Pike perch Orly from Elena Bon

Pike perch Orly - this is what my mother, Belova Lyudmila Vasilievna, called this juicy fish in batter according to this recipe. Later, I learned that in old cookbooks, a similar dish is often found under the same name. They say that the history of his appearance is as follows: an associate of the hetman of Ukraine I.S. Mazepa (1644-1709) Philip Orlik (1672-1742), once in France, opened a tavern near Paris, whose signature dish was deep-fried pike perch. In this case, the pieces of fish were dipped in a batter before heat treatment. The locals liked this dish very much, and they affectionately nicknamed it in honor of Orlik “pike perch-Orly”. It is curious that later it "migrated" from Paris to expensive restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and under the same name that has survived to this day. PS 1. Since the main fish in this dish, her choice must be approached very thoroughly. In the recipe, I recommend using fillets from small to medium-sized fish, since this one seems to me to have more tender meat. 2. There is a variation in the amount of wheat flour in the set of products: the more you put in the batter, the thicker it will be, the better it will envelop the pieces of fish and less spread in the pan at the beginning of the frying process, but keep in mind that with more flour The batter is denser, and the sweetish shade of added sugar is less pronounced, which forms, in my opinion, a very pleasant combination with this dietary, but aromatic and valuable fish. In the recipe, I "save", and use quite a bit of oil for frying, but you can also deep-fry the fish: with this method, the batter can be with a minimum amount of flour (that is, liquid), because it quickly sets in the oil and spreads evenly over the surface of the pieces. 3. To make this dish even healthier, you can replace a part (up to 30 grams) of the entire norm of ordinary wheat flour for batter with the same amount of finely ground whole wheat flour. 4. Milk and sour cream for batter, I take not very fatty, given that the fish is fried in oil.

Ingredients

• pike perch fillet (medium size) on the skin (frozen or chilled) 900-1000 gr.
• lemon juice about 30 ml
• salt, ground black or a mixture of 4 types of pepper to taste
• 2 medium eggs (total weight about 130 gr.)
• granulated sugar ½ teaspoon (about 2-3 gr.)
• sour cream 15-18% fat about 30 gr.
• milk 2.5-3.2% fat 200 ml
• wheat flour of the highest grade 150-180 gr.
• fresh dill or parsley (optional) 4 gr.
• refined sunflower oil (with the addition of olive oil) (for frying)
• boiled eggs (2-3 pcs.) and mayonnaise for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Thaw the pike perch fillet (if you plan to use frozen in the recipe) by removing it from the freezer 3-4 hours before cooking and leaving it at room temperature (or as indicated on the instructions on the package).
2. Peeling the pike perch fillet
3. When the fish is thawed (or just before cooking, if you are using chilled pike perch), rinse the fillet with cool running water, if necessary, remove the remnants of the scales from it.
4. Cut the pike perch fillet, add spices
5. Place the fillets on a cutting board and cut into small pieces about 3 cm wide (if the carcasses are large, cut them across, if necessary, so that the maximum size of the pieces is about 3 cm by 7 cm). Fold the prepared fillet pieces into a separate bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste, pour over with lemon juice, stir with your hands and set aside until you are making the batter.
6. Cooking batter for pike perch orly from Elena Bon
7. For batter, rinse dill (or parsley) greens with cold running water, dry with a paper towel and chop finely. Set aside for now. In a separate bowl with a volume of at least 1.5-2 liters, beat the eggs with granulated sugar into lush foam with a hand whisk or using a mixer with ordinary whisks (which is preferable, since this method will make the batter more fluffy and fluffy). Add sour cream, stir, then pour in milk, mix again and in two steps, stirring thoroughly each time, add wheat flour sifted through a fine sieve. Add chopped greens and stir again.
8. Place a frying pan, preferably with a non-stick coating with a thick bottom, Ø 28 cm over medium heat, pour refined sunflower oil into it so that it covers the bottom with a layer of about 0.5 cm.When the oil warms up, drop a couple of droplets into it to check batter: if it hisses and bubbles well, then you can already fry the fish.
9. We spread the fillet of pike perch in batter in a pan
10. Taking turns dipping pieces of fish into the batter without the liquid released from them (for which you can preliminarily squeeze them slightly if necessary), put them (how many will fit) in the pan at some distance from each other (best with the convex side of the pieces down), close the pan with a lid and fry the fish until the batter thickens on top (grabs) - this may take a few minutes.
11. Fry pike perch orly from Elena Bon
12. Then remove the lid from the pan, and turn the fish pieces with a spatula to the other side, first, if necessary, separating them from each other if they are stuck together due to batter. Fry the fish for a few more minutes on this side, and then, if necessary, a little more on each side, turning occasionally, until the batter is golden brown. Be careful - oil may splash! Put the finished pieces of fish on paper napkins to remove excess fat from them, blot them also on top, and then put them on serving plates or in a separate bowl if you plan to serve all the fish at the same time. Do the same with the remaining raw fish pieces, adding a little vegetable oil if necessary before frying the next portion.
13. Store the leftover fish in a sealed container in the refrigerator at 0-6 ° C for no more than a day. It is especially tasty freshly cooked, but quite good (although it becomes more dense) and the next day cold, served with broccoli boiled and fried in a small amount of a mixture of vegetable and butter.