Pike: benefit and harm to the human body

Do not put a finger in her mouth - this is a common folk expression, usually characterizing a predatory and tenacious human personality, which can also be attributed to a pike. She is unlikely to be able to bite her finger, but is quite capable of injuring herself. The ruthless predator does not miss any of the fish that live with it in the same body of water - from gudgeon and roach to carp and scavenger. She is capable of swallowing a thorny ruff, having previously clamped her jaws so that he loses the ability to tremble. Mice, frogs or even squirrels, which happened to be by chance on river or lake snags, become prey for pike.

What does pike look like and where does it live?

Speech of passionate fishermen telling that last weekend they caught a pike of a meter length weighing 10 kg should not always be questioned. This is a completely normal and real size. There are individuals reaching 1.5 m and even 1 m 80 cm, and weighing 35 kg. But most often specimens are caught weighing from 1 to 2 kg, 40-50 cm long.

The body of the pike is long, rather narrow, similar at the same time to both an arrow and a torpedo - thanks to a pointed big head. The lower jaw extends forward further than the upper. The eyes are set rather high, and in a huge mouth - up to three hundred sharp teeth. The largest, similar to fangs, are on the lower jaw. Although they are different in size, but with them this predatory fish captures the prey quite firmly - so that the prey has practically no chance to escape.

The upper jaw is literally covered with small, but equally sharp teeth, with all of them having a point directed towards the throat - so that the victim easily slipped inside the mouth. To prevent the prey from slipping out, these teeth are able to rise and hold it tight. A fisherman’s finger, inadvertently caught in the mouth of a pike, will certainly suffer.

But there are times when the predator is not so “biting”. This happens during tooth changes, when the old and sharp ones have already resolved, and the new ones are still soft. At this time, the pike can neither hold large prey nor grab bait, so even the most successful fisherman comes home without a catch.

The whole body of the pike is covered with small and rather dense scales, which can even go to the gills, and the color, or color, depends on the environment in which this freshwater fish lives. For the most part, it corresponds to the vegetation of a lake, pond or river and can be either gray-green or pure gray, as well as yellowish-gray or brown. Moreover, the darkest place is usually the back, the color intensity decreases towards the sides, but dark spots appear on them, merging into a striped ornament, and the abdomen can be generally light, almost white. Silver pike are rare, but they are rarely caught.

The upper dorsal fin is large, has a rounded shape. The lower anal fin is set far back, which increases the speed abilities of the fish. These unpaired fins usually have the same color as the main body color - yellowish gray, brown or greenish gray, with darker spots. Paired lower fins located closer to the head, usually with an orange tint.

Lovers of caviar must try to find a female.They are usually larger than males and differ from them by the urogenital opening in the form of an oval-shaped depression surrounded by a pink roller, while in the male the opening is a narrow gap.

The most common pike habitats are lakes, ponds, quarries. If the river is slow, lazy and quiet. This is a typical resident of freshwater reservoirs, and preferring not flowing, but standing water. They catch pike both throughout Russia and on the North American continent.

In desalinated sea bays, it also happens - somewhere near the flowing rivers. It is found off the coast of the Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of ​​Azov, as well as the Baltic Sea, in the Curonian, Riga, and Finnish Bays. Experienced fishermen know that it is better to look for her at the mouths of rivers with a sandy bottom or in quiet backwaters near the shore, where she ambushes for prey in algae, snags or natural holes and hollows at the bottom. At the same time, the water predator is very demanding on oxygen: if it is not enough in water, pike die.

Kinds

In freshwater reservoirs there are 5 varieties: ordinary, American, maskinong, black (or striped) and Amur.

1. Common. Familiar to residents of the countries of the former USSR, it is found most often in Europe and Asia. Caught in North America.
2. American It is not as widespread as ordinary - it can only be found in the east of the North American continent. In the northern regions of its range, there is such a subspecies of the American pike as the rudd (in other words, it is called northern). To the south reigns a grassy (or southern) subspecies, her home is the basin of the Gulf of Mexico, in particular the Mississippi.
3. Maskinong. The largest and rather rare freshwater pike. Its habitat is North America. This predator is silver in color with dark, vertically arranged stripes on its sides.
4. Black or striped. The inhabitant of lakes and quiet river dams throughout North America - from Canada to Florida. She is smaller than her other relatives and does not grow longer than 70–80 cm, while her maximum weight is fixed - 4.3 kg. This fish has an attractive mosaic color.
5. Amur. It can be caught only in the east of Russia - on Sakhalin, as well as in the rivers flowing into the Amur. It grows to 1 m, while the weight can reach 20 kg.
6. Armored. Deserves special attention. This is not a freshwater inhabitant, she can live peacefully in the sea, where she walks up to 3 m in height. From inexperience from a distance, she may seem like a crocodile. She also has a corresponding second name: alligator fish. It is found in warm waters: in the Caribbean, on the coast of Cuba and Central America.

Composition and calorie content

The peculiarity of pike meat is that there are absolutely no carbohydrates in it, and only 2-3% fat, so doctors unanimously recognize it as a dietary product. But 100 g of this fish contains almost half the daily norm of phosphorus, 30% selenium, a lot of manganese. The list of substances useful and even necessary for the human body includes components such as magnesium, iodine, calcium, copper, fluorine, zinc, as well as copper, iron and cobalt.

The freshwater predator abounds with various B vitamins: B1, B2, B3 (PP), B5, B6, B9, B12, as well as A and C. In addition, pike is rich in protein, and it is absorbed much easier than meat.

Calorie content of fish is low - only 82 kilocalories per 100 g of product. But depending on the cooking method, calorie content can vary - for example, in boiled pike it rises to 98 kcal, fried pike - 127 kcal, and smoked pork - 162 kcal.

Useful properties of pike

General benefit

1. Thanks to a large set of B vitamins, pike maintains a functioning nervous system. These vitamins along with amino acids help control metabolism and hormones. The list of useful properties includes the ability to maintain a normal level of insulin, thereby it is a means of preventing diabetes. Regular consumption of pike meat reduces bad cholesterol.
2. Vitamins A, E, C are responsible for maintaining the immune forces and the normal condition of the skin and hair.
3. Strengthening the bone and cardiovascular systems are possible thanks to phosphorus and calcium, iodine is responsible for the functioning of the thyroid gland.
4. Useful proteins help alleviate the condition of patients with digestive diseases, as they are easily and quickly absorbed.

For women

Women are interested in pike, first of all, as a delicious product that allows you to extend the beauty and youth. Due to the presence of phosphorus, calcium and fatty acids, nails are strengthened, hair becomes smoother, silky, and skin is toned. Magnesium contained in pike meat helps to put in order the nerves, normalize sleep.

For men

For men, pike is useful in terms of beneficial effects on the condition of the heart and blood vessels, pushing off a heart attack that is dangerous for the stronger sex. In addition, due to the low amount of fat, along with the presence of proteins, it helps to build muscle. And pike caviar increases libido and improves the ability to conceive.

During pregnancy

Pregnant women need fish because it contains calcium, phosphorus and proteins necessary for the formation of bones, teeth and other organs of the baby. And the potassium and magnesium present in the pike are needed by the future mother herself, since they can reduce the risk of muscle cramps, often appearing in the last stages of pregnancy. But pregnant women do not need to abuse pike, you can eat it 2-3 times a week.

When breastfeeding

If a mother ate a pike during pregnancy and did not feel any discomfort, one can not deny herself this pleasure even while breastfeeding. For the baby’s growing body and the formation of its strong skeleton, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins and proteins that are part of the fish are needed. It is important that the child does not have an allergy. Therefore, you need to try to introduce a pike into the diet of a nursing mother carefully, in small portions, watching how the crumbs respond to it.

Most likely, if the mother ate this fish during pregnancy, the child is familiar with the product, so there should be no problems.

For kids

Any fish is useful for children, and pike, given its low fat content, especially. But you should be wary of allergic reactions. Therefore, the pike should get on the children's table no earlier than the baby turns one year old. It is recommended to boil the pike fillet, chop it with a blender and wipe it with a sieve so as not to miss the smallest bones. For the first time, it is better to mix fish with mashed potatoes or vegetables. For starters, you can not give more than half a teaspoon and monitor skin manifestations.

If the child's body reacts normally to fish, then from a year and a half you can include pike cutlets in his diet.

When losing weight

Since pike is low in calories and contains many different vitamins, it is well suited for dietary nutrition. The ability to beneficially affect the digestive system allows you to establish metabolism. That is why nutritionists strongly recommend pike as one of the essential components of nutrition for weight loss. Of course, those who decide to get rid of excess weight should not eat salted, fried, smoked fish or canned food. It is better to eat boiled, baked or stewed dishes.

Is dried pike useful?

Undoubtedly, sun-dried pike contains the whole set of useful substances, therefore it could be considered a healthy product recommended for everyone’s diet, if not for the excessive amount of salt used in the cooking process. Therefore, for those who suffer from diseases of the kidneys, cardiovascular system and pathologies associated with metabolic disorders, it is better to put out the pike or boil it - there will be more benefit.

In addition, if the process chain is broken during the preparation of dried pike, there is a high risk of contracting worms. Among those helminths, the larvae of which are often infected with fish, the ribbon is wide.If such a larva appears in the human intestine, it will develop into an adult hefty (up to 20 m) individual. The carrier of this huge parasite for several years may not even guess who sheltered in its own body. Therefore, it is better to subject the pike to heat treatment. Or prepare products from it after a long (up to 12 hours) freezing.

What is useful pike caviar

Both physicians and gourmets put pike caviar in third place - after black and red. It contains a minimum amount of fat, but is rich in proteins, trace elements and vitamins - this is what you need for diet food.

Those who often eat pike caviar note that their blood pressure is stabilizing, and previously lowered hemoglobin is restored to normal numbers. Due to the presence of amino acids, caviar increases the body's immune forces, and the vitamins A and E contained in caviar do not give time to age: they stimulate the regeneration of skin cells, rejuvenate it, cleanse and make it more elastic and beautiful. Hair and nails caviar also nourishes well and improves their condition and appearance.

This product is also useful for improving brain function and reducing the risk of developing atherosclerosis, as the body is cleansed of excess cholesterol, which is promoted by omega-3 fatty acid. Due to the high iodine content, it positively affects the thyroid gland, which allows a person to feel a surge of energy and strength. Caviar helps to restore strength to people after serious illness or surgery and to pregnant women.

How to pickle

At home, caviar is salted in two ways - hot and cold.

Cold way
Rinse caviar, cut into pieces 2–2.5 cm long and only then peel off the pail (foil): with a fork, pry off the edge of the foil and gently slide it to the side. Put the cleaned caviar in a deep bowl. When the whole product has been cleaned, pour it with warm water and mix with a whisk for the dough. That film which did not give in to a fork and remained on caviar will be wound on a nimbus.

Thus, rinse the eggs 3 times, carefully draining the water. At the end of the process, cover the colander with gauze and pour the contents of the bowl into it. When all the water drains (it will take about 20-30 minutes), put the eggs in a bowl, add salt (preferably coarse) and mix well with a fork - until foam appears. For 300 g of caviar, you need 2 tablespoons of salt.

To remove the foam - it will not work to remove all of it, but you should try to do it to the maximum. Put eggs in a jar, close the lid and put in the refrigerator for two days. During this period, the caviar will salt and the remaining foam will go away. The finished product will become more dense and will acquire a beautiful shade.

Maybe, for some, caviar will seem brackish, but you can’t take less salt, you need to rid the product of parasites. And for a sandwich with butter, this degree of salting is quite suitable.

Hot way
Prepare caviar in the same way as for cold salting. Allow the remaining water to drain through cheesecloth and colander. Meanwhile, prepare the brine: bring 1 liter of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of salt, cool it for about 10 minutes and pour the caviar placed in the jar. Thoroughly mix the caviar with brine and leave for a quarter of an hour, after which the excess liquid is drained with gauze and a colander. Add 1.5–2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and beat until thickened. After 6-7 hours, you can already eat it. The caviar obtained in this way is slightly lighter than that prepared by the cold method, and less salty. But you should not be afraid of parasites: caviar is neutralized by exposure to hot brine.

Can I eat pike liver

Pike liver is rich in substances that are extremely necessary for the human body. So, 100 g of the product contains half the necessary daily volume of phosphorus, which is responsible for metabolism and the condition of the bone and cardiovascular systems, and almost 40% of the daily norm of riboflavin (vitamin B2), which helps calm the central nervous system, maintains normal skin, hair and nailsstimulating the breakdown of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

Vitamin PP in 100 g of liver is a quarter of the daily norm, and without it normal brain activity and human vision are unthinkable. In addition, this vitamin is involved in regulating cholesterol and blood sugar levels, lowering blood pressure and improving the functioning of the blood supply system. The task of improving blood supply is also performed by iron, which is also a component of the liver. It also contributes to the maintenance of the immune forces of the human body.

That is, pike liver is useful, it helps a person to be more active, healthy, energetic and keep in order both vision, skin and hair, and the work of internal organs. And due to its low calorie content (131 kcal per 100 g of product), it can be used as a component of a diet for weight loss. Stewed or boiled, without excess salt, it can even be for people suffering from diabetes, stomach ulcers, and pregnant women. A contraindication can only be an individual intolerance to the liver or an allergic reaction to fish products.

Prepare pike liver with sour cream or vegetables, cream or herbs. It can be stewed, simmered in the oven or cooked on the stove; cooking in a microwave or multicooker is possible. It turns out more tender than even cod liver. It can be served both hot and cold, with a side dish or in salads, in the form of a paste, spreading on a sandwich.

The use of pike in traditional medicine

Traditional medicine has long been aware of the beneficial properties of pike meat. True, modern patients will find it strange how the healers of antiquity used fish for treatment - for example, their bile was dripped into the eyes. There was a belief that in this way it is possible to cure the thorn. And tying a living pike to the stomach is unlikely to relieve jaundice, although this method was common.

But some folk recipes really work and are quite suitable for use in modern life. So, if the pancreas is slightly “licked out”, the witches recommend eating on an empty stomach a small piece of boiled pike (100 g).

The vitamins contained in this fish contribute to a speedy cure for anemia and vitamin deficiency, and thanks to the proteins included in its composition, the thyroid gland normalizes. In addition, if you add pike to the menu systematically during the flu and cold season, you can protect yourself from the disease.

Traditional medicine also recommends fish to those with signs of chronic fatigue syndrome or depression. Healers know that regular eating pike meat or its other products (liver, caviar) can restore a person’s interest in life and improve well-being.

Is it possible to eat pike for various diseases

With diabetes

For people with diabetes, pike meat is highly recommended. There are enough digestible proteins (proteins) in it; carbohydrates are completely absent, and this is exactly what diabetics need. Proteins help the body synthesize their own insulin, and the potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium contained in the fish are actively involved in the metabolism process, helping to regulate it, and also support the functioning of the heart and blood vessels.

Nutritionists do not recommend overloading the body with fish products and advise eating a pike no more often than a couple of times a week - no more than 150 g per day.

It is recommended for patients with diabetes to eat baked, stewed or boiled pike. Cutlets, casseroles, aspic are also good. Salted or dried fish cannot be eaten - just like pike liver. Caviar can be consumed occasionally and in a minimal amount.

For patients with diabetes, baked vegetables, fruits, sauces, and bread are ideal for fish.

With pancreatitis

Pike refers to lean species of fish, the fat content of which does not exceed 4%, so doctors and nutritionists recommend it to patients suffering from pancreatitis.The proteins that make up the fish are absorbed much more easily and better than animal protein. Due to the content of amino acids, iodine, phosphorus, calcium, B vitamins and other components, pike meat brings variety to the diet and enriches diet food. True, you can start eating fish only a week after an acute attack of the disease has occurred.

At first, it is best to cook a pike for a couple and only in a crushed form. You can grind as a cooked product to get a souffle, or make cutlets or casseroles in a double boiler from raw minced meat. It is recommended to serve either porridge or light vegetables recommended by the doctor for pancreatitis with fish.

You can eat fish baked or boiled in a whole piece no earlier than a month after the attack. Moreover, fish broths and soups based on them for pancreatitis are not recommended. Salty, smoked or dried pike, as well as canned food from it, are also prohibited.

With gastritis

For the stomach, pike is useful and convenient, as it is easily digested. Since its fat content does not exceed the permissible for gastritis 4%, it is indicated for patients suffering from such a disease. Thanks to the beneficial substances that make up pike meat, this fish is able not only to stimulate the work of defenses, but also to remove excess cholesterol and nourish the body with vitamins and minerals, the absorption of which is difficult with gastritis. In addition, low fat levels will prevent stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea.

But with gastritis, the method of cooking fish matters. It is strictly forbidden to eat fried, salted, pickled, smoked pike and canned food from it, since preservatives, spices and salt strongly irritate the already inflamed gastric mucosa. Fish should be boiled, steamed or baked without adding oil.

With gout

Gout is characterized by the deposition of uric acid salts in the joints. Therefore, it is important for gout patients to exclude foods rich in purines - compounds from the menu, as a result of the destruction of which this notorious uric acid is formed. Such substances are contained in fish, but in different quantities. Therefore, nutritionists divide all fish into one that is forbidden with gout, and one that is allowed. Pike belongs to the permitted group. But such fish can be eaten no more than 3 times a week.

For gouty pike you need to either cook or bake, you can cook cutlets or meatballs for a couple. It is also possible to use fish soup, but it should be boiled on the second broth, and the first should be drained, since it is too fat. You can not use spices, and limit the amount of salt to a minimum.

To avoid exacerbation of gout, you can not eat pike with porridge, since in this combination the load on the stomach increases significantly, as a result, the excretion of uric acid salts slows down.

Harm and contraindications

Despite all its useful properties, pike cannot be absolutely safe, like all fish that have grown and live in natural conditions. If the water in the pond from which the predator was caught is contaminated, this will certainly affect the quality of the pike - and its meat, and the liver, and caviar, which accumulate harmful substances. Such a fish can’t be eaten in any case, you can be poisoned - up to the failure of the internal organs. Therefore, it is better to get pike in areas that are ecologically safe.

And even in the most environmentally friendly water, infection of pike with parasites is not excluded. They die during the heat treatment of fish, but its jerky or salted meat may well be dangerous: when a piece is eaten, helminths get into the human digestive system and take root there for many years.

Salted or sun-dried pike, even perfectly cooked, is contraindicated in those with diseased kidneys or heart, liver problems due to excess salt.

An allergy to fish or individual intolerance to pike can also occur. In such cases, the product in any form should be discarded.

How to choose and store

Undoubtedly, the best option is to catch a pike on your own in a well-known, proven reservoir over the years: you can not be afraid that it grew up in adverse environmental conditions, and with its freshness everything is clear.

If you have to choose in the market or in the store, first of all, you need to ask the seller where the pike comes from and pay attention to its gills: fresh fish have pink and shiny ones. In this case, the eyes should be clear, clean, and the tail should be wet.

Not everyone likes the specific smell of pike (tina), but if the fish lying on the counter smells that way, without the admixture of other smells, then it is fresh and worthy of being cooked for lunch.

Under the frozen pike goods may be hidden that have lain on the counter for several days and not sold, that is, not the first freshness. Therefore, it is better to take frozen fish in a pinch. In this case, you need to choose one that does not have ice: usually excess ice indicates that the product has been repeatedly defrosted, followed by freezing.

If you bought fresh pike, it is best to immediately wash, peel and gut it and only then put it in the refrigerator or in the freezer. In the refrigerator, fresh pike can lie down for a maximum of 4–5 days, in the freezer - for up to six months, but after a couple of months of storage its taste properties begin to deteriorate.

How to clean a pike

It is necessary to clean all the dirt and mucus with a brush under running water from a pike, rinse it well and dry it with a rag or paper towel. It is better to take a cutting board with a plastic or glass one: the wooden one is soaked in the smell of fish so that you can’t get rid of it later. Place wet paper towels under the board so that it does not slip and lie still.

Scales fly far away from pike, therefore it is better to clean it on the street. If this is not possible, you need to cover the surfaces closest to the cutting board with a newspaper. During cleaning, they hold the pike by the tail so that it does not slip, it is sprinkled with salt.

In order not to get hurt during work, you need to wear two pairs of gloves: first rubber or silicone, and cotton over them.

Scales will be cleaned off more easily if pike is poured with boiling water. To facilitate the process, you can also soak it in a basin of warm water, where vinegar is added.

To clean the pike, either a wide sharp knife or a special scraper with teeth are suitable. You need to clean the scales, starting from the tail and moving towards the head. If you hold the knife at a slight angle, then the scales will linger on the blade and fly apart less.

When the scales are finished, with scissors you need to cut the fins and cut the abdominal cavity with a sharp knife, starting with a puncture near the head. Next, take out the insides and remove the gills, cutting off with a knife or simply tearing off with your fingers.

After cleaning, thoroughly rinse the entire carcass - both outside and inside.

How to cook pike delicious: recipes

In the oven

In the oven, you can cook pike both on a baking sheet and in a deep frying pan (it is important that the handle is not plastic). If you bake a pike with vegetables or sour cream, it will turn out more juicy.

Pike with mixed vegetables
As companions for pike will go cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, onions. Eggplant is only suitable for young, it is necessary to remove the shiny purple peel from it.

The calculation of vegetables comes solely from the preferences of the cook and family members: someone loves more cabbage and can not stand zucchini, someone cannot stand the smell of sweet pepper, but they are crazy about eggplant. So the proportions are in the hands of the hostess. The only caveat - carrots with this type of cooking will not reach the desired condition and will crunch.

Cut the vegetables into fairly large slices (or stripes at least 1 cm wide), onions in quarters of rings. Stir them in a bowl and add a little salt. Pike (preferably fillet) cut into pieces with a width of 3 to 4 cm.

Arrange pieces of fish (not close, but so that there is room for vegetables) on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil, salt them. Then spread the vegetables in between.Sprinkle the contents of the pan with olive oil and lemon juice (a quarter of a lemon is enough), you can sprinkle with ground black pepper. Place the pan in a preheated oven. Cook fish with vegetables at a temperature of 170-180 degrees for 40–45 minutes. It turns out a full dinner that does not require an additional side dish. And already on the table, pour chopped dill into each plate.

Pike in sour cream
For 1 kg of pike fillet take 3 tablespoons of sour cream, 2 medium onions and spices to taste and liking.

Cut the fillet into slices about 5-6 centimeters wide, put in a pan slightly sprinkled with vegetable oil. Put onion chopped in half rings on top, salt and sprinkle with spices (you can just mix peppers from the mill). Dilute sour cream equally with water and water the fish. You can send the pan to the oven. If it is already hot, the pike will be ready in 35–40 minutes.

In the pan

To make the pike in the pan not juicy, but juicy, you need to take a lot of onions for cooking - half the weight of the fish.

Cut the peeled gutted pike into portions, put them in a plate, pepper and salt. While the fish is slightly salted, prepare a pan (best heavy, cast iron) and pour flour into a bowl for deboning.

Put the pan on the stove, pour odorless sunflower oil into it and wait until it is hot enough. And only then roll the pike in flour and lay out for roasting. Do not cover with a lid yet!

When a beautiful crust appears on the underside, turn the fish over, put the onion cut in half rings and just cover it now. From time to time, lift the lid and mix the onions. A couple of minutes before being ready, put a couple of small pieces of butter in the pan. Serve pike with delicate mashed potatoes and fresh vegetable salad.

In a slow cooker

In a slow cooker, it’s good to cook pike in cheese sauce, for which 1 kg of pike fillet is cut into portions, mix with the juice of one lemon, chopped with onion rings, season with salt and sprinkle with your favorite spices. Leave to marinate for 45-50 minutes. Grate 100 g of hard cheese and mix it with 100 g of fat sour cream. Put the fish and onions in the multicooker bowl, pour the sauce of sour cream and cheese. Close the slow cooker and set the modes "Fish", "Stew" for half an hour. At the end of the process, let the pike lie under a closed lid for another 15–20 minutes. There is such a dish is better hot.

On the grill

In hot coals, you can bake a pike using foil. To begin with, pickle a clean gutted pike for at least half an hour: wipe it on all sides with salt, juice of half a lemon and put onion in a bowl of fish, cut into rings. After 30–40 minutes, spread the foil on the table, put half of the onions from the bowl on it, making a kind of “pillow”, on which to put the fish. Put lemon and dill cut into half rings in the belly of the pike - the more it fits, the more aromatic the fish will be. Put the remaining half of the onion on top of the carcass and gently wrap in foil. Wrap the resulting envelope in another layer of foil and put it directly into the coals, making a recess in them. On top of the package of foil also cover with hot coals. 25-30 minutes while the fish is being prepared, they will fly by in nature imperceptibly.

Grilled

To cook a pike on the grill, it must first be marinated. Prepare the marinade from the juice of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, ground black pepper and salt (to taste). This will be enough to cook 800 g of pike steaks. After half an hour from the beginning of the pickling, lay the steaks on a grill, greased with vegetable oil. Cook until golden crust appears, turning over the rack from time to time. Such a fish will go well with fresh vegetables, herbs and sauces.

What can be cooked from pike: recipes

First, second and snacks - pike meat is good for everything. Dishes from it can be served both in a narrow home circle, and treat guests.

Cutlets

Cutlets can be prepared both from fresh pike and boiled.In the first case, it is more difficult to get rid of all the small seeds, but if the meat grinder is powerful enough, then it can grind them. Serve pike cutlets with a side dish, mashed potatoes are especially suitable for them. Pike cutlets are also "friends" with fresh cucumber, so the salad will be very useful.

Fresh pike cutlets
Wash the pike from the mucus, peel, remove the insides, wash it again, cut off the head and fins and cut along the back. Separate the central bone, it, along with the fins and head, is useful for the ear. And out of the remaining pulp, try to select small bones to the maximum, you can use either tweezers or a drawing pen for this. If possible, it’s better to remove the skin.

Turn the resulting fillet through a meat grinder along with an onion and a couple of garlic cloves. Since pike meat is rather dry, you can add a little unsalted pork fat to the minced meat during the scrolling process: for 1 kg fillet a piece the size of a cream cheese. To make the cutlets more tender, scroll the minced meat in the meat grinder again.

Stuff the minced meat thoroughly by adding 2 eggs to it (per 1 kg of fish fillet). Add salt and pepper to taste. From the ready-made meat, mold the cutlets, roll them in flour and fry them in a hot frying pan in vegetable oil.

If pork fat was not added to the minced meat, put a small piece of butter (half the size of a teaspoon) inside each cutlet for greater juiciness. After the cutlets are fried on both sides until a golden crust appears, pour a little water into the pan and put them out to probably protect yourself and your loved ones from being infected with parasites.

If cutlets are intended for dietary nutrition and additional fats in the form of fat or butter are excluded, you can add medium-sized boiled carrots to the minced meat during cooking. She will add juiciness to the finished dish and give it an interesting color.

Boiled pike cutlets
Peel, gut, rinse, cut the pike into large portions, put them in a spacious pot with water and put on the stove. When it boils, remove the foam and boil the fish until cooked. Then remove from the stove, remove the pieces from the broth and cool. The broth will come in handy for the fish soup.

Disassemble cooled fish, separating from bones. From the boiled pike it is very convenient to take out all the smallest bones. Peel a large onion, finely chop it and fry it in a frying pan in vegetable oil until it turns golden. Cool. Soak a loaf of white bread in milk (per 1 kg of fillet 100 g of bread).

Scroll the boiled fish fillet with the soaked loaf in a meat grinder, add the fried onions and a couple of chicken eggs, pepper and salt. You can add finely chopped fresh herbs, dill is especially appropriate here.

Stuff the minced meat thoroughly, stick patties out of it and fry them in vegetable oil in a hot skillet. Since the minced fish was boiled, it is not necessary to stew meatballs additionally.

Ear

Pike ear cooked in a pot on a fire from freshly caught fish is a classic dish for every male company spending time outdoors.

Bonfire
Rinse the pike from mucus, clean it of scales, gut it and wash it well again. Cut into large pieces, remove gills from the head. Pour the fish in a pot or pan with water and send to the fire. Do not cover with a lid - the specific smell inherent to a pike will disappear so quickly.

When the water boils, salt it, throw 6-7 pieces of allspice and a few bay leaves into the pot. Cook for 10 minutes from the moment of boiling, then remove the pieces of fish, and strain the entire broth so that no seeds fall into it, and again send to the fire. Put potatoes and carrots, diced, and a whole onion into a pot. Remove the bulb after 10 minutes and discard. While vegetables are boiling, select large bones from the boiled pike and put it back into the pot 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

Before removing the pot from the heat, add a tablespoon of vodka and a handful of chopped greens to your ear. There is such an ear tasting best from a clay bowl with a wooden spoon.

Ear at home
If there is a broth in which pike has already been cooked for meatballs, you can take it as a basis. If there is no such broth, it does not matter: peeled, gutted and cut into pieces pike weighing about 1 kg, pour water and send to a slow fire. Do not cover with a lid.

Peel 5-6 medium potatoes, not very large carrots and a couple of small onions. The broth with fish will boil by this time. Collect foam from it, salt and pepper. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the stove, strain the broth, and set aside the fish for now.

Return the pot of broth to the fire, put diced potatoes and shabby carrots into it. After 10 minutes from the beginning of the boil, put the onion. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, remove and discard the onion and put portioned fish pieces. If desired, pre-boiled pearl barley can be added to the pan. Just before turning off the fire put 3-4 rings of lemon in your ear.

When serving, pour chopped fresh herbs into each plate - it will shade the aroma of the fish. You can also add a salad of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes to your ear.

Canned food

You can cook canned pike yourself. They are stored both in the cellar and in the refrigerator, and they are eaten either with potatoes or vegetables, or with cereals. Since the bones in canned food are so tired that they become soft, canned food can also be safely put on soup.

Pike canned multicooker
The slow cooker greatly facilitates the preparation of canned food, since this modern kitchen equipment is able not only to control the temperature regime, but also automatically turn off after the process is completed. You can cook pike canned food in a multivark in a tomato. To do this, salt (you need a tablespoon of salt, preferably large) and leave for 3 minutes 3 kg of pike, cut into small pieces. Fry them on both sides for 2 minutes in a slow cooker in the appropriate mode. Put there 3 onions, cut into half rings and 2 shabby carrots, fry for another 5 to 6 minutes. Dilute 700 ml of water with 200 g of tomato paste, pour everything into the bowl of the multicooker, put a few leaves of parsley and sprinkle with pepper from the mill.

In the "Extinguishing" mode, continue cooking for another 4 hours. During this time, prepare glass jars with lids, sterilize them, put the canned food in hot jars and seal them tightly.

Pike canned in the oven
If there is no multicooker, you can use the oven, although it is a little more complicated. First, prepare the pike: wash, peel, remove the insides, cut into small pieces and salt, mix and leave for half an hour. To prepare 3 kg of fish you will need a tablespoon of salt without a slide.

Prepare half liter cans. At the bottom of each, put onion, cut in half rings, 1 inflorescence of cloves, 4-5 peas of pepper and one bay leaf. Then tightly stack the fish on the banks. Since during the cooking process it settles, you can put more. Add odorless vegetable oil to each jar, cover with foil and place in an unheated oven. For the first half hour, set the temperature to 150 degrees, during this time the contents of the cans will boil and reduce the temperature to 110 degrees.

Keep the cans in the oven for 5 hours, then carefully remove and tightly seal with sterilized lids.

Instead of oil, you can put in each jar of tomato paste - about 2 tablespoons.

Balyk

To prepare a pike balyk fish scales should not be cleaned. Just a well-washed carcass, in which the head and tail are cut off and the entrails removed, need to be cut along the ridge into two halves. Carefully select all bones - both large and small. Cut the prepared fillet into pieces with a width of about 3 cm. In this form, the fish will quickly salted and dried.

For 1 kg of fillet you will need 150 g of salt and 1.5 tablespoons of granulated sugar.It is very important not to make a mistake with the amount of salt: if there is not enough, the finished balyk will quickly deteriorate, if it turns out to be more than it should be, the fish meat will be too hard and dry.

Spices can take those that you like more. Peas of black pepper, clove inflorescences, bay leaf will work well for a balyk. The main thing is not to overdo it with spices so that they do not hamper the taste of pike and do not interrupt each other. As an option - you can buy in the store a ready-made mixture of spices specifically for fish.

Mix salt, sugar and spices in a bowl, then roll the fish fillet cut into pieces in this mixture and place it either in a glass jar with a wide neck or in a plastic bowl. Cover the pieces with a saucer and put something heavy on it - for example, a jar of water. In this form, under oppression, the fish should be in the refrigerator for a week. Every day, pieces of pike need to be turned over so that the salting passes more evenly.

After a week, rinse the fish fillet with running water and place in a well-ventilated place for drying. You can, of course, dry the fish in the oven, it’s easier and faster, but the classic recipe for balyk suggests airing it in the air. Small pieces will be ready in 2 days, for those larger, it may take a week. But while the balyk is drying up, you need to take a sample every 2 days - this is the only way to guarantee a product that will be to your taste.

To prevent insects, especially flies, from landing on the balyk during airing, you need to wrap the fish with gauze.

How to pickle

The marinade literally transforms the pike, giving it an unusually noble taste. The pulp becomes tender and at the same time spicy. It is better for pickling to take a medium-sized pike - no more than 1 kg, such fishes still do not have time to acquire a characteristic pike smell.

From the prepared pike (peeled and gutted), make a fillet, for which remove the fins and head, cut in half along the ridge and select all the bones with tweezers. Cut the fillet into slices about 1.5 cm wide.

Prepare the marinade: boil 0.5 l of water in a ladle with 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1.5 tablespoons of salt, a couple of leaves of parsley, allspice peas (6-7 pieces), 2 clove inflorescences and 0.5 teaspoon of coriander seeds. Cool and add vinegar essence (teaspoon) to the marinade.

Slices of pike fillet in a glass jar and pour the marinade. Fish should be marinated at a temperature of 20-23 degrees from 2 to 3 hours. During this time, mix the contents of the jar a couple of times, and then put it in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours.

After this period, remove the pike from the marinade and lay in another dish, shifting the layers of fish with chopped onion in half rings (about 2 onions will be needed). Compact the contents a little and fill it with vegetable oil. Put the fish in the refrigerator again, this time for 15 hours, after which the pike can be served. It is especially tasty with potatoes and fresh cucumber salad.

Interesting Facts

1. A pike female lays about 250 thousand eggs for spawning.
2. In the first year after birth, the pike reaches a length of 60–70 cm, but then the growth rate decreases significantly, and the increase for each subsequent year is no more than 2-3 cm.
3. The body of a river pike is shorter and narrower than that of a lake, since a resident of the river has to overcome the strength of the current, and this is more convenient with a shorter and narrower body. At the same time, her muscles are more developed, therefore, her body is denser, which is why at the same length the river pike weighs more than the lake pike.
4. Legend has it that the German Emperor Frederick II in 1230 caught a three-meter pike weighing almost 70 kg with his own hands. She was marked with a golden ring and released back into the water. Allegedly, they caught her in the same lake after 267 years. She already weighed 140 kg and had a length of 570 cm. True, biologists say that these are fairy tales: pikes do not live longer than 33 years.
5. The pike opens its mouth so wide that prey will pass into it wider than its own body. However, she prefers to attack narrow-bodied fish; breams rarely become a pike lunch. By the way, anglers note that in the lakes in which pikes live, crucian carp are more round in shape than in those where it is not found.
6. Cannibalism in a pike society is normal, they easily eat their smaller relatives. So, a fish 120 cm long is able to eat a relative of 70 cm.
7. In Russia, in Nefteyugansk, a monument to pike was erected.
8. In the American city of Hayward (Wisconsin), a building more than 40 m high was built in the shape of a pike. An observation deck and a cafe are located in the head of a freshwater predator, and the body is given to the Museum of Fishing Glory.

Pike photo