Christmas stuffed carp in Czech style. Christmas carp stuffed with vegetables Christmas carp baked in the oven

Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: 90 min

Ingredients:
- fresh carp (1.5–2 kg) – 1 pc.;
- carrots – 1-2 pcs.;
- leek – 1 pc.;
- petiole celery – 3-4 stalks;
- parsley root – 1 pc.;
- seasoning for fish;
- dry granulated garlic;
- dry thyme;
- black pepper;
- sunflower oil;
- light beer;
- salt.

Recipe with photos step by step:

Prepare all the ingredients needed for baking fish. The carp for this dish must be taken alive. The fish must be scaled and all entrails and gills removed. Wash well under running water.

Now you need to prepare the vegetables for stuffing the carp. Peel the carrot and parsley roots and cut into thin slices. Cut the white part of the leek into rings. Chop the celery stalks.

Mix a teaspoon of salt with freshly ground pepper, fish seasoning, dried thyme and granulated garlic. We take approximately half a teaspoon of all seasonings. Rub this spicy mixture generously over the top and inside of the fish.

While the carp is marinating, take care of the vegetables. Place the chopped vegetables in a heated frying pan with sunflower oil and simmer them over medium heat, stirring frequently. Add a little salt and bay leaf. When the carrots and parsley are soft, turn off the heat. There is no need to fry until golden brown.

Place the fish in a heat-resistant bowl and fill the belly with stewed vegetables.

Using a sharp knife, make several cuts on the fish and pour light beer over it.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and place the carp stuffed with vegetables in it. The fish is baked for about an hour. During the baking process, you need to pour beer over it several times.

Take the baked carp, which is fragrant with fragrant seasonings and the subtle aroma of beer, out of the oven, place it on a beautiful dish and serve hot. If your guests are late or you decide to cook the fish in advance, then cover it with food foil, so the dish remains hot for an hour. This is how Christmas carp is prepared in the Old Polish way.

Bon appetit and Merry Christmas everyone!
Author: Liliya Purgina
Where there are carp, there are crucian carp. Try cooking again

Christmas in many countries is celebrated on such a scale that no other holiday is awarded. Is this why it is associated with many traditions that are customarily observed strictly? In the Czech Republic, this is the preparation of the famous Prague carp. This dish has become a mandatory attribute of the holiday since the 19th century.

Czechs believe that there should not be a single piece of meat on the Christmas table. It is not customary to replace carp with other fish, especially sea fish. There is a belief that in this case you release your happiness into the depths of the sea with your own hands.

Where did the Christmas carp tradition come from?

No one knows for sure where this tradition came from. It is believed that she was born in times of famine, when carp became the most accessible food. One version says that the Franciscan monks were the first to breed carp back in the 15th century in order to diversify their table. In the 16th century, each village, according to state decree, had to dig its own pond. And when difficult times came for many Czechs at the beginning of the 19th century, it was carp that became the main food, since its price in those days was low.

But if earlier carp were caught in ordinary reservoirs, now this fish is grown in specially equipped ponds. Before Christmas, the water from the ponds is drained. There are only small backwaters where all the fish gather. During catching, these islands of water are blocked with nets. The next stage is the installation of a large net using a tractor that drives along the drained part of the pond. When the net is installed, the fish are driven using poles into the central part of the pool. Then the tractor on one side, and the fishermen on the other, pull the net with the fish stuffed into it to the sorting point.

Pike and other fish are sorted separately. The carp are also sorted depending on the size of each individual. After this, he ends up in special water tanks, in which he will have to swim for a whole month. This is done so that the carp meat stops smelling like a swamp. At the same time, he is fed with special food.

A very interesting video on this topic.

Carp and Christmas traditions

About a week before Christmas Eve, the carps are transferred to different tanks, wooden barrels and other containers and brought to the streets of Prague. Here, sellers with frostbitten fingers (after all, it’s not hot outside these days) sell carp to everyone. A whole line of buyers selects carp based on their taste - by shape, size, fat content and even scale size. They choose the scales for a reason - after all, Prague residents believe that one of the scales must be put in your wallet to attract good luck. And then carry it with you until next Christmas.

Recently, a new tradition has emerged related to Christmas carp. Many people now do not bake it, but keep it in their own bath until Christmas Eve (December 24). On this day, the carp that lived in the family is released into the wild. Usually this ritual is performed by the whole family, together with children. Many carps even receive names during this time.

Since it is still not customary for Christmas to pass without carp on the table, in many cases 2 fish are bought, one of which is intended for release into the wild, and a delicious dish is prepared from the other. This tradition is becoming more and more popular every year. And more and more Prague residents come to the banks of the ponds to watch the Christmas carp wave its tail “for good luck” as it goes under the water.

Fried carp recipe

You will need:

• Carp prepared for cooking
• 2 eggs
• 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil

1. The carp must be divided into 6 pieces, then salted and laid out with lemons cut into slices. In this form, leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Mix eggs with milk and mix well. Dip the pieces of fish into the resulting batter, then dip them into a plate with breadcrumbs and start frying.
3. Heat the frying pan well, pour in vegetable oil, then reduce the heat and fry the fish over low heat.

Serve fish prepared in this way with mashed potatoes or potato salad.

Recipe for cooking carp with beer

You will need:

• Carp prepared for cooking
• 250 ml light beer
• 1 onion
• A little lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 50 g butter
• Black pepper
• Ground cumin

1. The carp must be divided into 6 pieces, then salted, peppered and poured with a small amount of beer. Leave to marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
2. The onion must be cut into rings and fried until golden brown in a frying pan.
3. Place the onion on the marinated fish, pour in the remaining beer, sprinkle with lemon juice, sprinkle with cumin (you can also add sweet paprika if desired), add butter and simmer. Readiness is determined by the softness of the fish.

Serve stewed carp with mashed potatoes or potato salad.

Stuffed carp recipe

You will need:

• Prepared carp (1.3 kg)
• 4 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 onion
• 0.5 lemon
• 150 g champignons
• 70 g butter
• Black pepper

1. Wash the mushrooms and chop finely
2. Peel and cut the onion into cubes
3. Fry the onions and mushrooms until golden brown (approximately 7 minutes), then add wine and simmer for 7 minutes.
4. Cool the filling
5. Rub the carp with a mixture of salt and pepper inside and out, and sprinkle with lemon juice before stuffing. Coat with melted butter and place on a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes. While baking, brush the fish regularly with melted butter. This will give the carp a golden color.

There are so many countries, so many New Year traditions and culinary customs. For example, in the Czech Republic there must be carp on the Christmas table. The most interesting thing is that this dish is not a Czech invention at all, but an Austrian-German one, but neither in Austria nor in Germany did carp become such a popular and iconic dish as in the Czech Republic. People believe that anyone who carries carp scales in their wallet all year will not have problems with money))). There are many recipe options for baked stuffed carp, I suggest you try one of them, which is very simple to make.

Ingredients for "Christmas carp in Czech style":

Carp (1.3 kg) – 1 piece
Champignons – 150 g
Onion - 1 piece
Lemon - 1/2 pcs
Butter (melted) - 70 g
Salt (to taste)
Allspice (to taste)
Dry white wine - 4 tbsp. l.

Recipe for "Christmas carp in Czech style":

Preparing the carp.

Finely chop the mushrooms.

Fry our filling in oil for 7 minutes, then add 4 tbsp wine. l. and simmer for the same amount.

Cool the filling.

Rub the carp with salt and pepper inside and out, pour lemon juice over the inside, and stuff it.
Place on a baking sheet, brush with melted butter and place in the oven for 45 minutes (temperature 180 degrees). It is necessary to lubricate with oil 3-4 more times during the cooking process. It is from butter that the fish will look golden.

Our fish is ready. Arrange beautifully and serve.
Carp is also good cold.

Bon appetit and be healthy!

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Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not indicated

In different countries, some traditional dishes are prepared for the New Year and Christmas holidays: in Russia-Ukraine-Belarus you will definitely find, in America and Great Britain - baked turkey, in France - duck liver... But in the Czech Republic they usually cook carp on these days: this tradition has been preserved since the 18th century. They say that according to the classic recipe, carp was cut into portions and fried in a frying pan - although it turned out simple, it was very tasty. These days, housewives are much more inventive and prepare Christmas carp in many ways: for example, baked in the oven with mushrooms and lemon. This dish looks very impressive and is also lean (which is important for many). Czech Christmas carp baked with mushrooms and lemon will surprise your guests and delight your family with its delicious taste. We will cook it in foil. By the way, you can look and choose new solutions and ideas for yourself.
Carp baked in the oven in foil: recipe with photos.
Ingredients:
- 1 carp weighing about 1 kg;
- 200 g champignons;
- 1 lemon;
- 1 tbsp. l. olive oil;
- salt - to taste;
- ground black pepper - to taste;
- a few sprigs of parsley;
- greens for decoration;
- vegetable oil for frying mushrooms.

How to cook with photos step by step

Wash the carp, clean and gut it, leaving the head and tail. This is not a very pleasant activity and is also troublesome, but now many supermarkets often sell fresh river fish that has already been properly processed. So sometimes I get lucky (like today) and buy already gutted carp. All I can do is rinse it under running water.

We make shallow cuts on the sides of the fish - 3-4 pcs on each side.

Salt and pepper the carp – both outside and always inside.

Prepare the marinade. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon and combine with olive oil. Mix.

Carefully coat the carp with marinade - again, both the inside and the outside. The most convenient way to do this is with a silicone brush - then you will be absolutely sure that the marinade will end up exactly where it is needed, and not on the plate or countertop. And leave the carp to marinate for 20-30 minutes at room temperature.

While the fish is marinating, prepare the filling. Cut the mushrooms into slices and fry in a small amount of vegetable oil, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes over low heat.

We leave a few plates of mushrooms to decorate the carp, and mix the rest with parsley. Salt and pepper the filling to taste.

Carefully place the filling into the belly of the carp.

Place the carp on a large enough piece of foil for baking.
By the way, it turns out very tasty

Cut the rest of the lemon into half rings and insert into the slits on the back of the fish. You may need to increase the size of the cuts a little to get the lemon to fit snugly into them. But don’t overdo it - after all, the lemon pieces should simply be attached to the back of the fish, and not be completely hidden in it. And one more thing - a cut that is too deep will open up unsightly during baking, so keep this in mind.

Now it’s the turn of those champignon slices that we put aside after frying them. We lay them beautifully on the carp between lemon slices. Actually, this completes all the preparation of fish for baking.

Now we need to carefully wrap the carp in foil. As I already wrote, the piece of foil should be large enough so that the stuffed carp is completely wrapped in it. When wrapping, we need to take into account that during the baking process we will have to unroll the foil. The most convenient way of wrapping is the following: conditionally divide a piece of foil into 2 halves. Place the carp on one half and cover the other half. And carefully twist the ends of the foil together. It turns out to be a kind of bag, which can then be conveniently and quickly opened. Place the carp in foil in the oven, preheated to 200-220 degrees for 20 minutes.

After this time, we take out the baked stuffed carp and carefully unfold the foil, trying not to tear it.
The carp will release a fairly large amount of juice, and if you do everything correctly, this juice will remain in the foil. Place the carp in the oven again, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Place the finished carp on a plate and serve, garnished with vegetables and herbs. Bon appetit and happy Christmas holidays to you and your loved ones!




Tips and tricks:
Instead of champignons, you can use other mushrooms. But in this case, you should take into account their cooking time when you pre-fry them in a frying pan - most likely, it will increase.
You can add other ingredients to the filling to suit your taste - chopped garlic, celery, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.
Boiled potatoes or rice are suitable as a side dish for baked carp.
Carp is a very tasty fish, but it has one drawback - it has too many bones. Therefore, be careful and careful when you eat baked carp.
This recipe is very versatile, so you can bake any other fish, both river and sea, this way.