Frozen fish cutlets in a frying pan
One of the most popular varieties of frozen cutlets are semi-finished fish products. The fact is that minced pork, beef and chicken can be purchased at almost any large supermarket, and therefore making cutlets yourself is quite simple.
With minced fish, things are much more complicated - stores usually sell low-quality products that are not made from pure fillets. Therefore, for truly delicious homemade cutlets, you either have to make minced meat yourself or use ready-made fish cutlets.
Ingredients
- Frozen fish cutlets – 1 package;
- Sunflower oil – for frying;
- Lemon – ½ fruit.
How and how long to fry frozen fish cutlets
- Remove the frozen cutlets from the packaging and let them stand for a while. This product is usually breaded, so a sign that it’s time to start frying will be the disappearance of frost on the breadcrumbs.
- Pour sunflower oil into a wide frying pan and heat it over high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium and place the cutlets in the pan so that they cover the bottom in one layer.
- Fry the semi-finished product on one side for 7-10 minutes until it is properly browned.
- Turn over to the opposite side and cook for another 5 minutes. After this, remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle the fish cutlets with the juice of half a lemon, cover with a lid and let it brew for a couple of minutes.
Now that you know how to fry frozen cutlets in a frying pan, it will not be difficult for you to cook even an unfamiliar product whose packaging does not indicate the cooking method. Remember that the most important thing in cooking frozen semi-finished products is to cook them not only on the outside, but also on the inside, so be sure to simmer the cutlets after a crust has formed on them.
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Before talking about frying methods, it makes sense to answer the question that many housewives ask when they first bought a frozen semi-finished cutlet product: “Do I need to defrost ready-made cutlets?” All chefs answer this question unequivocally - no. When defrosted, they may lose their shape, and it will be more difficult to fry them in a frying pan. In addition, the taste of the finished dish may also suffer, i.e. The cutlets will not be as juicy as they could be.
Now you need to decide on the oil in which the cutlets will be fried. In most cases, refined sunflower or olive oil is used. However, if the product contains pork or, which is unlikely, lamb, then it is better to use ghee for frying. And only one type of cutlet should be fried in natural butter. These are chicken Kiev.
As for margarine and spread, it is better to avoid them. You can fry cutlets using these fats, but the taste of the finished dish may change. The fact is that both spreads and margarines contain many flavoring additives. In addition, both of these products are not very useful for the human body.
How to defrost minced chicken
The process of defrosting minced chicken is no different from working with other types of meat products. It is important to carry out this procedure gradually, this will keep the vitamins, proteins, and juice unchanged.
According to the standards recorded by SanPiN, the defrosting process occurs with a change in the ambient temperature from 0 to 6 or 8 degrees, or at room temperature.
Significant losses of juice will occur when using heat treatment of the feedstock.
How to freeze homemade cutlets
You can prepare semi-finished products from meat, poultry, fish or vegetables (vegetarian option).
The principles of freezing are the same everywhere. Let's look at them using meat cutlets as an example.
We make minced meat from familiar products. Since semi-finished products can become dry after freezing, some housewives try to take two types of meat for them: one fattier - pork or lamb, the second - less high-calorie, most often beef.
Fish cutlets are flavored with twisted lard.
Advice
Raw onions and garlic added to minced meat may partially lose their taste when stored in the freezer. It is recommended to lightly fry them first and then add them to our semi-finished product. In addition, cutlets with cheese and onions have a shorter shelf life than without it.
The minced meat should be immediately salted and spices added.
The next stage will ensure the integrity of our workpiece during frying. To prevent the cutlets from falling apart in the pan, the minced meat must be thoroughly kneaded and beaten. Then the structure of the meat mass will be homogeneous, and the output will be a juicy, soft and fluffy product.
Let's form our cutlets. It is advisable to throw them from palm to palm several times - a kind of “mini-beat” or hit the board several times.
Advice
Although every housewife has her own idea of ideal cutlets, let us remind you that it is not advisable to sculpt large products. They may fall apart when turned in the pan. Cutlets that are too tall will remain raw in the middle, while thin ones will dry out and harden. The optimal thickness of the semi-finished product is 2 cm.
Roll the pieces in breadcrumbs or flour. This will make the finished cutlets more juicy. There is no point in leaving the procedure “for later”. A chilled semi-finished product cannot be breaded.
Now our cutlets need to be frozen first so that they do not stick to each other. To do this, lay out the blanks on a tray covered with cling film, a cutting board or a special shelf from the refrigerator, which are additionally sprinkled with flour, and put them in the freezer for 2 - 3 hours.
We are waiting for the product to “set”. It’s good if the refrigerator has a “Super Freeze” mode, thanks to which the cutlets will be instantly cooled at very low temperatures and will retain all their nutritional properties.
Next, the product is placed in hermetically sealed plastic bags or containers. It can be stored for 2 – 3 months. After this period, semi-finished products lose moisture and, as a result, taste, especially if they contain onions or garlic.
Attention!
It is advisable not to touch minced meat products again while they are in the freezer. By touching, kneading or repeatedly moving the product, we deteriorate its quality.
How to properly cook and select frozen cutlets?
The essence of frozen cutlets, purchased and home-made, is that the method of preparing them is absolutely the same. Now we will reveal all the subtleties of choosing cutlets, and also tell you how to fry them correctly. If you are planning to buy cutlets from the store, then you should immediately pay attention to the following:
- Integrity. It is very important that when purchasing a product, the packaging of the cutlets is intact and not torn. So, it is best to buy packages that contain transparent film, so that both it and the product you are purchasing can be clearly seen.
- When you pick up a package of cutlets, shake it.
If you hear them knocking, this means that the cutlets have not been defrosted and they simply did not stick to the package. - Look very carefully at the composition of the cutlets. It is necessary to understand well so as not to go to hell and then get poisoned. In fact, if there is a huge list of ingredients, then it is better not to take it, as there will be a lot of preservatives.
- The sequence of components is also important. Water must be written in the last place, and the meat portion must also predominate in the composition. In fact, the less written about plant proteins, the more natural the product is.
- Appearance. This is a very important point that plays a big role. Firstly, the cutlets should not be flattened or bent, but as expected - round, slightly plump. If the cutlets are quite gray in color, this means that they contain a high percentage of water (important!).
As for semi-finished products in bulk, this is even more dangerous. In this case, you will not know the exact composition or even the production date of the product. This means that you can safely buy expired cutlets.
How to defrost minced fish
Working with seafood has some peculiarities. The fish product must be defrosted naturally:
- put the minced meat in the tray;
- place in the refrigerator, on the bottom shelf;
- wait until the product softens.
Here it is allowed to use other methods that do not include the process of heat treatment of the feedstock.
What minced meat should not be defrosted?
It is prohibited to defrost certain types of product:
- an improperly stored product that has changed its color to gray or green, sticks to your hands, and has an unpleasant odor;
- a semi-finished product with a gray-pinkish color, which indicates its improper storage and active growth of bacteria inside;
- green product that has spoiled even before freezing;
- minced meat containing any amount of soy;
- a product with traces of mold, stored for more than three months inside the freezer, past its expiration date.
Is it possible to freeze fried cutlets?
It’s clear what to do with semi-finished products, but what if we overdid it and cooked too many meatballs or chopped steaks at one time? After all, even the most favorite delicacy becomes boring when it is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a long time.
The solution is still the same - freezing. At low temperatures, prepared meat products can be stored for up to 2 months. Before serving, all we have to do is heat them in the microwave, oven or in a frying pan and add some side dish, for example, delicious mashed potatoes.
The taste of the product changes slightly, but this does not pose a particular problem. If you want the feeling that our products are “piping hot,” it’s best not just to heat them up, but to simmer them in some rich sauce.
Freezing ready-made cutlets is simple: after cooling completely, place the result of culinary creativity in a food container (it can crumble in a bag) and send it for storage.
