Ice Fish

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 07:39

Several species of the blood fish family are called ice fish. Their feature is the absence of hemoglobin and erythrocytes in the blood, which is why they got this name. These fish live exclusively in Antarctica. The most common type of icefish is Gunnara, which predominantly lives in the Antarctic islands.

The length of the fish is 30-40 cm, especially large individuals can reach a length of 70 cm. The weight is 0.3-1 kg. The largest specimen of the pike whitefish caught weighed 2 kg with a body length of 66 cm.

The body of the fish is naked, translucent, with dark wide transverse stripes. Due to the peculiarity of blood, red tones are completely absent in the color of the fish. The head is almost a quarter of the body size, flattened from above and slightly elongated, with large toothed jaws. The mouth is large and almost half the length of the head. In appearance, the fish is very similar to the pike.

The skeleton of ice fish is soft, low in calcium, and few bones.

History

In the 19th century, Norwegian whalers said that in Antarctica, in the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean, near the island of South Georgia, interesting fish with colorless blood, which they dubbed "ice" or "bloodless", swim. But skeptical scientists did not immediately believe in their existence. Scientific research of fish began only in 1954.

Currently, icefish are caught by trawls of various depths, mainly in the area of the South Orkney, South Georgia, Kerguelen and South Shetland Islands. The amount of the catch is from 1 to 4.5 thousand pieces annually. In Russia, fishermen began to engage in fishing "ice" since the 70s of the 20th century, and their catch was up to 100 thousand per year. At the present time in Russia this fishery is not occupied and the entire "ice" on the domestic market comes from abroad.

Composition and calorie content of ice fish

Icefish meat contains a large amount of potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, fluorine, iodine and other important macro- and microelements. It contains vitamins PP, C, B1, B2, B6, B9.

Due to its unique taste, as well as because of the remoteness of its habitat and the complexity of the catch, this fish is classified as "premium". The main food for fish is krill, due to which its meat tastes like shrimp, and its specific, and so unpleasant for many, fishy smell is completely absent.

The meat tastes tender, dense and lean. The calorie content of icefish is 91 kcal per 100 g of product. Fish has a high protein content of about 17%. Another undoubted advantage of the fish is the almost complete absence of bones, with the exception of the ribs and ridge.

Since ice fish lives mainly in ecologically clean regions of our planet, it can be safely attributed to one of the cleanest fish. In addition, its meat is one of the most beneficial for a healthy diet.

Fish is especially popular in Japan, where in many restaurants it is often served raw, which makes it possible to experience its unique shrimp taste. Unfortunately, in recent years, the number of icefish has begun to decline sharply, so the price for it is quite high.

There are quite a few recipes for cooking fish, so even the most demanding taste can find a dish to your liking. It goes well with all kinds of spices, herbs and roots, with ginger, basil and lemon balm. Lean icefish are great for Asian dishes such as Indian curries. The simplest, but at the same time, very tasty recipe for its preparation is the usual frying in sesame oil.

Fish comes to our markets mainly frozen. However, due to the fact that her meat is very tender, you should not allow it to be re-frozen, otherwise it will significantly worsen the taste.

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