Ilish Maach — two heavenly words for Bengali foodies. From bhaja to bhapa to paturi, we love relishing ilish maach in all forms and delicacies. This time, we discovered a unique way to cook Shorshe Ilish at home and the special trick lies in filleting the fish.
Chef Andrej Urosevic’s Shorshe Ilish Recipe Is Something We Haven’t Seen Before
Chef Andrej shared an elaborate reel explaining the steps to cook this finger-licking preparation at home. We love how he used a French filleting technique to get rid of the pin bones. Instead of throwing them away, he used them to make an XO sauce.
Preparing the dish for two people, he shared about the ingredients needed to cook shorshe ilish and demonstrated the special technique to cut the bones too. What are you waiting for? Learn Chef Andrej Urosevic’s recipe ASAP and cook the deliciousness at home.
Here’s How To Cook This Flavour-Packed Preparation
Ingredients:
- 800 g whole ilish (hilsa fish)
- 40 g yellow mustard seeds
- 20 g black mustard seeds
- 60 ml warm water
- 3 green chillies
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
- 1/2 turmeric powder
- A pinch of red chilli powder
- A splash of coconut milk
- 250 ml grapeseed oil
- 75 g diced spring onions
- 75 g diced ginger
- 50 g diced garlic
- 100 g diced red chillies
- 100 g dried fish skins and bones
- 60 g dark soy sauce
How to cut the fish?
The most important part of cooking shorshe ilish is purchasing a whole fish of the best quality and cutting it gently. To fillet it perfectly, you can watch Andrej Urosevic’s reel to understand the simple technique.
Recipe for XO Sauce:
- Start by drying the separated fish bones at 200°C for 30-45 minutes. Once done, chop these bones.
- Heat mustard oil in a pan and fry spring onions, garlic, and ginger for a couple of minutes.
- Next, add chopped chillies, fish bones, and soy sauce. Simmer it for half an hour and XO sauce is ready. You can store it in a jar for two months.
Recipe For Shorshe Ilish
- Once you are done cutting the ilish fish into top loin, mid loin, and belly pieces as shown in the video, marinate them with turmeric powder, salt, and mustard oil and keep the marinated fish aside for 30 minutes.
- Next, add soaked mustard seeds, green chillies, and 1 tbsp of mustard oil to a mixer grinder and blend into a smooth paste.
- Heat oil and fry nigella seeds, turmeric and chilli powder for a few seconds.
- Pour the mustard paste and cook for a few minutes.
- Next, add coconut milk and simmer.
- Add fish fillets and cook for some time.
- Shorshe Ilish is ready to be served.
Relish the mouth-watering shorshe ilish with steamed Basmati rice and XO sauce.
Cover Image Courtesy: Instagram/ Andrej Urosevic (@andrejcooksfish)
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