With the current food abundance, almost any product can be found in supermarkets. Often, a “guest” on the shelves recently became a fish of the line, which was previously popular in Russia only in the Far East. However, in many countries of the world this marine life is highly valued, and there are many recipes for its preparation.

Monkfish - what kind of fish is it?

Anglerfish or anglerfish is a member of the anglerfish family. These are predatory marine fish of rather large sizes. The body length of an adult reaches 150-200 cm, and its weight is more than 20 kg.

The fish got such a name because of its extremely unattractive appearance. She has a huge head with a wide mouth, in which sharp, bent inward teeth are visible. They are arranged in one or two rows, depending on the subspecies of the individual. The maxillary jaw bones are flexible, which allows the predator to swallow prey of considerable size.

Did you know? In the old days, representatives of this species of underwater inhabitants terrified people. There was a legend that the monkfish could bite the most durable boats and drag fishermen to the bottom. However, no cases of attack of this fish on humans have been reported.

The body of the anglerfish is wide, painted in brown. Whitish spots are visible on the back of the fish, and the abdomen is slightly lighter than the rest of the body. The skin of the monkfish is very smooth.

Anglers live in the Pacific waters, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Sea of ​​Japan. And also populations of these fish are found in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. In some areas, their capture is prohibited due to a decrease in numbers.

Taste quality of fish

The meat of the monkfish is white and dense, there are practically no bones in it. The fish has a delicate pleasant taste, while almost devoid of a specific smell. When frying fillets or carcasses of anglers, you can not be afraid that all the neighbors will be aware of what the hostess is preparing dinner from.

Another advantage of this marine inhabitant is that its meat contains a small amount of calories: only 76 kcal per 100 g. For this reason, the monkfish can be included in the diet of people who adhere to the principles of healthy eating.

All parts of the carcass are suitable for cooking, including caviar, stomach and liver. The latter is considered a delicacy and pickled in vinegar sauce.

Different countries have their own ways of preparing a monkfish. For example, in France it is most often served boiled or stewed, and sometimes fried on skewers. Chinese people cook this fish with soy sauce and hot spices, and serve with rice. Koreans make soups with plenty of vegetables and spicy dressing from anglers. Americans mostly grill the sea line or prepare meatballs with vegetable sauce from it.

Consider the most common recipes for cooking dishes from this type of fish.

Baked fish fillet in the oven with vegetables

If you can’t get the fillet of a monkfish, you can take the whole carcass. This fish has few bones, and removing them is not difficult.

To bake a dish in the oven with vegetables, you will need these products:

  • skinless fish fillet;
  • onion;
  • garlic cloves;
  • Tomatoes
  • 4-5 eggs;
  • salt and spices;
  • any greens.

How to cook monkfish in the oven with vegetables:

  1. Cut the fillet into large pieces, dip in boiling water, salt a little and cook for 5-7 minutes.
  2. We discard the pieces of fish in a colander so that the glass is liquid, and they cool slightly.
  3. Grind onions and garlic, fry until soft.
  4. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water, remove the peel, cut and send to the vegetables, after which we simmer for a quarter of an hour over low heat, and then remove from the burner and cool.
  5. Beat the eggs, and when the vegetable mixture has completely cooled, add them to the frying.
  6. We lay out the fish pieces in a refractory bowl, salt, sprinkle with spices and pour the sauce, and then send it to the oven.

When the dish is ready, it will need to cool slightly, and then sprinkle with herbs and serve. In some countries, the monkfish with vegetables is eaten only cold, waiting about an hour until it cools completely.

Cooking Creamy Soup

Anglers meat is dense, and pieces of fish do not boil in soups. Therefore, the dishes not only turn out delicious, but also look attractive.

To make creamy soup, you need the following ingredients:

  • carcass or fillet of a monkfish;
  • bulb;
  • carrot;
  • several potato tubers;
  • cream (can be replaced with cream cheese);
  • greenery;
  • salt and spices.

How to cook creamy seafood soup:

  1. We cut the fish, put in a pan and set to cook, slightly salted. When the water boils, you will need to regularly remove the pop-up foam.
  2. We clean the potatoes, cut them as conveniently, and when the fish ceases to emit foam, put it in the broth.
  3. Grind onions and carrots, fry and send to the soup after the potatoes reach the stage of semi-preparedness.
  4. We wait for boiling, introduce cream or cream cheese, pour chopped herbs and leave the dish over low heat for about 5-7 minutes.

Serve fish soup with pieces of white or black bread. And if you have time, you can make croutons.

Fried fish in a pan

Not every hostess can devote a lot of time for cooking dinner. In this case, you just have to fry the monkfish in a pan.

This will require the following products:

  • fish fillet;
  • half a lemon;
  • some eggs;
  • 50 ml of milk;
  • Wheat flour;
  • salt and any seasoning suitable for fish dishes.

How to cook monkfish in a pan:

  1. We cut the angler into portions, rub it with salt and seasonings, pour over the lemon.
  2. Beat the eggs in a deep bowl, pour the milk.
  3. Pour the flour in such an amount that the batter is obtained by consistency like a dough for fritters.
  4. Dip the pieces of fish in the batter, spread on a preheated pan and fry on both sides.

On a note. It is possible to fry the sea line and grill. To do this, salt and spice up fish pieces, and then grease their surface with odorless oil. After this, it remains only to lay them out on a wire rack and proceed with cooking.

Shrimp and Shrimp Salad

To surprise guests with an unusual dish, you can prepare a salad from the sea line with shrimp.

This will require the following components:

  • fillet of a monkfish;
  • pickled shrimp;
  • onion;
  • fresh mushrooms of any kind;
  • some chicken eggs;
  • light mayonnaise sauce.

How to make a salad:

  1. Boil the eggs, cool, clean and cut into small cubes.
  2. Fry the mushrooms with onions, boil the monkfish, and then let the components cool.
  3. Drain the shrimp from the marinade and add to the eggs.
  4. We introduce mushrooms with onions and fish fillet, add salt.
  5. At the end, dress with mayonnaise.

When serving, you can decorate the salad with sprigs of any greens.

Rice with fish and seafood

This is another recipe for seafood lovers, according to which you can cook monkfish with shrimp and rice.

The following products will be required for such a dish:

  • fish fillet;
  • shrimp or other seafood;
  • rice
  • garlic cloves;
  • soy sauce.

How to cook fish:

  1. Boil the rice until cooked, rinse and leave to drain in a colander.
  2. We cut the monkfish into cubes and send it to fry with garlic and other seafood.
  3. When the fish and other ingredients are ready, we introduce rice, pour the dish with soy sauce and mix gently.

After that, the hell with rice and seafood needs to be tapped for a short while on the stove, and then you can remove the pan from the heat and lay the dish on plates.

On the basis of the above recipes, you can come up with your own ways to prepare a monkfish. This fish goes well with any vegetables and many types of seasonings, which allows you to create many different dishes for every taste and budget.

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