You know you should know how to prepare gefilte fish, but, really, a recipe would help
“Really, what’s the big deal? I don’t need to ask my MIL how to cook it.”
That’s what you told yourself last time you cooked some good old gefilte fish and then, your husband covered it with so much tehina and chrein you just couldn’t ignore it and you knew it didn’t taste as it should.
1 gefilte fish roll (there are many brands out there.. I like to use A&B (original one) or Freund’s Simcha Roll)
2-3 large carrots or 5 small ones, peeled and cut (how they are cut wont matter much)
2 onions, peeled and quartered
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoons black pepper
Instructions
Place all ingredients, but the gefilte inside a pot that will be large enough to hold the roll as well. Fill with water until you just cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
At this point, it is important to TASTE THE WATER. I cannot stress this enough. Every carrot is different and you might need to adjust the sugar or add some salt. You are looking for lots of flavor. Bland water will give you a bland gefilte fish roll.
Gently lower the gefilte fish, with the parchment paper paper, into the simmering water. It needs to be at least a little bit over halfway submerged in the water. The key is to bring it to a gentle simmer and not higher, for 1 ½ hours.
Once cooked, turn off heat. Don’t let the gefilte fish cool off in the pot or it will get soggy. You need to carefully remove it, while still hot (use two large spoons to help you or a metal spatula). Unwrap the gefilte from the parchment paper and let cool on a dish or disposable pan. Drain off excess liquid that might seep out.
Once cooled, you can transfer to a Pyrex or Tupperware container and refrigerate, with some carrots (for decorating purposes). Slice gefilte only when completely cooled off.
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Note: Some people like the liquid of the gefilte and store it with the liquid. My family personally likes it as dry as we can get it. If you like the liquid, make sure to refrigerate the gefilte with the liquid, about halfway up.
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Renee Muller
Renee is a sought-after food and lifestyle stylist and the author of two cookbooks. With dishes and linens as her paint palette, it’s her artistry that weaves a beautiful story in the photos on this site.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Bsays
This is hilarious! Just the other day my sil was out of town, and the babysitter and the Housekeeper and I were all sitting together trying to figure out how to make the gefilte Fish! You read our minds! Gmar Chasima Tova!
My mil who was a fabulous cook taught me to add a potatoe thickly sliced with the onions and carrots. It gives the fish great flavor! You can also add some granulated garlic or fresh garlic cloves too. For those men that like the sauce jellied, add pike skin in a mesh bag with the veggies. When fish is done strain the liquid with some veggies into a container ( throw out the pike skin). The liquid will jell in the refrigerator.
This recipe is actually AMAZING! I have tried to add sugar/salt/carrots to the water but did not get these result until I followed this recipe. Thank you so much for enhancing my family’s Shabbos seudah!!!
This is hilarious! Just the other day my sil was out of town, and the babysitter and the Housekeeper and I were all sitting together trying to figure out how to make the gefilte Fish! You read our minds! Gmar Chasima Tova!
My mil who was a fabulous cook taught me to add a potatoe thickly sliced with the onions and carrots. It gives the fish great flavor! You can also add some granulated garlic or fresh garlic cloves too. For those men that like the sauce jellied, add pike skin in a mesh bag with the veggies. When fish is done strain the liquid with some veggies into a container ( throw out the pike skin). The liquid will jell in the refrigerator.
I just put it in a foil pan in the oven with salt pepper and sugar covered for an hr and a half and it comes out perfect every time!
A thin slice of fresh ginger will also enhance flavor as well as remove fishy smell.
What do you increase if you cook 2 rolls in 1 pot?
Nothing! I just make sure the pot is large enough to accomodate both rolls…. and usually its the same amount of water too.
I actually make my own gefilte rolls. I thought that’s what this article is about. Oh well, you can contact me if you’d like to feature that one day.
This recipe is actually AMAZING! I have tried to add sugar/salt/carrots to the water but did not get these result until I followed this recipe. Thank you so much for enhancing my family’s Shabbos seudah!!!