What different and unusual fish exist in nature, and what names have not been invented for them! For example, a chimera fish: the name of this animal alone evokes not the most pleasant associations. And if you look at this inhabitant of the deep sea, then opinions may be divided. Some see a very cute and cute fish that looks like a soaring bird, while others see a monster. So who is she really, this mysterious marine inhabitant, who is also called by another strange name - sea hare fish.

Very close relatives of the chimera are and: they are all cartilaginous fish and have a spine made of cartilaginous tissue. Look at the photo of chimera fish and try to find similarities with sharks!

All the most interesting about chimeras

When the name chimera is mentioned, it does not mean that there is only one single species. The genus Chimera (lat. Chimaera) combines 6 species, of which the most famous is the European chimera (lat. Chimaera monstrosa) from the eastern Atlantic. There is a Cuban chimera (Chimaera cubana), which at first was taken for a European one, but was later separated into an independent species. It lives off the coast of Cuba at a depth of 400-500 meters. Other species of the genus Chimera are known from the waters of the eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean (Philippines, the Yellow Sea and the Japanese Islands).

The place of chimeras in the fish system

The genus Chimera, of which the European chimera is a representative, is included in the Chimaeridae family, in which there is another genus with species that differ from the genus Chimera in the shape of the caudal fin.

All fish of the Chimera family have a blunt snout. This is an important difference from other families of the Chimaeriformes order, among which there is a family. Nosed chimeras with a very elongated snout, and pointed at the end. And the third family is the proboscis-snouted chimeras (callorhynchus). They are distinguished by an elongated and bent down and back anterior end of the snout.

Below, in the photo, chimera fish are shown in the drawings, and you can see the differences in the structure of the snout in the representatives of each family, which were mentioned above.

Representatives of the chimera order: 1 - fam. Chimera; 2 - family. Proboscis (callorhynchaceae) and fam. Nosed chimeras.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the chimera fish is cartilaginous, and, accordingly, belongs to the class "Cartilaginous fish", which has two subclasses. Having much in common in the internal and external structure with elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), chimeras differ from them in that their upper jaw is completely fused with the skull. Therefore, they are distinguished into a subclass of Whole-Headed or Fusion-Cranial.

Appearance of chimeras

All chimeras have a characteristic body shape: valky, slightly compressed from the sides and very thinning towards the tail. In the photo of the sea hare fish (European chimera), this is clearly visible.

Other features of the appearance of chimera representatives:

• Two fins on the back, the first one is high and short, having a powerful spike in front, which together with it, if necessary, fit into a special groove in the back. The second is long and can stretch to the very base of the caudal fin and does not fold.
• The tail fin is often shaped like a long cord.
• The pectoral fins are very well developed and each of them resembles a fan in shape.
• The pelvic fins are smaller than the pectoral fins and are located near the anus, being pushed back.
• At the base, all paired fins are equipped with fleshy lobes, thin and flexible.
• The mouth located below (lower) in chimeras and has a characteristic three-lobed upper lip.
• The gill openings on the sides of the head are covered by a fold of skin supported by finger-like cartilages.
• The naked body, devoid of placoid scales, is covered with a large amount of mucus.

A spine in the first dorsal fin of a European chimera.

European chimeras - beauties or monsters?

The European chimera bears the Latin name Chimaera monstrosa, which evokes associations with some kind of monster. This fish has many names, one of the names that a chimera fish has is a hare. Perhaps this is due to the large slightly elongated pectoral fins and huge eyes. It is also called the sea rabbit fish, apparently for the same reasons.

And among the Norwegians, the chimera is the royal fish. So it is called because of the thin bone outgrowth bent backwards, which is located in males between the eyes.

A stylized image of a male chimera with a bony growth between the eyes.

The body length of the European chimera can be up to one or one and a half meters, and its tail is very long and thin, so another name has been assigned to it - the sea rat.

What color is a chimera?

Rudimentary spines are sometimes found on the bare skin of the European chimera. However, the skin looks smooth and soft and has a characteristic color:

• back in dark brown and golden hues in combination with brown and whitish, a dark brown stripe stretches along the upper back;
• the ventral side of the body is light;
• on the back of the long dorsal fin, as well as on the caudal and anal, a blackish-brown edging is noticeable.

The color image of the chimera is completed by the green color of the pupil against the background of the white iris of its huge eyes.

European chimera, photo by Roman Fedortsov, Murmansk, @rfedortsov_official_account

Distribution, lifestyle and movement

The European chimera fish is not found in tropical waters. Its range is the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean:

• In northern waters - from the Strait of Gibraltar (coastal waters of Morocco) to the island of Iceland and the Scandinavian Peninsula with entry into the Barents Sea.
• Southern waters - off the coast of southern Africa (this information needs to be confirmed).

The sea hare fish spends most of its life at the bottom, so ichthyologists refer to it as a bathydimersal (bottom deep-sea) fish. After all, the depth at which you can meet it is from 40 to 1400 meters. But most often this species lives at relatively shallow depths: two hundred to five hundred meters (in the northernmost part of the range) and three hundred and fifty to seven hundred meters (in the waters off the coast of Morocco). By winter, it comes to coastal waters, where off the coast of Norway (where the depth is from 90 to 180 meters), a certain number of individuals can be caught by trawls.

These fish are quite gentle, they do not resist at all when caught. Removed from the water, they die very quickly. Placed in an aquarium, they do not survive well.

Way to travel

Chimera or sea rabbit fish is not a fast and high-speed swimmer, and she does not need it. See how gracefully it moves with the eel-like curve of the back of the body and tail and the wave-like flapping of large pectoral fins that resemble wings. The pelvic fins are also involved in ensuring the swimming of the fish, located horizontally, they perform the function of movement stabilizers.

Being at the bottom, chimeras can "stand" on the ground, relying on almost all of their fins: while the pectoral and ventral fins perform the function of four limbs, and the tail serves as an additional support.

The question of nutrition

This part of the article is devoted to two questions:

• what does sea rabbit fish eat;
• Is it possible to eat chimera fish, that is, a sea rabbit?

The diet of chimeras is represented mainly by benthic invertebrates. Among them are molluscs, crustaceans (mainly crabs), echinoderms (sea urchins, brittle stars). Small fish were only occasionally caught in their stomachs. When examining the contents of the digestive tract of chimeras, it was found that they do not swallow food whole, but bite off small pieces from the prey or crush it with strong dental plates.

Do people eat chimeras?

So, is it possible to eat chimera fish. There is no categorical answer to this question. Fishing for chimeras is carried out off the Pacific coast of the United States, they are caught in Chile and Argentina, as well as in the waters of New Zealand and China. Especially large are the volumes of prey in New Zealand, where representatives of the Callorhynchus family (proboscis-nosed chimeras) are caught.

Only fresh callorhynchus meat, which has excellent taste qualities, is suitable for eating. However, if it lies down even a little, it begins to exude an unpleasant smell of ammonia. For housewives, cartilaginous chimera fish, which does not have scales and hard bones, is, of course, very convenient to cook.

From the liver of chimeras, fat is extracted, which has long been known as an excellent wound healing agent.

The current trend towards increasing the volume of European chimera by deep-sea trawling in order to produce medicines from the liver oil of this fish has led to the inclusion of this species in the Red List of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The chimera hare fish has a conservation status, as a species close to a vulnerable position.

The harefish is a close relative of the shark and stingray. This is a tasty and healthy fish. It contains a large amount of vitamins, amino acids and easily digestible protein. In our country, it can only be purchased frozen. It is recommended to buy a whole carcass, not a finished fillet. Despite the large number of useful properties, its use can be harmful to human health.

A close relative of the shark has a lot of names, one of them is a hare fish.

general description

Harefish, chimera, sea rabbit - these are the names of the same creature. The peculiarity of this fish lies in the absence of a bubble, therefore, in order to constantly be afloat, she must always move, otherwise she will simply lie on the bottom. Sea rabbit is widely used in cooking. It is prepared in the same way as any other fish.

The fish is unusual in addition to its appearance in that it does not have a bladder and the entire skeleton consists of cartilage.

Chimera has large expressive eyes, a small mouth. There are 4 beak-shaped dental plates on the upper part of the jaw, and only 2 on the lower part. The body is elongated, the thinnest part is the back. The fins are quite large. The skeleton does not consist of bones, but of cartilage.

Because of its lifestyle, the chimera is called the rat of the seas. This is due to the fact that she eats only solid food, such as mollusks or crayfish.

There is a system of sensitive channels on the head. The skin is soft with rudimentary spines. The sea creature has a dark brown color with a reddish tinge. There may be spots on the sides, the ventral side is lighter than the whole body. In length, an adult can grow up to 1.5 m. The maximum weight of the fish is 2.5 kg.

It is almost impossible to buy a sea rabbit in the market in its entirety. It is cut up and sold in parts. Before buying, it is advisable to see a photo of how it should look, otherwise there is a risk of acquiring cod or hake at the price of a chimera.

Varieties and habitat

Distribution area of ​​chimeras- The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as well as the Barents Sea. There are 3 varieties in total. The fish with a plow-shaped head belongs to the Callorhynchidae family. It can be found in the coastal zone. This species is distinguished by its unusually shaped snout, so the fish easily finds mollusks on the sandy bottom.

The chimera may be one of three families that differ only in the shape of the head.

The blunt-nosed species belongs to the Chimaeridae family. She lives at a depth of up to 500 m, has sensitive eyes, so she quickly notices smaller inhabitants that suit her as food.

The long-nosed chimera from the Rhinochimaeridae family can be found at fairly great depths. It is distinguished by its sensitive and elongated snout, so it can find food even in the darkest waters.

Useful properties and harm

Sea hare fish is a rather exotic product, so before eating it, you need to familiarize yourself not only with the beneficial properties, but also with the potential danger.

Beneficial features:

1. a large amount of protein, which is quickly absorbed by the body;
2. meat is non-caloric, so ready-made fish quickly satisfies hunger without creating additional stress on the heart and kidneys;
3. the content of vitamins D, A and E, which contribute to the elimination of toxins;
4. high content of fatty acids that remove cholesterol from the body.

The meat of this fish has various beneficial properties, but the use of improperly cooked sea rabbit can also harm human health.

Dishes from such a product can be used to prevent the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis.

The chimera has a venomous fin and may cause an allergic reaction.

Despite the large number of positive properties, hare fish can harm the body. Before buying and preparing a chimera, you need to pay attention to the following details:

1. The sea rabbit has a poisonous fin. It is located on the top of the carcass. When butchering fish, you must be very careful or buy carcasses without a dangerous fin.
2. The fish is quite oily. Its frequent use in food can lead to weight gain.
3. An exotic product may cause an allergic reaction. Before eating, you need to make sure that there are no allergies. To do this, you need to try a small piece and follow the reaction of the body.

In our latitudes, such fish is sold only frozen, so there is a risk of buying a product that has already been frozen several times. Frequent freezing not only kills nutrients, but also negatively affects the taste.

cooking recipes

There is no single price for this fish, but it will definitely cost more than a simple cod. You can not find it in every store, as it is a rather exotic product. There are decorative varieties of sea rabbits that should not be eaten. Chimera is not a rare fish. Quite often it can be found on the menu of European restaurants. There are many myths about what meat is tasteless and hard. However, it is not

cooking recipes there is a lot of this delicacy. The easiest option is to bake in the oven. For 0.5 kg of frozen fish, 2 tbsp. l. olive oil, 1 tsp. curry, carrot, cucumber, olives, salt and pepper. On the basis of curry, pepper and salt, a mixture is prepared with which the meat will be rubbed. Next, it must be wrapped in foil and put in the oven for half an hour. After cooking, the dish must be kept in foil for 10 minutes.

There are a huge number of recipes for cooking a sea rabbit, but most of them are subject to anyone who has ever cooked ordinary fish.

No less delicious recipe for sea rabbit in pomegranate sauce. For 1 kg of chimera, 1 tbsp. vegetable broth and the same amount of pomegranate juice. For cooking, you also need garlic, onions, vegetable oil, nuts, tomato paste, salt and flour.

The fish is cleaned, cut into pieces, which are then rolled in flour and fried. Nuts, onions, peppers and garlic are mixed with juice and broth. Tomato paste is added to the resulting mass. The sauce is cooked over low heat, after boiling, fish is put in it and stewed for 10 minutes. The best side dish for this dish is boiled rice.

According to the characteristics, sea rabbit fish is not quite similar to the usual one, but it is prepared in the same way as hake or cod. It is important that the chimera is fresh, otherwise the taste of the dish will be lost.

For those who choose the beaches of Cyprus for their summer holidays, I will say right away: the rabbit fish does not pose any danger. It does not burrow into the sand like a scorpionfish. It does not attack a person, so it is with him in different weight categories, and it is found quite far from the coast. This story is more for those who are going to sea fishing.

Actually, it was because of the meeting with this strange, sperm whale-like fish that the idea was born to make a page about the dangers that await us in the Mediterranean Sea.

While walking along the beach in the fishing village of Liopetri, my sister noticed a rather large fish lying at the water's edge. The fish looked like a small sperm whale. First of all, the exquisite coloring of the fish caught my eye. Velvet black spots under a leopard on a gray back, a smooth snow-white belly made her irresistible. The whole thing was spoiled by the upper lip, like that of a rabbit, and even the head of the fish was about a quarter of the entire body. After taking a few pictures of outlandish fish, we went to the nearest fish restaurant to conduct a survey of the local population. I really wanted to know why such a luxurious fish was thrown ashore?

The owner of the restaurant, barely looking at the picture, immediately said his weighty "Oh!", which means "no" in Greek. A council of the owner's relatives, who immediately assembled, issued a final verdict: The fish is not edible and is called a rabbit fish. With that we left. At home, rummaging through the Internet, I attacked the trail of a mysterious rabbit. The Latin name Lagocephalus scleratus (by the way, Lagoscephalus is translated as hare-headed, th) says little to the vast majority of the population. But, oddly enough, many people know very well that the Japanese name is fugu. More precisely, the rabbit fish belongs to one of the many varieties of fugu. Often the British call this fish pufferfish, puffing fish, or, in Russian, ball fish.

The most important thing is that

• rabbit fish is a poisonous fish.
• this is an extremely aggressive species, displacing the indigenous inhabitants of the Mediterranean Sea.
• The number of aliens in the Mediterranean is growing day by day.

From the Internet and Cypriot newspapers to me

managed to extract some rather curious facts related to fugu. Believe them or not, decide for yourself.

1. Fish came to the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea as recently as 2005. She successfully acclimatized and began to breed.

2. The Cypriot authorities have announced a reward of 1 euro for every puffer fish caught. A certain Eleni, a resident of Larnaca, earned 1,000 euros in this way in a year.

3. Fugu poison does not lose its properties either during deep freezing or high-temperature processing. Several members of the crew of the Ukrainian ship, which was in the port of Haifa, Israel, caught, boiled and ate fugu. "All died from poisoning" - it was written on the Internet. However, I received a letter from Israel, from which I learned that, thanks to Israeli medicine, soup lovers, fortunately, managed to survive.

4. Cyprus plans to conduct commercial puffer fishing and is looking for markets. Negotiations are underway with China for the supply of the delicacy.

5. Back in 1598, a law appeared obliging a cook who cooks fugu to obtain a state license for this. It was this law that survived all the prohibitions and is still applied. A Japanese chef learns to carve fish for 2-3 years before getting a license. Then the cook must pass two exams - written and practical. Approximately three-quarters of applicants "fail" already in writing, for the delivery of which it is necessary to understand dozens of varieties of fugu, including various methods of "detoxification". And the remaining 25 percent are not issued licenses until they eat what they themselves have prepared.

6. The program on the National Geographic channel said that the fish is not at all as tasty as it is commonly believed. Its meat is quite tough. To make it chewable, the fish is cut into thin slices and served with spicy sauces.

7. The Japanese tradition of eating such a dangerous delicacy is not at all associated with an unearthly taste, as is commonly believed (see paragraph 6). It's all about the narcotic effect of microscopic doses of poison on the human body. They say that "fish does not show cartoons." "Coming" is something else. The nerve agent tetrodotoxin causes something like "tetanus" in minimal doses. A person sees everything, hears everything, but cannot move. Resistant to temperature effects, the toxin decomposes very quickly in the human body. The art of the cook lies in precisely dosing the poison. A well-known Soviet journalist who worked for many years in Japan, Vsevolod Ovchinnikov, in his "Sakura Branch" very colorfully describes his feelings from tasting fugu, similar to those mentioned above.

8. By analogy with Russian roulette, the tradition of eating fugu is called Japanese roulette. Every year from 10 to 100 people die from fish poisoning. These are either those who cooked the fugu themselves, or those who managed to persuade the cook to cook their liver for them. The liver is considered the most tender part of the fugu, but at the same time the liver is the most poisonous part of the fish.

And here is the latest news from the front of hostilities.

• The Cypriot authorities have increased the reward for each fish caught from 1 euro per head to 3.00 euros per kilogram of weight.
• An acquaintance who is fond of sea fishing says that the sea is simply teeming with this fish. The species is terribly aggressive, and it will not be easy for local fish to resist the unequal struggle with the alien if no measures are taken.

Addition to the article about rabbit fish

The picture, taken from the Greek Internet, clearly shows the fish's very characteristic "rabbit" nose. Thanks to him, the fish got its name and it cannot be confused with any other:

Here is a leaflet issued in Greece. The leaflet says:

"Ministry of Development of Agriculture and Food

Attention !

Poisonous fish.

Not edible"

Another version of the leaflet in the picture on the left, taken this time from the English site. In English, in particular, it is written that "the fish has a toxic skin and the poison does not decompose during heat treatment. Do not eat fish soups if you are not 100% sure that the fish is edible!"

And now the most important thing. In Cyprus and Greece, a wide campaign is being conducted, the purpose of which is to convey to every fisherman how dangerous this fish can be. But at the same time, I repeatedly heard and wrote to me that the rabbit fish is quite edible and they call it chicken fish. But in all cases known to me, the fish was carefully butchered, removing the skin from it. Which, in principle, is in good agreement with the information from the English-language site, given a little. So to be or not to eat or not to eat fish, everyone decides for himself.

On August 22, 2012, the Department of Fisheries visited. On the wall hangs a "portrait" of the ill-fated fish, either a rabbit or a chicken. When asked if the fish is poisonous, there was a not very clear answer. In general, either some organ in her is poisonous, or the toxicity of the fish depends on the season. But from which season and which organ is exactly unknown. Or maybe it's not poisonous at all. It is only certain that:

1. There are a lot of fish.
2. It is industrially caught and destroyed. The state pays 3 euros for each kilogram.
3. There are people who ate it and survived.

So to be or not to eat or not to eat fish-rabbit-chicken, everyone decides for himself!

This fish does not belong to the most popular marine life. It is quite rare and many, having heard the name, will not even understand what it is about. Let's try to eliminate this ignorance a little. Chimera fish refers to the bottom and deep-sea inhabitants of the deep sea. This applies to all of its known varieties. It is distributed in all oceans and seas of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. It feeds on small fish, crustaceans, mollusks and starfish. It has a length of up to one and a half meters.

general information

The chimera fish, despite being clumsy and slow, is well adapted to finding prey at the bottom of the sea, such as shellfish. Some varieties of this underwater inhabitant are armed with a dorsal poisonous spike, which is an unexpected and real surprise for sharks and other predators who dare to attack him.

Let's find out what a chimera is.
The fish, the photo of which is in front of you, looks very funny, but that is until you find out about its poisonous weapon. How does she look for a tasty treat for herself in the dark, silt and algae? The chimera is superbly helped in this by its nose, which digs the bottom of the sea and has special receptors for searching. She lives and hunts mostly in shallow seas, but there are representatives who prefer to look for prey in deep waters.

Features of the chimera

"Silver Pipe" - the so-called chimera in New Zealand, served on the table fried and with chips. And White Fillet is an Australian delicacy. Let's say you caught a chimera fish. Can you eat it? The answer is simple - of course you can.

Types of chimeras and their habitats

There are three main types of our fish:

1. The plow-headed chimera belongs to the family Callorhynchidae, lives in coastal shallow water and, thanks to its sensitive, unusually shaped snout, successfully finds mollusks in the sandy bottom.
2. Blunt-nosed, belongs to the Chimaeridae family, lives in deeper and darker waters, up to 500 meters deep. Thanks to its super-sensitive eyes, the ghost shark quickly and easily spots starfish and other native sea creatures suitable for eating.
3. The long-nosed chimera fish from the Rhinochimaeridae family lives at even greater depths and has a sensitive elongated snout that is designed to look for mollusks where there is no light at all.

The very same chimera fish, the photo confirms this, is very beautiful, with silvery spotted sides.

Chimera fish: how to cook in the oven

People from the camp that decided that it is quite edible claim that sea rabbit dishes are very tasty. In addition, on the shelves of stores now you can often see this delicacy. There is one plus here - the creepy-looking chimera is sold already cleaned. Here we are, at the end of our introductory article, we will tell you the recipe for cooking our fish with vegetables in the oven.

To do this, we need the following ingredients: one sea rabbit carcass, one carrot, one onion, fish seasonings, salt, half a lemon and a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.

The process of cooking a chimera in the oven

Let's start cooking with vegetables, as they must first be stewed. We clean the carrots and rub on a coarse grater. We put the pan on the fire, pour a little vegetable oil and spread the vegetable. Next, we clean it much more tenderly than usual to taste, cut it into half rings and also put it in a pan. We mix the vegetables, salt, add a little water (a few tablespoons) and close the lid. Stirring from time to time, simmer until fully cooked. It's time to take on the fish. We cut off the short fin on the carcass with scissors. After that, cut it into small pieces. Pour seasonings and salt into a small saucer, mix them and rub each piece of fish with this mixture.

She will marinate while our vegetables are stewed. As soon as the onions and carrots are ready, we take a baking dish and transfer the vegetables to it. It is not necessary to pre-grease the baking sheet with oil. Next, put pieces of chimera fish on top of the vegetables and squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto it. We heat the oven to 200 degrees, send the form into it, and after 20 minutes the delicious dish is ready. Serve hot with rice or mashed potatoes. Enjoy your meal!

Many people do not even know what kind of fish it is - a sea hare. The benefits and harms of the product, the features of its catch and preparation for a long time remained a mystery to the inhabitants of our country. Some suppliers of goods even tried to cash in on this gap, artificially inflating the price of products, inventing various myths with it. In fact, the sea hare is a tasty and healthy fish that is undemanding to processing. And its cost should not exceed the price for the usual cod.

Sea hare - description and features of fish

Finding a whole sea hare in the market or in a grocery store is not so easy. Usually the fish is cut up and sold in parts. If you want to treat yourself to an unusual representative of the seas, you should look at a lot of pictures. Otherwise, there is a risk of acquiring an ordinary hake or cod for a disproportionate price. By the way, the cost of a bearded seal should not be high, even if it really is.

Unusual fish is noticeably different from marine representatives familiar to the modern consumer. She does not have a bubble, so she has to constantly move like a shark in order not to drown. Her skeleton is made up of cartilage, not bones. This greatly simplifies the process of working with the finished product cutlery.

The composition and benefits of the bearded seal

Cooks in many European countries are very actively using the bearded seal to create their masterpieces. In addition to the unusual and memorable taste, the fish boasts a rich chemical composition. With regular use, the product can have a beneficial effect on the health of adults and children.

• The meat of individuals is rich in protein, which is easily and quickly absorbed by the body. A nutritious, but not too high-calorie product (about 116 kcal per 100g) quickly satisfies hunger and does not create a burden on the heart and kidneys.

Tip: There is also an aquarium variety of sea hare fish. It's really quite rare and expensive. It is not suitable for food! Before buying, you need to look at basic information about the differences between individuals in order not to let a commercial specimen into the aquarium, for which you had to pay a tidy sum.

• Fish is rich in vitamins A, E and D. They support the work of a number of systems and organs, remove toxins from the body, and promote the absorption of important mineral elements.
• Minerals, which are also numerous in fibers, take an active part in metabolic processes. They support the functionality of the endocrine glands at the right level, stimulate water metabolism in cells and tissues.
• The abundance of beneficial fatty acids allows the use of fish for blood purification. Removal of harmful cholesterol from the body reduces the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis, hypertension and other unpleasant conditions.

In general, the meat of a unique fish is very juicy, soft, but at the same time fibrous. Even if you just salt the workpiece, roll it in batter and fry, you can get an exquisite delicacy. Some cooks can talk about dozens of ways to prepare a bearded seal.

Harm of the sea hare

Exotic fish can be harmful in several cases, so before buying it, you should familiarize yourself with the following nuances:

1. The sea hare has a poisonous fin located at the top of the carcass. Therefore, you need to cut it carefully or you can buy ready-made parts of the product.
2. Fish, though not so high-calorie, but quite fatty. Abuse of the delicacy can lead to unnecessary weight gain.
3. Do not forget that a new product can cause allergies. Before introducing a sea hare into the diet, you need to try it by eating a very small amount.
4. It is easier to work with a cut carcass, but the likelihood that a whole carcass has been frozen and thawed several times is much lower. This manipulation affects not only the appearance of the fish, but also greatly worsens its taste characteristics. By the way, the benefits of repeatedly thawed fillets tend to zero.

Finally, eating low-quality or stale fish can lead to poisoning. This will not happen if you buy products with transparent and shiny eyes, red and completely closed gills. Any flaws in the appearance or smell of products should alert. Especially if it is a frozen product and it is not so easy to evaluate its quality.

Cooking methods

Among the many options for cooking a sea hare, the following recipes occupy a special place:

Sea hare baked in the oven:

• For 0.5 kg of fish preparations, we need 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of curry, 1 cucumber and carrots, 7 olives and black olives, salt, pepper and herbs.
• We prepare the mixture from salt, pepper, oil, herbs and curry. We rub the fish with it and wrap it in foil for baking.
• We bake the workpiece for 30 minutes in the oven at a high temperature.
• After that, we insist the fish in foil for another 10 minutes, during which time we cut the vegetables figuratively. Put the sea hare on a dish and decorate beautifully.

Fish in pomegranate sauce:

• For 1 kg of fish, we take 1 glass of vegetable broth and pomegranate juice, an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, bell pepper, a tablespoon of tomato paste, a little vegetable oil, half a glass of low-fat nuts, salt and flour.
• We clean the fish, wash it, cut into pieces. Roll them in flour with salt and fry in vegetable oil.
• Grind the nuts, finely chop the pepper and onion, rub the garlic. Mix these ingredients with broth, juice, tomato paste and heat over medium heat.
• As soon as the sauce boils, lower the fish into it and simmer it for another 10 minutes. Serve with boiled rice.

Sea fish in pots:

• For 2 fish steaks we take 2 potatoes and onions, 1 carrot, 100 g of hard cheese, 2 tablespoons of butter and olive oil, a bunch of parsley, dill and green onions, juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper.
• We clean the steaks from cartilage and cut into portioned squares. Chop the onion and carrot into short strips, chop the potatoes into cubes. Grind greens, mix, pour lemon juice. We cut the cheese into cubes.
• In a separate bowl, mix olive oil with pepper, for taste, you can add a tablespoon of oyster sauce. We insist the mass for several minutes.
• We put pieces of fish in warm pots, cheese, onions and carrots, potatoes on them. Sprinkle everything with herbs, spread the butter and a little more cheese. Pour all this with oil dressing, cover with lids and send to the oven.
• The processing time is at least 40-45 minutes. The readiness of the dish should be checked by potatoes.

Today, the bearded seal is found even in freshwater reservoirs, so do not be surprised by such information on the package. This moment does not affect the quality of meat in any way. The approach to processing and cooking products in this case will be exactly the same.

By the way, an exotic individual looks like a hare only with large and transparent eyes. The appearance of the carcass is very specific and not the most appetizing. But you don't have to be afraid of it. If you have the opportunity to taste unusual meat, you should take it. Few people speak negatively about the taste characteristics of fish, and most often negative reviews arise against the background of improper handling.

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Many people are not familiar with such a sea fish as a hare fish. If you are interested in knowing what is is a marine creature, then this article is for you. We will discuss whether there are benefits from this fish. We will also find out if it carries any harm to the human body.

To see this fish in full, you need to refer to the guide. The thing is, it's not for sale. You can only buy fragments of her fish body, so to speak. They are sold in their pure form. Therefore, it is very difficult to understand what kind of fish it is in its original form. A lot of deception exists on the fish counters. Since a hare is often given out as a simple hake or pollock for fish. Cod-shaped small fish are like our marine individual.

What is a hare fish?

This fish is cartilaginous. She doesn't have a bubble. Therefore, in order to stay afloat, she constantly needs to be on the move. Like the shark, this fish will otherwise just fall to the seabed. A hare is cooked like any other fish. It must be salted, then covered with flour or batter, and then fried in a hot frying pan.

Some sources indicate that this fish emits an unpleasant odor. But it's not. Although the smell of a hare is not as pleasant as the smell of cod, it does not stink outrageously. The taste of the finished fish is simply amazing. In ordinary fish there are bones, in the same cartilage. Thanks to this structure, fish meat is very easy to separate with cutlery.

Benefit and harm

Distrust of our fish is due to the fact that it is considered an exotic product, and many people know absolutely nothing about it. In fact, hare fish meat is very nutritious and juicy. This fish was considered unfit for consumption only until the twentieth century. Now it is a rare delicacy in many expensive restaurants in the world.

She is very helpful. It contains a lot of protein, which is easily and quickly absorbed by the human body. It also contains a lot of vitamins such as A, E, and D. Moreover, this fish is filled with useful minerals. Since fish contains a large amount of fatty acids, its meat is considered especially nutritious. The calorie content of fish is such that one hundred grams of its meat accounts for one hundred and sixteen kcal.

Is there any harm in eating this fish? You can only suffer if you have a personal intolerance to this marine product. Also, our hare has a poisonous fin. This is the top fin. Separate the carcass of fish because of this should be done with extreme caution. The fish is quite oily. It shouldn't be abused.

additional information

The fish has expressive eyes. Apparently, this is the reason that she was given such a name as a hare. But more than that, she does not look like an ordinary hare. Since the fish lead an unusual lifestyle, they are sometimes called the rats of the seas. They feed on solid foods such as shellfish or crayfish. The jaws of the fish are very powerful, so the catchers are very careful with this fish. The hare lays eggs. Scandinavians eat these eggs.

The price point is not defined. Fish prices fluctuate. In general, hare fish costs a little more than simple cod. But not in every store you will find our fish. You are more likely to find this delicacy in specialty seafood stores. Hare fish is also an aquarium type. It is decorative and is not eaten. This fish is very expensive.

It is believed that sellers sell fish much more expensive than the price. They may invent their own names for the hare fish to show it as a rarer and more expensive fish. Some even sell tasteless fish with tough meat, passing it off as a chimera. It is easy to fall for such a scam.

The fact that the fish has a rather funny nickname. This suggests that it is not extremely rare. Abroad, it is found in many restaurants. Do not be afraid and believe all the nonsense about hare fish that can be found in various sources. This fish is both healthy and tasty, and not very expensive.

If you have a chance to try the meat of this fish, do not deny yourself such a pleasure. Be sure to try this fish. Its taste is reminiscent of shark meat. Therefore, not everyone will like it as a main dish. So, now you know what a hare fish is. You know how it is useful, and whether it can be dangerous. You have all the information you need about our exotic fish. You know that hare fish can be a great addition to your overall diet.

Recipe (video)

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Sea hare fish - benefits and harms

In some stores you can find exotic products that are unknown to many, and therefore cause distrust. Sea hare fish, the benefits and harms of which will be discussed, in the store can be mistaken for a more familiar hake or pollock, since the carcasses are sold without a head. Another name for this fish is a chimera. Those who have tried this product like the fact that instead of bones, this fish has breast-like cartilage, and there are no small bones at all. The meat is very tasty and juicy.

The benefits and harms of a bearded seal

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the chimera was considered an inedible fish, but today, in many restaurants in Europe, its fillet is considered a real delicacy. The beneficial properties of chimera fish are justified by the presence of a large amount of easily digestible protein, vitamins A, E, D, as well as various minerals. Given the presence of fatty acids, chimera fish is very nutritious. Many are interested in calorie content, and so 100 g of the product contains 116 kcal.

As for the harm of hare or chimera fish, some people may have an individual intolerance to the product. It is worth saying that the upper fin of this fish is poisonous, so you need to cut the carcass as carefully as possible. Since the chimera is an oily fish, you should not eat it in large quantities.

Fish hare in pots

Ingredients:

• chimera steaks - 2 pcs.;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• carrots - 1 pc.;
• olive and butter - 50 g each;
• greens - a bunch;
• cheese - 125 g;
• lemon - 0.5 pcs.;
• oyster sauce - 1.5 teaspoons;
• salt and pepper.

Cooking

Remove the spine from the steaks and cut them into small squares. Chop the vegetables and cheese into small cubes, and chop the greens. Combine ingredients and add lemon juice to it. To prepare the dressing, combine oyster sauce, olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the fish with vegetables in pots, add butter and sprinkle with cheese. Pour in the dressing, put in the oven and cook at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.