White-eyed fish

Being a bright representative of the carp family, white-eyed fish can often be confused with bream in appearance. But, unlike the latter, the white-eye has a more elongated and flat body. They are also very similar in size: with an average weight of 1 kilogram, in length they reach 35 centimeters. The white-eye has its own distinctive features. First, a rather short fin on the back. And secondly, a swollen thick stigma with large bulging eyes. The white-eyed fish owes its name to the light silver iris of the eyes - another distinctive feature.

The habitat of this fish is considered to be the southern regions of the large rivers of Europe, which flow into the Azov, Black and Caspian Seas: from the Volga and Syrdarya to the Danube and the Dnieper. By the way, white-eyed fish are also found in the basins of the White Sea rivers: Volkhov and Northern Dvina.

If in the water it is a surprisingly agile and agile fish, then as soon as the white-eye is on land, it quickly loses its muscle elasticity, silvery hue and deforms. Due to the fact that this fish is perishable, after catching it must be prepared or frozen as soon as possible. You can eat white-eyed fish in any form. It is fried, boiled, salted and smoked. However, the best way to prepare this river beauty is considered to be drying and drying, and necessarily in its whole form. For several days, the fish is left to suck in saturated table salt solution, then washed and dried in the sun and wind.

According to gastronomic properties, white-eyed fish does not belong to valuable breeds, since its meat, although it is distinguished by its tenderness and fat content, but it has a lot of small bones. After you clean the fish, easily freeing it from the scales with a knife or fish cleaning, you can fry the white-eyed fish in breaded or add it to the ear during the preparation of the first broth. If you remove the ridge bone and ribs, you can make minced meat, which is remarkably suitable for fish meatballs, cutlets or pate.