Chopped and fried gefilte fish aka ‘fishballs’

How to make delicious, crispy, ‘chopped & fried’ gefilte fish balls from scratch – so much better than shop bought! Eat them with chraine for a real treat.

Chopped and fried gefilte fish, or ‘C&F’ as it was known in our house, was a regular fixture on our family menu. My Grandma would make it every week, on a Thursday. She would first mince the fish and onion using a hand-cranked mincing machine, then add the egg, seasoning and matza meal “until it looks right”. I don’t think she ever referred to a recipe.

Read the label

Significantly, Grandma kept her dry ingredients in unlabelled glass jars in a cupboard – she could see the contents through the glass so why bother with labels? One week, the fishballs just didn’t taste right. There was an awkward atmosphere around the table as we ate them. Then someone mentioned it… Apparently Grandma had grabbed the desiccated coconut instead of the matza meal! Oops!

Gefilte fish

Fish balls have evolved from the traditional Ashkenazi ‘gefilte fish’. This would have been made from carp or other freshwater fish which was minced then stuffed back inside the fish skin before and poaching. Today  in the UK the fish used is usually sea fish, and the mixture is simply formed into balls or patties and then fried or baked. The balls can also be poached in fish stock if preferred.

Crispy and delicious

Grandma’s gefilte fish balls would be fried in an open frying pan in about 1-2cm of oil. She always knew when the oil was the right temperature, and her chopped and fried fish always came out crispy and browned – delicious! Hot, freshly-fried fishballs are the best!

Excuses, excuses…

These days, I’m afraid I don’t make fried gefilte fish on a weekly basis. A couple of reasons: 1) You can buy pretty good ones in the supermarket (not as good as home made, but OK), and 2) frying fish makes your hair, clothes and house STINK. My Mum has a single electric ring in her garage that she uses when making chopped and fried, and she wears an old dressing gown and a shower hat while she does it! 

Perfect temperature

Since I don’t make chopped and fried gefilte fish so often, I do need a little help with getting the frying just right. The most important thing is the oil temperature, which can be hard to gauge, so I use a Thermapen kitchen thermometer. 

You may think that a kitchen thermometer is the sort of gadget that only professional chefs would require, but I was surprised by how useful it is in a domestic kitchen too. Using it to measure the temperature of my frying oil, for example, meant that the whole process was easier, and less stressful, and the results were much more consistent.

Useful gadget

The Thermapen is chunky and easy to use. It gives an accurate temperature reading in only 3 seconds on its large format digital display. It’s waterproof, so easy to clean. Best of all the probe folds up when not in use. This means you can chuck it in a drawer and not worry about spearing yourself! The Thermapen switches on automatically when you unfold the probe, and it can be angled so that it’s easy to insert into whatever you’re measuring – whether it’s hot oil or other liquid, or solid foods like meat, fish or even baked goods.

Did you know you can test whether your challah is cooked by measuring the internal temperature? It’s done at 190°C, in case you’re interested. 

Which fish?

Grandma used a mixture of hake and haddock, but any flaky white fish is fine. There’s no need to splurge on expensive fishes like halibut though, since you’re only going to mince it! Staples like cod are perfect for this recipe.

Frying fish

Interestingly, gefilte fish is not fried across most of the world. If I’d had to guess which nation had thought to immerse the balls in hot oil, I would probably have said America. No, apparently it’s we Brits who came up with the chopped and fried fishball. Well done us! 

Serve these hot, warm or cold, with a dollop of extra-strong chraine (horseradish and beetroot sauce) on the side. Makes 16-18.

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Print Pin

Chopped and fried gefilte fish balls

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine jewish

Keyword fish

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Chilling 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 18 fishballs

Calories 67kcal

Author Helen

Equipment

• Food processor
• Food thermometer

Ingredients

• 400 g white fish e.g. hake, haddock, cod, or a mixture (approx. 14 oz.)
• 1 egg
• ½ a medium onion
• 25 g medium matza meal (approx. 3 tbsp)
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Approx. 500ml (approx. 2¼ cups) vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

• Finely chop the fish in the food processor. Remove from the bowl and set aside.
• Peel and chop the onion, then put in the food processor with the egg and pulse until well combined and almost liquid.
• Return the fish to the food processor with the onion/egg mixture, add the matza meal and seasoning, and pulse until everything is just combined. Tip the mixture into a bowl or other container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

When you're ready to fry

• Fill a small saucepan with oil to a depth of 2-3cm (approx. 1 inch). Place on a medium flame and heat to 190°C (375°F). Use a food thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil.
• While the oil is heating, divide the fish mixture into 18 pieces, and roll each into a ball - this is most easily done with wet hands. Place the balls on a plate or chopping board ready for frying.
• Once the oil is the correct temperature, use a slotted spoon to carefully immerse 4-5 fish balls, one at a time, into the oil. The oil will bubble up immediately but should calm down quite quickly.
• Don't be tempted to cook more than 4 or 5 fish balls at a time! The oil temperature will drop when you add them to the pan, and too many will lower the temperature too much, meaning that they won't cook properly and will absorb oil and taste greasy.
• Fry the fish balls, turning regularly, for about 5-6 minutes until a dark golden brown all over. Carefully remove from the pan using a slotted spoon, and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
• Repeat with the remaining balls until they are all cooked.

Notes

Use your thermometer to keep checking the oil temperature as the fish balls cook. If it goes above 190°C (375°F), turn down the heat, otherwise the fish balls will brown too quickly and may still be uncooked in the centre.

For more delicious fish dishes, take a look at these! Easy and impressive grilled sea bass with sauce vierge; Delicious baked fish with hawaij spices and rainbow peppers; Quick and tasty baked salmon with sun-dried tomatoes. 

NB: I was provided with a Thermapen kitchen thermometer to try. I was not obliged to write a positive review and all opinions are my own.

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