Shark meat: composition, benefits and harms, cooking methods

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Sharks are the oldest representatives of the marine fauna. They live in the oceans and seas, both at great depths and in coastal waters. Today, more than four hundred and fifty different species of this dangerous predatory fish are known. True, for people it does not pose a clear threat. A person is more interested in shark meat, which is considered a very useful food product. In addition, it also has outstanding taste.

A valuable inhabitant of the deep sea

Sharks have been fished for a long time. Moreover, hunting for them was usually carried out in two directions:

1. Full-fledged capture, when after butchering the carcass, almost all parts of this animal are processed.
2. Hunting for valuable fins. This method is extremely irrational, since with it the rest of the carcass is simply thrown into the water or left to rot on land.

When fishing on an industrial scale, the main object is, of course, shark meat. The rest of the parts also find their use. For example,cartilage and liver are excellent raw materials for the production of valuable drugs. Doctors say that they can be used to make a drug that can fight cancer. The skin of this animal is widely used in haberdashery. In addition, it is an excellent abrasive material. Fins have long been a valuable object of oriental medicine, as well as an ingredient in a gourmet soup. Shark meat has been s alted and dried for thousands of years. Today, many interesting and tasty dishes are prepared from it: fragrant pancakes, fried steaks, juicy stews, salads and even pies.

Shark pancakes

Like other marine life, the shark is primarily a source of valuable meat. It contains a huge amount of:

• squirrel;
• minerals (calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium);
• vitamins (A, PP, B1, B2).

The energy value of 100 grams of fresh product is only 130 kilocalories. After cooking, as a rule, it becomes much higher. The simplest dish that can be prepared with fresh shark meat is pancakes. For this, you will need 2 eggs, half a cup of flour, 1 carrot, s alt, 2 cups minced shark, half an onion, some glutamate, pepper and 3 teaspoons of chopped green onions.

Preparing such a dish is very simple:

1. First, carrots and both types of onions need to be finely chopped.
2. Beat the eggs thoroughly until a stable foam forms.
3. Mix all ingredients well. The composition should be quite viscous.
4. Groundspoon into the pan and fry in plenty of simmering fat until the surface of the pancake is evenly browned.

To make the products look more attractive, you can add a couple of drops of food coloring, for example, yellow, to the dough.

Fried meat

Perhaps the most popular dish is shark steak. How to cook it yourself in order to maximize the uniqueness and special taste of the main product? First you need to pick up the necessary ingredients: 4 pieces of fillet tenderloin, a teaspoon of zest and 7 tablespoons of lemon juice, 3 cloves of garlic, 50 grams of butter, s alt, chili pepper, 70 grams of olive oil, ground pepper, greens (onion- leek, dill) and vegetable oil for frying.

The cooking process consists of several stages:

1. 6 tablespoons of juice and the rest of the ingredients (except for the fillet, butter and herbs) mix in a deep bowl, after finely chopping the vegetables.
2. Fillets cut across the grain into pieces 3-4 cm thick.
3. Put the blanks into a bowl with marinade and leave them there for 2 hours.
4. Grease the grill grate with oil, and then fry the prepared steaks on it for 5 minutes on each side. Turning the pieces, they must be greased again with marinade and sprinkled with pepper.
5. Make a sauce of melted butter and chopped herbs. If necessary, it can be slightly s alted.
6. Put the finished steaks on a plate and pour freshsauce.

A baked potato is a good side dish for this dish. And you can drink it with beer or any white wine.

Dish from the oven

You can also bake shark steak very tasty in the oven. How to cook such a dish using a minimum of the simplest products? For 6 medium servings you will need:

900g shark stack, raw egg, 5g s alt, 1 tbsp mayonnaise, some fish seasoning, 2 tbsp each soy sauce and breadcrumbs.

Method of cooking:

1. First, using a sharp knife, you need to cut off the skin from the steak. Cut the remaining pulp into small pieces.
2. Put food on a plate, s alt, sprinkle with seasoning, and then add soy sauce and mayonnaise.
3. Mix everything well and leave the meat to marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. Beat the egg separately in a bowl.
5. After the time has elapsed, dip each piece of steak first in an egg, and then bread in breadcrumbs.
6. Put the blanks on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees.

If blue shark steak is used for work, then it must be taken into account that this meat is very satisfying. Therefore, the side dish for such a dish should be light enough.

Valuable seafood

Many people don't even know how useful shark meat is. At first glance, this is an ordinary fish. There are hundreds of thousands of such inhabitants in the ocean.

After carefully examining the interiorthe structure of the animal, scientists came to the conclusion that shark meat is a particularly valuable food product:

1. It contains a huge amount of minerals that are simply necessary for the normal functioning and life of the human body.
2. Shark meat has a lot of protein, which in its amino acid composition is very similar to beef.
3. All fat is usually found in shark liver. It is practically non-existent in meat. Therefore, shark fillet can be considered an ideal dietary product. True, in its structure it retains moisture very poorly. After cooking, such meat becomes dry and tasteless. In addition, it contains substances that give the product a slightly bitter taste. These properties must be taken into account during cooking.

It is believed that such meat is very useful for men, but children and pregnant women should limit their consumption due to mercury and other toxic substances that accumulate in tissues.

Product flavor

Experienced cooks know that shark meat doesn't taste very good. Firstly, it contains substances that give the product a slight bitterness. It can be removed by prolonged rinsing for several hours under running water and soaking in a saline solution. Unpleasant aftertaste after such procedures disappears. If this is not done, then the dish will be unfit for eating. Secondly, fresh meat sometimes has a taste of ammonia. This is mainly due to improper processing of the carcass. Immediately after capture, it must first be gutted, and then released frombody with all the blood. Otherwise, urea will immediately turn into ammonia, and the meat will acquire an extremely unpleasant “aroma”, which will negatively affect the taste of the product. You can get rid of it by soaking the meat in milk, vinegar or citric acid.

Therefore, special attention is always paid to cutting and pre-processing of such fish. Properly prepared meat should be dense, light with a subtle pinkish tinge.

Possible danger

Many people like shark meat. The benefits and harms of this product have long been the subject of research by many scientists. Now it's no secret to anyone that fresh fillet is not just a delicacy, but a rather dangerous product from a chemical point of view.

First, it contains a small amount of mercury. The bulk of this element is excreted from the body of the animal through the liver. But a small amount still remains in muscle tissue. Secondly, during long-term storage, toxic substances accumulate in meat that can cause irreparable harm to the human body. That is why shark carcasses, as a rule, are not frozen, but are immediately pre-treated and then used for their intended purpose. If fresh meat lies for some time in the refrigerator, then no procedures will help to remove life-threatening toxins from it. This feature of the product is the reason why its use should be limited to young children or pregnant women.women.

Strange food

Eating sharks has long been a habit in Africa, Asia, South America and even Europe. Meat and other parts of this animal are used to prepare a variety of dishes. But perhaps the most bizarre of them all is the haukarl. In fact, this is a fillet of a Greenland shark, however, not fresh, but rotten. For the people of Iceland, this dish is part of an old national tradition. To prepare it, the meat must first be separated from the bone, and then put in wooden boxes and buried in the ground. The fillet should lie there for at least 3 months. After that, it can be eaten. Usually such a delicacy is dried a little by hanging it on hooks under the ceiling. If necessary, a piece of the desired size is cut from a solid plate. The technology of cooking this dish was invented by the ancient Vikings. The fact is that the meat of the Greenland shark smells strongly of ammonia. The reason for this “aroma” is that this fish has absolutely no kidneys and other ways to remove urine. The accumulated liquid impregnates the meat, and is removed by long-term storage in the ground. But this does not solve the problem completely. Even when dried, the meat retains an unpleasant odor. Therefore, it is usually eaten infrequently and little by little.

Tourists are served haukarl at tastings, cut into small pieces and advised to swallow immediately. If you chew them, then the taste of ammonia immediately appears sharply. In order not to feel it, you need something strong, like a glass of good vodka.

Secretsbaking

There are different ways to cook shark meat. The most important condition is the freshness of the main product. It must be remembered that as a result of long-term storage, meat becomes tougher every day. If, for example, there is a couple of fresh steaks available, then you can bake them very tasty with vegetables. To do this, you will additionally need an onion, half a lemon, s alt, a pod of sweet pepper, 50 grams of vegetable oil, 1 tomato, 10 black peppercorns and a little cardamom.

Preparing the dish is very simple:

1. First, you need to remove the backbone from the steaks, and then carefully cut off the skin from them.
2. Put food on a plate, s alt, sprinkle with lemon juice, and then sprinkle with spices.
3. Cut the onion into half rings, the tomatoes into slices, and the pepper into strips.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan. After that, fry the onion in it for 3 minutes.
5. Add pepper and continue heating for another 2 minutes.
6. Put the hot vegetables into a baking bag.
7. Place the fish on top and cover it with fresh tomatoes.
8. Fix the package and send it to the oven for 20 minutes. The temperature inside should be at least 200 degrees. After 10 minutes, the bag can be opened so that the food can bake a little.

Such an unusual dish can be prepared for a holiday and placed as a decoration in the center of the table.