, the only catch being that one had to buy the whole fish. Since my parents were coming to me and they enjoy fresh salmon, I ordered it. The only problem was that I would then have to take also the end parts, closest to the tail side of the fish, and no one in my family likes to eat those pieces. So I hit on a brilliant idea. I asked the store to prepare those end pieces for me like ground carp, so that I could do something else with it. When the fish came to the house, all pink and fresh looking, I couldn’t resist trying something newer with it. I followed the basic rules for gefilte fish but changed several things about it – and the results were fantastic! Even though it was literally only one day to Seder night, I sat down and typed this up so that I wouldn’t forget by the time Pesach was over, what I had done to this “made up recipe”…

Serves 8–10

Ingredients

1½ medium onions
6–8 cloves fresh garlic, optional
2 medium carrots
3 scallions
A very small bunch of fresh parsley
5 eggs
1 tsp. pepper
1 T. salt
¼ cup sugar
2¼ lbs / 1 kilo fresh salmon, ground

Broth ingredients:
1 onion
1 carrot, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt

Method

In a food processor fitted with the sharp “S” blade, grind together the onions, garlic, carrots, scallion, parsley, and dill. Add in the eggs, pepper, salt, and sugar and continue to blend it all together until it is completely pureed.

Place the raw ground salmon in a large mixing bowl and pour the pureed vegetable mixture in with it. Beat it all together using an electric hand mixer for 10 minutes, until it turns lighter in color and thicker in texture. Refrigerate this “fish mish” for a few hours or overnight.

Fill a large pot half-way with water and add the onion, carrot, sugar, and salt. Bring this to a boil.

With wet hands, form small patties or balls out of the fish mixture and drop them into the rapidly boiling water, one at a time. Cover the pot and after it has reached the boiling point, reduce the flame to low. Allow the fish to cook for 75–90 minutes. Remove the fish balls together with some of the broth to a flat, wide plastic container and refrigerate until use. Delicious, fluffy and truly a Yom Tov treat!

Serve with chrein and homemade mayonnaise as usual!!