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Filleting perch - Peter's tips and best recipes

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Can you fillet perch? I can't (Helena), but luckily Peter is an ace at handling fish in the kitchen. Perch is a "Swedish precious" that many Swedes catch at the piers, and is one of our absolute favourites. Eating perch feels luxurious in many ways. It's relatively expensive, it takes a little extra time in the kitchen, and it's delicious. Today we are sharing Peter's best recipe for perch.

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What do you need?

To fillet perch and make a delicious dinner, you need a cutting board and a sharp fish knife. For this recipe, you also need perch (of course!), potatoes, whipped cream, white wine, lemon, dill (can be frozen or dried) and salt and pepper. If you are lucky enough to get perch stuffed with roe, you may also need eggs and breadcrumbs.

When you fillet a perch, you get relatively small fillets, so we bought five fish for the two of us. Peter usually buys fish in the shop The world of food, which has fresh fish at a good price, and paid SEK 89 per kilo.

Abborre recept

We start by skinning the perch

First, the perch must be skinned! Peter starts by cutting off the tail. He then makes a cut diagonally forward towards the head of the fish, and another cut along the spine of the fish. After this, it should be possible to pull off the skin on both sides! If the fish is really fresh, this is quite easy. If it's not quite as fresh, you may have to struggle a bit to get the skin off ...

When we get the skin off, the entrails go with it and (if we're lucky) the roe as well. Pull off the skin from behind and you get everything up to the neck and then break it off with the guts and all in one.

Rensa abborre
We start by cutting off the tail
Abborre rensa
A cut diagonally forward towards the fish's head
Abborre
A cut along the spine of the fish
Filea abborre
The skin can now be pulled off on both sides down to the abdomen.
Abborre ryggfena
Beware of the dorsal fin when filleting perch - it's sharp!
Filea abborre rom
Here comes the rum! (Available only occasionally)

Now is the time to fillet Perch.

Now that we've removed the skin and entrails, it's time to make fine fillets. Peter starts by removing the dorsal fin. Then you have to cut the fillets from the backbone. From each fish you get two relatively thin (but super fine!) fillets.

Abborre filea
Here we get something that starts to look like fillets.
Abborre fiskkniv
Now it's time to pull the dorsal fin from the back to the front.
Filea abborre
The dorsal fin is loose!
Abborre rom och filé
One dish with rum and one with fillet pieces (not yet fully filleted)
Abborre filé
Finally, we cut the thin fillets from the backbone.

Do this!

Run the knife along the backbone and feel the knife take up all the bones. Now take the knife and angle it slightly at an angle along the side bones to get the fillet out. Do this carefully and try to get as much out as possible.

Recipe for perch

So, how should you cook your perch fillet now? There are of course many different ways, but here's Peter's favourite recipe, as we ate it last night. Mix whipped cream, white wine with dill, lemon, salt and pepper and place in a baking dish with the fish fillets.

Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes (20 minutes may be needed for more people). Serve with boiled potatoes and boiled broccoli. I find it hard to get tired of this, but in the unlikely event that you do, there are even more recipes for perch. at ICA.

If you happen to get perch with roe: Crack two egg yolks into a bowl and add salt and pepper. Put the breadcrumbs on a plate. Roll the roe in the yolk and then the breadcrumbs and fry at medium temperature, about four minutes on each side. A fantastic and luxurious dinner!

Abborre rom
Peter rolls the roe first in egg yolk, salt and pepper, and then in breadcrumbs.
Steka rom abborre
We fry "rum balls" (rum bags, perhaps).
Abborre recept
Oven-baked perch fillet with creamy sauce, fried "rum balls", boiled potatoes and boiled broccoli

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