Where I live it is impossible to even order pike, whitefish, carp, etc.
in order to make one's own gefilte fish. After a couple of experiments,
I have just made a great batch of gefilte fish out of tilapia.
I used two whole tilapia and about 1.5 pounds of fillets. After fileting
the whole fish and making sure to scrape all I could off the bones and
skin, I put the heads and bones in a large pot along with water to cover
plus two inches, one pound of carrots scraped and sliced and two large
sweet onions (in this case Texas 1015). I added some salt and white
pepper. This has to be done to your own taste.
Cook the bones and vegetables for 30 minutes. While the broth is
cooking, make the fish balls.
I used the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid "Artisan" mixer to
grind the fish that I had scraped from the bones and skin of the whole
tilapias and the fillets. I added one large onion to the grinder after
the fish.
To the bowl of ground fish and onion, add two large eggs, salt and white
pepper to taste and approximately 1/8 cup of matzo meal or just enough
to slightly bind the mixture. It must be kept loose. It should be just
tight enough so that when you form it into a ball or patty, it doesn't
come apart.
After the broth has cooked, remove the bones and head with a slotted
spoon. Keep the broth simmering.
Wet your hands with cold water and gently shape the fish into
oval-shaped balls or patties. Lower them into the simmering broth.
Simmer gently for 20 minutes, shaking the pot two or three times to
insure the balls don't stick together.
Let cool in the pot for 30 minutes. Remove the fish balls with a slotted
spoon and place in a container. Remove the carrots and onions to the
same container. Using a mesh strainer, pour enough broth over the fish
to come half-way up the sides of the balls. Chill. The liquid will gel.
The recipe and method is my late mother's. She used pike, whitefish,
carp and "buffel" or mullet, but I have to say the tilapia gave me a
result that was really close to hers. The recipe makes about 16 servings
and cost me about $10.
It does take more time to make than opening a jar but, if you are like
me and remember the taste of home made gefilte fish, nothing in a jar is
even remotely close.
Chag Sa'maich.
Janet
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