How to learn how to cook delicious smelt in the oven according to a step by step recipe

Kitchen appliances and utensils: deep bowl, foil, baking sheet, knife, oven.

Ingredients

Step cooking

1. Let's start with fish. We will prepare a kilogram of smelt, which initially needs to be cleaned. To do this, we make an incision near the head on the left side of the back, reaching the ridge, then the same cut on the right side of the back, without cutting the lower part of the abdomen, then cut the ridge from the top and, holding with a knife, we stretch our head. So it will be removed along with the insides. How to do it right, you can look at the photo or video at the end of this recipe. By the way, if the belly is not left open, then the fish after baking will be more juicy.
   
2. We carry out such manipulations with all the fish. There is no need to peel it from the husk, because it is very small and soft, it does not feel ready-made.
   
3. We wash the fish, let the excess water drain. Then we send the carcasses into a deep bowl, add 0.5 tsp of ground pepper, 0.5 tsp. ground coriander, a teaspoon of ground basil, a teaspoon of salt, and mix well.
   
4. From a quarter of a lemon squeeze lemon juice into a fish. We break one large bay leaf and also send it to the carcasses, mix everything well again. We wash half a bunch of greens, dry, chop finely and sprinkle with fish, mix. From greens, we recommend using assorted dill and parsley.
   
5. Cover with a film a bowl of fish, leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
   
6. After this time, remove the cling film, water the fish with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, mix.
   
7. We cover the baking sheet with foil, spread the smelt tightly in two rows.
   
8. We cover the baking sheet with foil and send it to bake at a temperature of 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
   
9. 5 minutes before readiness, remove the foil, let the fish brown.
   
10. After this time, we take the fish out of the oven, gently spread it on a plate, pour on top of lemon juice from a quarter of a lemon. Such a fish can diversify your daily menu. Lemon wedges and chopped greens will serve as decoration. It can be a side dish to potatoes cooked in any form, to rice or just to a salad of fresh vegetables. With long-term storage, the fish loses its taste, so it is recommended to eat it on the first day. But you can still store, if necessary, in a container with a lid in the refrigerator.
    

Video recipe

According to the above recipe, for sure each of you will be able to cook smelt in the oven. But if you still want to watch the process, we suggest you take a look at this video. You will learn one of the options for quick cutting of fish, see what happens after baking.

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