Ryba po grecku: fried cod under sweet-and-sour tomato vegetables
A Christmas Eve classic that has little to do with Greece: cod fillets dusted in flour and fried, then buried under a thick layer of stewed carrot, parsley root, celeriac and onion with tomato paste, seasoned sweet-and-sour. Made a day ahead and eaten cold; overnight the fish takes on the flavour of the vegetables and the vegetables that of the fish. Eight portions, keeps four days in the fridge.
Your own work in that: 1 h 15 min.
- Frying the fish 30 min
- Stewing the vegetables 35 min
- Layering 10 min
- Resting in the fridge 240 min
Step by step
0 / 7 done
Dry and season the fish
Cut the fillet into 8 portions and dry thoroughly with paper towel; squeeze thawed fish as well. Sprinkle with lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and leave 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 1000 g skinless cod or hake fillet · 1 pcs lemon, juice · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper · 80 g plain flour · 100 ml oil
TipDry fish is the whole secret: a wet fillet steams in the pan instead of frying, the flour falls off and the pieces fall apart under the vegetables.
Dried, lemon, salt, a quarter hour
Fry the fish in flour
Dry the portions once more, dredge in flour and shake off the excess. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and fry the fish in batches, without crowding, 3 minutes a side, until golden; two batches take about 12–15 minutes in all. Drain on paper towel. Flour alone is enough here, not breadcrumbs: crumbs turn to mush under the vegetables.
Flour only, three minutes a side
Grate the vegetables
Peel the carrots, parsley root and celeriac and grate on the coarse side. Slice the onions into thin half-rings. Coarse shreds stay in pieces after stewing; fine ones turn into purée.
Ingredients: 5 pcs carrots · 2 pcs parsley root · ½ pcs celeriac · 2 pcs onions · 4 tbsp oil · 150 ml water · 4 tbsp tomato paste · 3 pcs bay leaves · 5 pcs allspice berries · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tbsp spirit vinegar, 10 % · 1½ tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper · ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
Coarse grater, onion in half-rings
Stew the vegetables until soft
Heat the oil in a wide pot, soften the onion 5 minutes. Add the grated vegetables, bay leaves, allspice, pour in the water, salt. Stew covered over low heat 20–25 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the carrot is tender but still in shreds. If the vegetables catch, add a spoon of water.
TipThe vegetables should be stewed, not fried: browned edges spoil the delicate flavour. Low heat, a lid, a little water.
Covered, low heat, until tender
Add the tomato paste and season
Stir in the tomato paste and stew another 5 minutes uncovered, until the mass thickens and deepens in colour. Season with the sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Taste: it should be distinctly sweet-and-sour, because flavours go quiet when cold.
Tomato paste, sugar, vinegar: sweet-and-sour
Layer
Spread a third of the hot vegetables over the bottom of a glass or ceramic dish. Lay the fish on top in a single tight layer. Cover with the rest of the vegetables so no fish shows. Sprinkle with parsley.
Vegetables, fish, vegetables: the fish hidden
Chill until tomorrow
Cool, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Serve cold, with bread or potatoes. Keeps 4 days in the fridge and improves every day.
Cold, the next day, with bread
Before you start
Without frying the fish
Lay the seasoned raw fillets in the dish, cover with the hot vegetables and bake 25 minutes at 180 °C. Lighter, less work, just as good cold.
Other fish
Hake, pollock, hoki, boneless carp fillet. Oily fish (salmon, mackerel) don't suit the sweet-and-sour vegetables.
Vegetables too runny
Too much water, or not reduced enough after the tomato paste. Stew uncovered another 5 minutes; the mass should hold its shape on a spoon.
Nutrition
per 100 gStep photos are computer-generated from the recipe.
