V recent times A representative of the salmon, the char, began to gain popularity. Unlike its "red" counterparts - salmon, sturgeon and the same salmon - it grows quite small. Of course, there are also quite large specimens, but average sizes usually go on sale. And this is much more convenient - enough for dinner for the family, and "for the future" you can cook something else.

Features of the taste of char

Some connoisseurs of fish do not like the fact that, in comparison with the same sturgeon, the char has lean meat. However, this is more likely to be counted among the advantages of fish - it can even be used as dietary meal, despite the fact that the char meat is juicy and delicate in taste. In addition, the reduced obesity of the carcass may be due to the age of the fish, the place where it was caught. If fishing is carried out during the mating rut, the taste of char will also be different. However, there are some ways in which an incorrectly caught char (the recipe must be followed) will lose its taste flaws. Among them is a banal ear, which, as a result, turns out to be very tasty and original. Marinating also gives a very appetizing product at the exit. Any spices used in this process (and there is more than one recipe for the loach to be marinated well) soften and conceal all the disadvantages of the "unsuccessful" fish.

Let's take a look at a few of the most attractive dishes that can be obtained from char.

Baked char

If you come across a large enough specimen, it will be wiser, better and faster to bake it. On an open fire, it will undoubtedly come out tastier, but even in apartment conditions it will turn out very well. If you bought a large char, the recipes in the oven will be the quickest and easiest to execute.

As components will be extremely necessary: ​​the actual fish, and quite large; vegetable oil; dry wine (and white); sour cream and salt. The usual one will not work, you need a sea one. It is very consoling that in modern supermarkets it is sold without fear, it can be used in the preparation of culinary delights.

The sequence of your actions. The char, of course, is gutted and cleaned (if you managed to buy just fresh fish "in a complete set"). Then it is rubbed with salt - the amount depends on your preference for salinity. Salt - remember - sea salt! The baking tray should be deep and greased (vegetable oil mentioned). The oven must be at 180 degrees and do not be lazy to water it with juice! The fish is tender, there will be juice. After 20 minutes, wine is added, and a quarter of an hour later - sour cream (150 g). It remains to wait another five minutes - and with a vegetable salad on the table!

The method in which the prepared char is washed and certainly dried on a napkin is also not bad. The dried carcass is rubbed with pepper and salt (it is better to take white pepper). Then the butter is ground with the lemon zest and laid out on the fish, put in a mold or frying pan. Then the dish is covered with foil - and into the oven (for 20 minutes). If there is a grill in the stove, it is necessary to bring the char “to mind” in it (10 minutes). If not, he will have to spend more time in the oven, only without the foil.

As under the name "char", the recipe is not just one, there are many! But these are the simplest and most delicious.

Fried fish

Even those who are generally not inclined to fish like fish in fried form. But for this type of waterfowl for frying, it is better to choose small individuals.

For the most easy way cooking, in addition to fish fillets, you will need flour, vegetable oil, fish seasonings you like and dill. The loach, the recipe for which is offered, does not require especially refined seasonings, if you are not picky, enough salt and pepper.

After the appropriate cutting of the carcasses, they are rubbed with seasonings, rolled in flour and fried in heated vegetable oil. The fire should not be too strong, but not weak either. The ready signal will be golden crisp. Char fried according to this recipe is especially tasty if it is sprinkled with dill and offered with pickled cucumbers and potatoes - even fried, even in the form of mashed potatoes.

Mushroom version with almonds

The char is a democratic fish and can be combined with many "fellow travelers". An interesting way of cooking it with mushrooms and nuts. Frying fish differs from the previous recipe only in the absence of flour, the main subtleties are in the preparation of related products. So, it would be nice to take the chanterelles, peel, cut and fry in butter (this is important!) Butter. Fry the almonds separately on it. And most importantly - in serving: the fish is sprinkled with nuts and mushrooms on the plates, salted, peppery and eaten very tasty. Such fried char will not be forgotten for a long time!

A couple more recipes

This fish is good, in particular, with cheese. One side of it is fried in a standard way, but after turning over, the second is sprinkled with grated cheese and the pan is covered with a lid. When it's almost done, you can add a few tablespoons of water if you feel the result is dry. But this is usually not required. Someone will say that the char will turn out to be rather boiled, but this is not so - the taste is exactly fried fish you will not confuse with anything.

The fish dipped in flour is fried in butter (!) Oil and wrapped in foil to keep it warm. Peeled not only from the peel, but also from white layers, oranges are divided into slices, sauerkraut washed and "drained". Oranges with cabbage are stewed over low heat for about twenty minutes, then laid out on a plate, and on top - char. The taste is unforgettable!

The only clarification: for this recipe, it is better to cut the fish into fillets. And it looks more harmonious and eats more appetizing.

Fried char can also be cooked in the oven. To do this, it will have to be flattened and pressed down. The oven is still empty and heats up to 230. Baking tray is lightly greased vegetable oil and heats up in a hot oven for a few minutes. Then the fish is placed on a scalding baking sheet with the skin and placed in the oven for 4-5 minutes. Turns over - and the same amount. Then, without removing the baking sheet from the bowels of the oven, the gas turns off, and the fish “reaches” for another five minutes.

The multicooker is also not superfluous

It is curious and unusually tasty to cook char using this miracle technique. Onions (in half rings) are fried with coarsely grated carrots. When it becomes a little softer, put the peeled and chopped fish on top. Tomatoes are laid out in circles on top, on them - pepper strips. Sour cream with mustard, curry and grated cheese are mixed, and the prepared fish is poured with all this. When the bowl is full, the mode is set: under pressure - extinguishing - 20 minutes. The char in a slow cooker turns out to be tender, juicy and quite suitable for dietary nutrition.

In general, char recipes are very diverse! A seemingly gloomy and ordinary fish looks from the photo, but it tastes amazing!

The char is a northern fish that lives only where it is cold. Perhaps such a strange name does not come from the fact that she is naked, but because it is found in lakes in the upper reaches of the mountains, where there is no forest.

The char is a northern fish that lives only where it is cold

Loaches are a genus belonging to the salmon family. Species composition the genus has not yet been fully determined. The char is its typical representative.

A characteristic feature of this fish is the variety of forms, since representatives of the genus charrs often form populations with natural isolating barriers.

The most famous forms of fish are:

  1. Arctic. Considered the oldest form found in waters polar circle... Usually it is a large fish, weighing up to 16 kg.
  2. Ozerny. It is an inhabitant of isolated lakes in Central Europe. This isolation affects both the genotype and the phenotype, which forms noticeable differences between the inhabitants of different water bodies.
  3. Ruchevoy. Inhabits large mountain streams in Europe, the Caucasus and America. It is somewhat similar to trout, however, it significantly surpasses it in aggressiveness and vitality.
  4. Pacific. Very popular in the pool The Pacific... The fish is large, very similar to the arctic form. It is often called Kamchatka char. Apparently, because especially a lot of it is caught off the coast of Kamchatka.
  5. Far Eastern char, or kunja. Easily recognizable by large light spots on the body. With age, their number increases, the spots are woven into a bizarre marble pattern. Far Eastern char or, as it is called in Far East Russia, ogolets, can be found only in the rivers of the Asian coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is usually large. The record size is about a meter, while the weight reaches 10-12 kg. Average specimens are about 50 cm in length and up to 2 kg in weight.
  6. White char is a narrowly endemic species that is found only in the Kamchatka River basin and in Lake Kronotskoye. Its appearance is not quite usual: the body is high, the head is large, the mouth is large and predatory, the jaws are elongated. The general color is silvery gray, but during spawning, yellow tints appear on the belly and underside of the sides.
  7. Yellow-throated. It is common for the rivers of the Far East. In addition, this species is found in one lake located in the north of Chukotka.
  8. North American. It is considered the largest of this kind. Dwells only in big rivers and lakes in Canada and Alaska.

Gallery: char fish (25 photos)



















Loach and its fishing (video)

Habitat and life forms

The predator lives in both fresh and sea ​​waters... But this fish cannot be called a sea fish, since it does not go into the open sea, but always remains in the estuarine spaces of its native river.

If we talk about anadromous forms, then they are characterized by a circumpolar area. This means that they inhabit the entire Arctic Circle.

Anadromous varieties are found in rivers:

  • New Earth;
  • Norway;
  • Svalbard;
  • Iceland;
  • Siberia (Ob, Yenisei, Pyasin);
  • Canada;
  • Greenland;
  • Alaska.

Thus, river char lives in the rivers of Eurasia and North America, migrating from river water to sea water and back. Ozerny also settled in the closed water bodies of the Kola Peninsula, the Baikal Basin, Korea and California.

Anadromous varieties are large, the size of individuals reaches almost a meter, and their weight is up to 15 kg. It is a dexterous predator that feeds on other waterfowl.

This fish leads the lifestyle of all salmonids. Between spawning it stays in the sea, and goes to the rivers for spawning. Entering them, it changes. The description of the individual's appearance during this period begins to resemble spawning metamorphoses of some pink salmon or chum salmon, stubbornly striving for the upper reaches of their rivers. The color becomes darker, the back becomes greenish-brown, the sides turn brown with a silvery sheen.


Loaches are a genus belonging to the salmon family.

The lacustrine form of the Arctic char prefers to live in lakes constantly, without going beyond their limits. Such fish are somewhat smaller than anadromous. By appearance and the way of life, the lake form resembles the trout inhabiting the Far East. Lake char reaches a maximum of 45 cm in length and weighs more than one and a half kilograms.

River species feed on fish, which they can catch up with and swallow. In addition, their diet includes molluscs, crustaceans, insect larvae and others. aquatic inhabitants... In the sea, adults mainly switch to a fish diet. They usually feed on small cod, capelin, and gerbil. Lacustrine forms feed mainly on smelt, vendace, and insect larvae, if there are any in the cold waters of mountain reservoirs.

Char on charcoal (video)

Breeding features

This red fish spawns at around 6 years of age. She does this several times. The usual spawning migration occurs in early summer and at the turn of summer and autumn.

However, eggs can be laid not only in summer and before winter, but also at the beginning of winter and, presumably, in spring. In some reservoirs, spawning is extended even more.

In some regions, fish lay eggs both during the day and at night. Where the spawning rhythm of char is clearly expressed, for example, in the rivers of Novaya Zemlya, it is divided into 2 races - winter and spring.

After the eggs are laid, a long river period begins for the fry. The fry spend about 3 years in rivers.

After the onset of sexual maturity, individuals leave for the sea. They spend about 3 months there.


Anadromous varieties are large, the size of individuals reaches almost a meter, and their weight is up to 15 kg. It is a dexterous predator that feeds on other waterfowl.

Char in cooking

The benefits and harms of this fish, of course, are discussed by culinary experts and nutritionists, but fishermen and consumers, who are used to trusting the sensations of their body, highly value its taste.

All representatives of this group have one advantage - they are deprived of large scales, which so spoil the mood of the hostesses. Roasted char is prized for the fact that its skin always becomes especially crispy when moderately roasted.

The beneficial properties of any product are measured, of course, not only by its taste... Nowadays, it is customary to look at chemical composition and the energy saturation of the product.

The beneficial properties of fish lie in the protein content of its meat and relatively low calorie content. This fish contains only 135 kcal, most of which is contained in protein. Meat is completely free of carbohydrates, fats are only 5.86%, and proteins account for 19%. Such a product can be called dietary.

Moreover, char meat is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, due to which the body's resistance increases and the likelihood of blood clots formation decreases. This fish contains vitamins usual for its type: E, B6, B12, as well as minerals - iron, magnesium, calcium.

For cooking, you can use whole carcasses, fillets and steaks.

Due to its low fat content, smoked char is very much appreciated not only by the population, which produces large quantities of this fish, but also by consumers from megalopolises.

Loach meat and caviar are especially good for pickling. Based on a kilogram of meat, they use:

  • coarse non-iodized salt - 2 tbsp. l .;
  • granulated sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
  • spices to taste - pepper, garlic, etc .;
  • half a lemon;
  • sunflower oil - 0.5 cups.

The fish must be washed, cleaned of scales, cut off the fins, head and tail. Cut lengthwise into 2 pieces. Free the carcass from the bones, then pat dry with a towel. Before salting, you can cut into the right size pieces.

Mix salt and sugar separately. Rub the prepared pieces with this mixture. Then they need to be placed in a container by placing it in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours. After that, the loin pieces are easily peeled from the skin. The fish is now ready for final cooking. Pieces should be placed in a container in layers, sprinkled with spices, filled with juice or overlaid with lemon wedges. After that, the fish is poured with oil. Now the container needs to be kept in the refrigerator for another 3 hours. After that, the dish is ready.

The caviar is salted as follows:

  • first, a special saline solution called "brine" is prepared;
  • caviar is poured with brine and mixed with a fork or whisk in order to separate the film;
  • the process of mixing caviar in brine should take 5-10 minutes;
  • caviar is reclined in a colander, then placed in cheesecloth and hung to dry.

The duration of the processing of caviar in brine depends on how long it is supposed to be stored.

If you bake the char, then it is better to fry it beforehand, because the fish itself does not have a lot of its own fat. For this reason ready meal may seem too dry. Lightly fried char will retain all its juices, absorbing along the way the sauces with which it will be poured during baking.

In general, this is an ordinary red low-fat fish, which allows you to give it a variety of flavors due to all kinds of sauces.

In water bodies of Europe, the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia there is a predatory fish with an almost naked body - char. The color of the fish depends on its habitat. Most individuals have a brownish or yellowish-gray body with many irregular spots. In reservoirs with running water, loaches have a body color of light, and in silted ones - brown tones. An interesting fact is that light-colored fish that lived in a well-lit aquarium, after moving to a darkened container, become dark in color during the first day.

The exact number of fish species is difficult to describe. Sometimes in the same water body several forms of individuals can live, which differ in color, size and feeding habits. However, it is reliably known that the ancestor of all char is the arctic char which forms many shapes.

This large fish can weigh up to sixteen kilograms and be up to eighty-eight centimeters long. Anadromous char has a silvery body, sides with light spots and a dark blue back.

Habitat:

  • in the rivers of Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, Iceland, Norway, Murmansk;
  • in the Baikal basin, Alpine lakes and in the lakes of the Kola Peninsula;
  • along the coast of Siberia in the Yenisei, Ob;
  • in the rivers of Greenland, Alaska, Canada;
  • in the Pacific basin along the American and Asian coast from California to Korea;
  • in the rivers flowing into the Peter the Great Gulf.

After entering the rivers for spawning, anadromous char changes its color. Its back turns greenish brown, and numerous orange and red spots appear on its silvery sides. The predator begins to spawn at the age of five to seven years. Spawning takes place in autumn and early winter. In rivers, juveniles live up to two to four years, and then goes to sea, where it is kept in the estuarine spaces.

The predator feeds on small fish and juveniles of other fish. Juveniles in the river feed on insect larvae, crustaceans, molluscs, and small fish. In lakes, an adult char feeds on smelt, vendace, and in the sea - capelin, gerbil, and small cod.

Lake char

This is the only type of char that has not been imported into Europe. In arctic latitudes the predator is an anadromous fish, and in Europe leads sedentary life and lives mainly in lakes.

The lake char usually stays at a depth of over forty meters, is afraid of light and hides in caves and under tree trunks. The fish is accustomed to oxygen rich cold water , therefore, lives exclusively in alpine lakes. This well-reproducing viable fish has dwarf specimens in its offspring.

The growth of a predator can be different, as it depends on the conditions for obtaining food. Most often, by the age of six, the fish reaches a size of forty centimeters.

Lake char is similar to trout and brook char. It has a slender body and color, depending on its habitat:

  • the back of the fish is dark olive or green;
  • gray-blue sides may have light dots of white or light yellow;
  • the jaws of the char are pink, with white edging.

Today, in lakes where there were no char, they planted special kind lake char from Lake Geneva.

Of all the char species in terms of behavior and habitat, the brook specimen bears the closest resemblance to the local brook trout. Just like trout, on the brown back of the char white drawing available and white-black edges on the ventral, dorsal, and anal fins.

Initially, brook char was found only in the northeastern part of America. To date, several populations have been acclimatized in small streams of Europe. In many streams, chars have already completely replaced trout.

Lifestyle, nutrition, reproduction

The predator leads a solitary sedentary lifestyle, prefers places with a rocky or sandy bottom and clean water bodies with fast flow... During the day, the char is inactive. It buries itself in sand or mud, hides among algae, between stones or under thresholds. At night, the predator, moving along the surfaces of driftwood and stones, actively begins to hunt and get food for itself.

In summer, if the water gets very hot, the fish starts to show anxiety and rises to the surface. Here she becomes the prey of the predators large fish and fish-eating birds.

The char spends winter, in non-freezing rivers and streams, in the places of their usual habitat. In ponds and lakes fish goes to the most deep places , where it buries itself in silt and comes out only in the spring.

Adults feed on the larvae of stoneflies, caddis flies, mayflies, and chironomids. They exterminate not only eggs of other species of fish, but also their own. They also love algae, which they absorb while moving on the surface of various objects.

The char becomes sexually mature at a length of six centimeters, in the second year of life. In April or May, fish lays eggs on aquatic vegetation, sand or pebbles. The female mosquitoes from two to six thousand eggs.

After the larvae hatch, they are carried out by the current to the sandbanks. There they lie, relying on large pectoral fins and eat microscopic organisms living in the sand. For some time, the grown juveniles are kept together, and then dispersed.

Char fishing and dishes from it
















Fishing features

Since the char is a predator, lure is mainly used for catching it which the fish usually greedily captures. Sometimes, instead of a spinning rod to hunt a predator, you can take an ordinary float rod and a piece of fish fillet as bait.

From spring to late autumn fish bite well on a worm, fly, spoon. It should be caught during sunset and sunrise. At this time, the char begins to get food for itself and hunts for insects falling into the water. In the cold season, the predator must be looked for at the depth of the reservoir, where it lives in search of larvae.

The tackle for catching this fish should be selected depending on the characteristics of the reservoir. Knowing its habits, it will not be difficult to find char habitat. Then both spinners and float tackle lovers and those who love winter fishing will have enough chances to catch their trophy.

Char: useful properties and recipes

Due to the absolute absence of scales, the fish is very popular among cooks. Besides she tastes amazing and has a variety of nutritional and useful properties... It contains minerals:

  • selenium;
  • copper;
  • potassium;
  • calcium;
  • sodium;
  • manganese;
  • iron;
  • zinc;
  • magnesium.

Fish meat contains vitamins A, E, K, PP and vitamins of group B. Omega-3 fatty acids, also included in its meat, are able to provide protection against various inflammatory diseases, prevent heart attack and blood clots.

In stores, copies weighing about one kilogram are most often sold. This is very convenient for cooking, as the fish can fit into almost any pan and oven.

Loach baked in the oven with lemon

With a minimum of effort, fish cooked according to this recipe turns out to be amazingly tasty.

Ingredients:

  • char in half a kilogram in weight;
  • half a lemon;
  • small onion;
  • salt;
  • spices to taste.

Before you start cooking, you need to scrape the fish a little, remove the fins and head, and gut it.

Recipe.

  1. Salt the prepared carcass and add spices.
  2. Cut the lemon into thick slices and the onion into rings.
  3. Place a third of the onion and lemon inside the fish.
  4. Put a part of the onion on a sheet of foil, on top of which put the carcass of the fish.
  5. Sprinkle the remaining lemon and onion on top of the fish and wrap everything in foil.
  6. The dish is baked at a temperature of 200 degrees for twenty to thirty minutes.

This is the easiest and at the same time delicious recipe cooking fish.

  1. Loach must be washed, scraped and gutted.
  2. Carcass rubbed with salt, various spices and pickled within twenty minutes.
  3. Pickled pieces are rolled in flour and fried in vegetable oil.

When serving such a dish, you can decorate with lemon wedges and fresh herbs. Any vegetables are suitable as a side dish.

Fish cooked according to all the rules will take its rightful place on any table, including a festive one. Its beautiful and tender meat is perfect as a filling for pies. You can cook delicious and aromatic fish soup from it. Smoked and lightly salted char is considered a true delicacy. Fish in any form is tasty and healthy.

Unfortunately, due to their small size and relatively low abundance, chars have no commercial value. Fishing lovers sometimes they use this fish as bait when fishing for perch, burbot, trout. Because of her delicious meat, in some regions of Europe, at one time, fish were specially bred in key pits.

The char belongs to the salmon family, as well as salmon, chum salmon, trout and others. It is not as dry as pink salmon and not as oily as salmon. The char got its name for the absence of scales, it has no scales at all - "naked". For this reason, it produces a delicious crispy crust when fried.

What kind of fish and where is it found

The char is found both in rivers and lakes and in the seas. But these Marine life do not swim far from the mouth of the rivers in which they spawn. Anadromous species live mainly in the seas and rivers of Eurasia and North America along the entire Arctic Circle. Their length can reach almost a meter, and their weight reaches 5 kg.

Lacustrine species live in the closed water bodies of the Kola Peninsula, Lake Baikal, and are found in Korea and California. This inhabitant of lakes is usually no more than 45 cm long and weighs no more than 1.5 kg.

it predatory fish feeding on smaller aquatic life.

Did you know? Initially, only sturgeons were called "red" fish, since in the old days this word meant something valuable. Now the salmon family also belongs to the red varieties.

Chemical composition

This fish contains a number of vitamins and minerals valuable to humans.

Vitamins

100 g of char contains the following vitamins:

  • - 65 mg;
  • - 3 mg;
  • - 0.75 mg;
  • - 0.3 mg;
  • - 0.2 mg;
  • - 0.14 mg;
  • - 0.12 mg;
  • - 36 mcg;
  • - 15 mcg;
  • - 1 mcg;
  • - 0.1 mcg.

Minerals

  • - 317 mg;
  • - 270 mg;
  • - 72 mg;
  • - 51 mg;
  • - 33 mg;
  • - 26 mg;
  • - 0.99 mg;
  • - 0.67 mg;
  • - 0.37 mg;
  • - 12.6 mcg.

Calorie content and nutritional value

The char has a moderate calorie content - 135 kcal per 100 g of product. It is lower in calories and less fat than salmon. Nutritional value of 100 g of char:

  • proteins - 19.9 g;
  • fats - 5.86 g;
  • carbohydrates - 0;
  • water - 72.77 g;
  • ash - 1.12 g.
as part of 100 g - 0.906 g, - 60 mg.

Why char is useful

This fish contains a lot of omega fats, which increase the body's defenses, are the prevention of many cardiovascular diseases, and are good for the brain. Enough potassium, which removes excess water from the body.

It contains a lot of vitamin E, which is also called the vitamin of youth, as it is a strong antioxidant. Char also contains a lot of selenium, so its consumption will be beneficial for people living in ecologically polluted areas or in areas where the soil is poor in this element.
Calcium and phosphorus are needed for bones, and magnesium for cellular protection. Easily absorbed calcium will also strengthen teeth, nails and hair. It contains B vitamins, which are involved in many metabolic processes in the body.

It includes a number of needed by a person amino acids, including essential ones, and whole complex fatty acids that have a positive effect on metabolic processes.

Is it possible to eat char

Loach - very healthy fish... Due to the high content of nutrients, it increases immunity and improves the quality of the skin, removes harmful cholesterol and strengthens bones and joints, so it can and should be consumed.

Important! Allergy to fish is no longer the most rare view allergies and is usually hereditary. It often occurs on red fish varieties.

For children

So, the B vitamins in it are very important for the growth and development of the child, and amino acids and omega fats are very important for strengthening the immune system.

But little children before three years you should not introduce it into the diet too early - it is quite fat.

Pregnant

Loach is recommended to be included in the diet of pregnant women. It contains magnesium necessary for the normal course of pregnancy. Doctors often prescribe nutritional supplements containing magnesium during pregnancy, but regular consumption of this fish can compensate for the lack of this substance, and dishes made from it are not only healthy, but also tasty.

Concerns about the possible occurrence of allergic reactions are in vain: if a woman ate salmon before pregnancy, and no negative reactions were observed, then she can safely use it during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Lactating

It is very beneficial for women who are breastfeeding to include fish such as char in their diet. In addition to vitamins, amino acids and omega fats useful for the body, it contains a lot mineral substances(calcium, selenium, phosphorus), which are actively involved in the formation and growth of the baby's skeletal system.

Important! During breastfeeding, a woman should refuse smoked, dried, pickled fish and canned fish, as food industry often adds preservatives and other not very useful additives to them. It is also necessary to give up sushi - they may contain helminths.

How to choose fresh fish when buying

The char, due to its nutritional value, is commercial fish... It can be found frozen or chilled on the shelves of some stores. It is very important to monitor its freshness and pay attention to the following details when buying:

  • when pressing with fingers on the chilled carcass, there should be no dents, otherwise its freshness will be in doubt;
  • the gills should be pinkish; if they are gray or brown, this means that the fish is rotten;
  • if the fish tail is dry and broken off, then this indicates the staleness of the product;
  • when there is no white film on the eyes, then this is a sign of spoiled fish;
  • the color of the char fish should be silvery tones with spots on the sides;
  • lake char has big amount substances necessary for humans than marine.

How to cook deliciously

The char meat has a beautiful pale pink or orange color, has excellent taste - it is less fatty than salmon, but at the same time juicy and tender. It has no scales, so it doesn't need to be cleaned.

It can be fried, baked, salted, pickled. This fish makes a wonderful ear. Let's take a look at some great and easy-to-make recipes for this delicious fish.

Did you know? People who actively consume red fish rarely suffer from depression, cancer and heart disease.

Baked char

Ingredients:

  • char - 4 pcs.;
  • soy sauce- 100 g;
  • bulbs (medium) - 4 pcs.;
  • olive oil, salt, pepper, spices to taste, you can add a couple of limes.
First, we prepare the fish - wash and gut. Dry each carcass with a napkin. Then we prepare the marinade: mix the soy sauce with olive oil, add spices and lime juice. Cut the onions into half rings. Combine onion and marinade with fish and leave for half an hour. We keep in a preheated oven or grill for about half an hour.

Salting fish

The char is tasty when salted and cooks quickly enough. Ingredients:

  • char fish (medium in size) - 1 pc.;
  • ground pepper, seasonings - to taste;
  • lemon - 80 g;
  • granulated sugar - 25 g;
  • sunflower or olive oil - 140 ml;
  • salt - 60 g.
The carcass of the fish is washed and gutted, the fins and head are cut off, then cut along the ridge and the loin is removed. Pieces of pulp are placed in a container, sprinkled with salt and sugar. Leave overnight or 12 hours.

After that, the skin is removed, and the pulp is cut into portioned pieces and put into a container, gradually sprinkling with seasonings, pepper and shifting with lemon slices. Poured with olive or refined sunflower oil without smell. They insist for three hours.

Loach and overweight: weight loss rules

Char fish meat is dietary, it can be safely included in your diet for weight loss. The calorie content of this fish is quite low, and the proteins consist of easily digestible amino acids, vitamins and minerals necessary for the body are also present.

To reset excess weight, you do not need to go on a strict diet, it is enough to adhere to the following rules:

  • give up sugary drinks, drink plenty of plain water;
  • have dinner until six in the evening;
  • use small plates;
  • observe the diet, that is, food intake should occur at certain hours;
  • avoid harmful products - chips, crackers, semi-finished products and others;
  • use every opportunity to move, do morning exercises;
  • get enough sleep.

No less useful: 3 types of fish analogs

There are also fish that are analogues of char in terms of usefulness and taste.

It belongs to large freshwater fish, it is a predator. In size - about a meter, and in weight - about 8 kg. Pike, due to its nutritional value, is a commercial fish. She has lean and tasty meat, which is considered dietary and useful for many diets.

It is a fish from the salmon family, lives in ecologically clean lakes, rivers and streams. Its dimensions range from 30 to 70 centimeters long, weight - 1-5 kg. The meat of this fish is tender, low-fat and easily absorbed by the human body.

Mikizha (rainbow trout)

it freshwater fish living in natural and artificial reservoirs. Its dimensions are on average from 30 to 50 centimeters, and its weight is from 0.4 to 1.5 kg. Meat possesses nutritional value, very gentle and beneficial for the human body. It does not contain small bones, so it is perfect for small children.

Possible harm and contraindications

The main contraindication for the use of char fish is an individual intolerance and a possible allergic reaction, which can be almost any food product.

An important factor when buying a char is the condition that its habitat is an ecologically clean area. Therefore, it, like any other fish, should not be bought in spontaneous markets. Preference should be given to specialized stores that provide adequate storage conditions and are responsible for the freshness of food.

Loach fish is an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals, amino acids and other useful and necessary substances for humans, but it is not recommended to give it to children under three years old, as it belongs to moderately fatty fish varieties. It has excellent taste and can be used to prepare various meals, including dietary ones.

It is common for every fisherman to embellish his catch, colorfully describing the merits of the catch. If a cherished dream has come true, and a huge handsome man is fluttering on the hook - a char fish, then you don't have to show imagination talking about a predator, it is enough just to demonstrate it to fellow spinning. A magnificent specimen of the salmon family has many interesting features, about which it will not hurt to find out even before going fishing.

The char fish is one of the brightest and most beautiful. One of the features of the predator is almost complete absence scales. Where is the char fish found? You can meet a huge handsome man in the large reservoirs of Siberia, Europe, Central Asia and even the Far East.

Interesting! The color of the char depends on the reservoir in which the predator found refuge: if the waters are flowing, then the shade of the body will be lighter, if there is a lot of silt, it will be darker. The color can change in just a day, it is enough to send the fish from a well-lit aquarium to a dark tank to notice the changes the next day.

It is difficult to accurately calculate the number of char species; often several species of this beautiful predator can live in one body of water, which look completely different. They can differ both in the shade of the body, and in nutrition and even habits. The most common is the arctic char. A distinctive feature is a silvery body, white spots on the sides, and a back that seems slightly bluish. An adult of this species can grow up to 15 kg with a length of 90 cm.

Lake char is no less widespread in Europe. The peculiarity of this species is that the fish tries to stay at a great depth (about 40 meters), avoiding appearing on the surface. Lake char is afraid of light, even rising from the depths, it hides in the roots of trees growing near the reservoir, going hunting only at night. Unlike its Arctic counterpart, lake char rarely reaches a weight of 8-10 kg with a length of only 45 cm.

Another variety popular with professional anglers is the white char. It is very similar to a trout, thanks to the black and white streaks on the back, anal and dorsal fins. In Russia, this species appeared quite recently, before they were found only near the American coast. The size of the sea fish is not impressive - only 30-55 cm long, weight - up to 8 kg.

The Far Eastern char has more popular name- brown trout. A distinctive feature of this species is light large spots located chaotically throughout the body. With age, they blur, and the handsome man acquires an unusual marble pattern. Red fish most often have a considerable size and the char that lives in the Far East is no exception, because it can grow up to a meter. Weight - over 10 kg.

Photo 1. On one of the Siberian lakes.

Char diet and behavioral features depending on seasonality

The dietary preferences of charr differ little from other aquatic predators. Regardless of the reservoir where the handsome man lives, the diet consists of small fish:

  • capelin;
  • small cod;
  • gerbils.

Fish and molluscs or insect larvae will not disdain. If there is no food, it eats its caviar, thereby reducing the number of young animals. The fish's diet contains algae; the predator eats them while moving. He rarely migrates, preferring to live in one place (in lakes, rivers). The reservoirs in which the char lives should have several important advantages:

  • bottom with stones or sand;
  • strong current;
  • many rapids;
  • pure water.

During the day, the char tries to hide in stones or between snags, while at night it goes hunting. In summer, especially in the hottest season, he worries, rises to the very surface, where predatory birds and larger fish can catch it without much difficulty.

In winter, the char fish does not leave its habitable place, especially if the river reservoir is not covered with a crust of ice. The predator seeks the greatest depth, hides in thick silt and appears only with the arrival of heat. Even hunger cannot drive fish out of a cozy place.

When and how does char spawning

The char is completely ready for spawning in young age- two-year-old females and males are already sexually mature. Falls in mid-spring (most often in April). The fish does not migrate, remaining in their permanent habitats.

At a time, the female, depending on the size, can lay from 2 to 6 thousand large eggs. Fish do not nest - eggs are laid on aquatic plants or pebbles. After spawning, the male and female immediately scatter.

The larvae that have just hatched are carried by the current to the sandbanks, where they live for several months, feeding on insect larvae and microscopic organisms. The fry almost do not move, they lie, leaning on the fins on the chest. Young people who are growing up stay together, they begin to disperse after they grow up a little.

Interesting! Some species of char spawn several times a year, this behavior is unusual for the salmon family. The emergence of the younger generation can occur both in summer and autumn.

How to catch a daring char

Since the voracious fish does not hesitate to eat caviar and even fry of other members of the salmon family, there are no special restrictions and prohibitions on catching. The only exception is the spawning period.

In the warm season, you can catch a predator with almost any tackle, thanks to its gluttony. Happy fishing will be float rods, spinning rods.

Photo 2. Fishing on the donkey.

Important! Most interesting way char fishing - fly fishing. Only large streamers are used, the front sight is drawn along the very surface of the water. Even if the char is at the very bottom, it is not going to miss the catch, pouncing on the tidbit. The bite is accompanied by a loud splash, and if you look closely, you can easily see the predator attacking the bait.

If the fisherman is familiar with the so-called "Bolognese" fishing rod, and in the river, chosen for his favorite hobby, there is a place for char, then it will not be difficult to catch a worthy representative of the salmon family. The bait is held downstream near the bottom, along the very edge of the stream. The fish will certainly react to the food passing by with a sharp bite.

Fishing with a spinning rod can sometimes lead to a little difficulty, because it is not always possible to determine a successful bait. Loach is a mysterious fish and in the same place in different time can react unpredictably to baits. He is seduced in one case by the heavy ones, in the other - by the "bullet-mirror", the third time he will not even look at these devices, but he will actively respond to the primitive "spinner" with a feathered tee. In order not to return home empty-handed and in a spoiled mood, it is better to talk to local fishermen and first find out when and with what to go for the desired char.

You can even catch char. Small pieces of fish, pre-boiled caviar (it is better to take red caviar) will serve as an excellent bait. If the bite is good, then resourceful craftsmen manage to catch a predator even with small pieces of foam rubber, painted with red paint.

Photo 3. Red styrofoam also attracts salmon fish.

Loach fishing is a fascinating and reckless activity, because what could be more desirable for an avid fisherman than holding a coveted catch in his hands, which is also useful and very tasty? A little skill, knowledge of the habits and preferences of a beautiful predator and fishing luck - the combination of these necessary little things will certainly lead to a pleasant result.