Amber chestnut ear from perch

Many argue, whether there is something fish soup and an ear from river perch. The recipe for the second course is very specific. If we use different vegetables in soups - carrots, garlic, celery root and the like, then the ear will accept only one additional ingredient - potatoes. Inveterate fishermen believe that fragrant vegetables only eclipse the unusual taste of the main ingredient. In Ukrainian cuisine, a handful of cereals (buckwheat or millet) is traditionally placed in the ear, and in Russian it will be put out in the kazanok with a burning fire - to give the dish a smell of smoke.

There is one more nuance. Preparation of the ears from perch requires the removal of only the viscera and gills. While in fish soups the bird is cleaned from the scales. If we are talking about the canons of Russian cuisine, we can not fail to mention the so-called "triple ear". Begin to cook it with one third of the catch. Then they get the fish, the broth is filtered and another part is cast into the pan. Then the same procedure is done with the rest of the fish. There is also the "royal ear". This is when choosing from the cook all the small things, and the broth is laid pieces of noble fish - sturgeon, salmon or trout. But we are now going to boil an ordinary soup, from a simple river perch. I will only note that the smaller the fish, the more delicious the dish is.

All that is enough theory, we turn to practice. We take out a large saucepan in which our ears from perch will be brewed. We put gutted fish there and fill it with cold water. The level of the liquid should rise above the perch by only one and a half centimeters, no more, otherwise we will not get richness. We put the cauldron on the fire. As soon as it boils in a saucepan, reduce the heat and remove the foam with a noise. Among the gourmet fishermen, discussions are being held whether the "noise" in the ear is useful or not. Some believe that from his dish goes cloudy. Others argue that the foam attached to the cook. We will dwell on a compromise: we will make a noise, but we will throw in the boiling water also the unpurified (but washed) bulb.

We have seven minutes to clean and cut into large pieces two or three potatoes. We put the colander in another pan, where the ear from the perch will already be cooked. Filter the broth. We discard the bulb, and we remove the scales from the fish with our hands in rubber gloves. It is cleaned very easily, just floats under your fingers. If there are no mittens, you can just wait until the perch has cooled.

Strain the broth again on the fire. We throw in it cut potatoes large. Some people think that the carrot will not hurt, but, again, this is not canonical. So we will be pulled on a ray, garlic, parsley root and, you see, it will not be an ear out of a perch, but a fish soup. This, of course, is not a catastrophe, it is also delicious, but still not that. And therefore we will limit ourselves to potatoes. We will allow ourselves only a classical set of spices: two bay leaves, five peas, salt.

When the potatoes are almost ready, the time to attach to it a cleaned and once again washed (to remove any possible sticky scales) fish. After that, you need to cook for three more minutes, no more, so that the carcass does not spread to unaesthetic flakes. Turn off the fire under the pots, allow to stand for a while. The perch from the perch is ready! Chop the greens of parsley or dill. We pour soup over the plates. Sprinkle with herbs. Bon Appetit!