Smelt fish

Smelt is a small silvery fish with an elongated body that is covered with easily falling scales. It is customary to distinguish between European toothed smelt, Asian and its freshwater subspecies - snet or dwarf smelt. Smelt fish live in Western Europe, or rather in its northwestern part - in the basins of the North and Baltic Seas, in Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga. Smelt fish do not belong to large species of fish - its standard size is about 10 centimeters, and the maximum hardly exceeds 3

5. This fish does not gain more than 300 grams of weight in its entire life.

Smelt fish is the main commercial fish of part of the Gulf of Finland and the Neva. Most of the catch is dried in special snow drying plants, after which it is ready for sale in salted, dried, smoked and dried form. Fewer smelt fish arrive at store counters in ice cream or chilled form.

The fatty flesh of smelt fish is highly appreciated in cooking, which is remarkably suitable for both frying and more gentle cooking methods. During the spawning season, it is often sold with caviar, which also has excellent taste. You can cook soup from smelt fish, bake it in the oven with vegetables, deep fry it and on a grill, cook it in batter or put it out. But do not forget that during the frying process, you cannot cover the fish with a lid, otherwise it will fall apart. By the way, small fish are usually fried with a lot of salt and served as a snack for beer.