What is the difference between flounder and ruff? Dried flounder (~200 g). Biology of the ruffed flounder

How much does flounder fish cost (average price per 1 kg)?

Moscow and Moscow region.

The flounder fish belongs to the bottom inhabitants of the seas of the flounder family of the bony order. Having a flat shape, which is a distinctive feature of representatives of this species, the body of the fish is elongated and oval, and the eyes are located on one side, most often the right. The ruffed flounder fish can change its color from light sandy to almost black. At the same time, its abdomen always remains white.

This fish is widespread in the northern seas of the Arctic and there is more than one species. For example, in the North Atlantic and Barents Sea there are two subspecies of flounder fish: European (relatively small) and North American (larger). The second is mainly found in the waters of Newfoundland, West Greenland and Nova Scotia.

In cooking, flounder fish is considered an excellent raw material for drying and cold smoking, and therefore it is recommended to be used as table fish in the manufacture of canned food and dried products. The white meat of the flounder fish, which has a delicate texture and excellent taste, has a high gastronomic value and is in demand not only among gourmets, but also simply among seafood lovers.

In the Northwest Atlantic, ruffed flounder fish is sometimes found with jelly-like, watery meat, which is most often frozen and then sent to the production of canned food and molded culinary products.

Along with the typical sole, there is the cabala ruff, often simply called the ruff. Both fish belong to the same family and, accordingly, have a lot in common. But at the same time, there are signs that distinguish the ruff flounder from ordinary flounder. Let's talk about them.

general information

Flounder is a marine fish widely distributed in northern waters. It has subspecies that differ in size. Individuals of the European subspecies are relatively small, while those of the North American subspecies are larger. The ruffed flounder inhabits the lower zone of the continental shelf. It lives mainly at a depth of 130-350 m. Ruff flounder is a by-catch when catching fish of other species.

Flounder

Sea flounder can also have different sizes depending on the species. Like other flounders, it is a bottom-dwelling fish. In the waters surrounding Russia, sea flounder is quite common. Its production season lasts from approximately mid-winter to mid-autumn.

Comparison

So, at first glance, the fish are very similar to each other. Each of them is characterized by body asymmetry. Individuals look flat, as if flattened. At the top they have both eyes, which have good mobility. The presence of such features is due to the way of life of the flounder.

Let us now consider the difference between ruff flounder and ordinary flounder. Let's pay attention to the body shape of the fish as a whole. The ruff, as a rule, is more elongated in length. However, there are also quite tall-bodied individuals. The main characteristic feature that determined the name ruff flounder is that this fish is covered with scales. The body of the common flounder is smooth.

The colors of these representatives of the fauna world are also different. The upper part of the flounder's body is brown (of different shades) with speckles. The bottom is light. A characteristic element of the color of sea flounder are spots that contrast with the main color. The light underside may also be spotted.

Knowing how ruff flounder differs from regular flounder is important because the optimal methods for cooking them vary. Thus, flounder makes an excellent dried product, which is a recognized delicacy. This fish is also suitable for cold smoking and canning. Those who have tried to dry sea flounder note that the meat turns out to be too tough. But when fried, it is very tasty.

About three years ago, a little less, a friend approached me. A couple of years before, he sold his Moscow apartment and moved to live at his winter dacha in the Tver region. with a large plot: I wanted to escape from the bustle of Moscow into beautiful open spaces, fresh air and leisurely village life.
But after some time it turned out that the money received for the apartment was slowly being spent, and it was necessary to look for sources of income.
And he came up with the idea of ​​drying flounder for sale. Having compared retail prices, I found out that the most expensive flounder is the ruffed flounder Hippoglossoides platessoides

and took aim at her. Their heads are cut off on board the fishing vessel - so I can’t give you a photo of a specimen with the head: I didn’t hold it in my hands.
But in order to make sure that it is a ruff, it is enough to know the differences between the types of flounder by the pattern on the skin and fins, as well as by the shape of the body.

A friend read about the general principles of salting and drying fish, built a climate-controlled drying chamber, called wholesale fish stores, went and bought 25 kg for testing, salted it, dried it - and was dissatisfied. Well, he didn’t throw it away, of course - he called his friends and had a beer - but it was clear that they wouldn’t buy such quality from him.
He simply threw away the second 25 kg: it was under-salted and stale.
The fish from the third experimental batch, having dried, became not dry - but for some reason sticky, with the consistency of plasticine.

Well, then he gave up - he realized that there were some subtle nuances that he didn’t understand, which you don’t write about on the Internet - and he invited me to be a technologist.
And now, going from the Volga to buy flounder, he came to pick me up, we drove to one of the bases near Moscow, selected blocks with ruff flounder - and went to his dacha.
It immediately became clear that the friend did not know what kind of salt was needed: he bought expensive sea salt from the ABC of Taste, did not know that the fish needed to be sorted by size, did not know how much salt to put in and how long to salt - and what then needed to be soaked. In general, I didn’t know anything - not even how long to dry it and with what airflow.
So I won’t list the errors for a long time, but I’ll just try to describe how it’s roughly necessary - in case it still comes in handy someday.

Fish at the bases is sold in blocks, packed in sewn bags. It is impossible to select unbroken and unfrozen blocks: the bags are opaque. But you can touch the bag and understand that the edges of the blocks are even and smooth. You also need to look for torn bags. Then the contents are visible: if the block inside is dry and whitish, then the rest in this batch will most likely be the same. This means you shouldn’t take fish from this batch.
Most likely, they won’t let you into the freezer; they will take the bags to the scales. But a bag rejected with reason will be replaced.

The label is glued directly to the bag. Look, two different labels - we've traveled many times


The fish are not sorted by size (Size: Ungraded). FAO-27 - fishing area according to FAO coding.

The name of the vessel is indicated here: Chernigov.
But surprisingly, the Latin name is given completely incorrectly - Anarhichas minor, spotted catfish. A different family altogether.
That is, the confusion with names that we encounter on the counter does not always come from illiteracy or fraud of the seller: sometimes it starts right at sea.

Rip open the bag



and extract the blocks


The temperature of the block is even after the road from the Moscow region to the Tver region. - no higher than -20C: blocks in sewn bags, bags were riding on top of each other in the back of a pickup truck, nothing was defrosted. Your hands immediately become cold and painful; gloves don’t help.

We weigh the fish and record the results in a work log.
As a rule, the weight does not coincide with that indicated on the label, especially when exactly 30 kg is indicated: it never happens exactly.
By the way, it is usually a little more: 30 kg is the guaranteed minimum.
Only after defrosting, the net weight of the fish will always be slightly less: in addition to the fish, we paid for the weight of frozen water at the wholesale warehouse.

Place the blocks in all available containers - troughs, basins, vats - for defrosting


We have about 20 of these different basins and troughs.

And let it thaw slightly - so that the specimens do not defrost inside, but only separate from each other


You cannot tear off the fish with your hands: you can damage the skin.

Instances that thaw from the blocks are set aside

The rest of the fish from the block, having thawed, remains right at the bottom of the trough

We sort the fish by size, we will have 3-4 weight categories

it is clear that this batch contains all fish with caviar.
You need to sort in order to salt small fish separately from large ones: small ones need less salt, and we salt them for 2 days, and large ones - all three.

Large specimen

The underside with which the flounder lies on the ground

We put fish of the same size in a vat (trough, etc.) - but reaching 10-15 cm to the edge: soon the brine - brine - will begin to separate and rise, in which new batches can then be salted.
Then we take out the fish, weigh it - it is important to know how much fish is in each of the vats - then we throw several handfuls of salt at the bottom of the vat and lay the fish in layers, sprinkling salt from the handful


We start salting as soon as the fish is sorted; it is still frozen inside. This is very important: if you salt completely defrosted fish, then while the salt passes into the muscles through the thick skin, they will already begin to deteriorate inside.
That’s why fish often disappears from those who try to salt it while fishing in the summer.
Those who read about the capelin ambassador from me remember that I also salt it while still frozen - as soon as I manage to separate it from the block and put it in a container: it will thaw itself, release a little water, and take the salt.

Place the flounder on the bottom of the metal with the dark, thick, rough skin down, and then place the layers so that the dark sides face the dark and the white sides face the white


do you see some specimens with spots? This is an obvious future marriage - but we salt such fish along with good fish: because it loses only aesthetically, but it will be tasty like everything else. But we will test quality precisely for these ugly reasons: so as not to take for testing anything that will definitely go to waste - such an increase in profitability.
The salt we used was Baskunchakskaya grind No. 2, which is not available in stores. We took them in 50 kg bags from the salt base in Maryino.
The required weight of salt was determined by the residual weight: they took a 2 kg sample, salted it by eye, then weighed how much salt was left - and counted how much was consumed.
Knowing how much the fish weighed in each vat, the ratio of salt to fish was calculated. A large sample ultimately allowed us to determine the optimal amount: 4.7% of the weight of the fish.
And according to reference books and textbooks - from 7% to 15%. I think I know why. The main task of the Soviet food industry technologist was not to create delicacies - but to guarantee the preservation of products, save them from spoilage by over-salting and not poison the population. Well, you can’t sit down yourself.
But I need a person to try it and say “ah!”

It is better to place the vats one inside the other, using the upper one as a pressure for the lower one.


The fish in the upper container was covered with a pair of boards wrapped in plastic bags, and stones wrapped in bags were placed on them.
Every 12 hours the vats were swapped: the top one was placed down.

Fish larger than 20 cm were salted for three days, small ones for 48 hours.
Then they washed it off the salt and soaked it in water for 3 hours, the one that had been salted for 72 hours, and the one that had been salted for 2 hours for 48 hours.
The large one was hung for 5 days in a chamber of 16 sq.m, lined with galvanized sheet, at T=15C and poor air circulation.
Small - 4 days.
They were hung on frames, piercing the tail stems with pieces of aluminum wire. What’s good about the drying chamber is that there are guaranteed to be no flies or other insects there.
In industrial production, fish is dried under powerful hot fans for 2-4 hours, and it goes on sale - but fish that has been dried, like ours, gradually over several days, is much tastier.

The finished product was collected in cardboard boxes: for tasting and for pre-sale packaging

Exposition 5 days.
Dark side

Bright side

I peeled off the skin and it came off all at once.

The fat in the fin area and the anatomy of the muscle plates - myomeres - are clearly visible. This structure of muscle tissue helps the fish bend its body to move through the water.
And understanding this geometry allows us to eat fish without choking on small bones. Now I’m not talking about dried fish, but about boiled, oven-baked or fried fish.
Do you see a thin white stripe running along the entire body from the head to the tail? This is a lateral line with nerve endings located in it that perceive changes in water pressure from the wave movement of water that occurs when reflected from other fish or stones: this helps the fish navigate in space, especially in conditions of limited visibility.
Bunglers and incompetents start eating fish, irrationally pick at its side or back with a fork, destroy the architecture - and then choke on the scattering bones. And we will run the side of the fork along the side line, separate the upper part of the carcass from the bottom along it, and then begin to peel off the myomeres with the tips of the teeth - and small bones will begin to be released from the myomeres and become visible, after which they can easily be removed from the fish directly on the plate, not sending their mouth.

The flesh from the spine is also removed almost in one piece, this is an indicator of quality

Once there were interruptions in the supply of ruff flounder from Murmansk, so we took the sea flounder Pleuronectes platessa for testing

she is pretty, but in taste compared to the ruff she lost

The business itself, of course, is not simple.
At the beginning of 2012, flounder-ruffe cost - if you take it in small wholesale, up to 1 ton - 145 rubles / kg.
He gave the dried meat for 650 rubles/kg. It seemed to us that there was a margin.
But only fish loses from 30 to 60% of its weight during drying - so consider the profit. Moreover, transportation costs, labor, depreciation of the drying chamber in which he initially invested money.
And his flounder, bought for 650 rubles, he traced, was given at 850 rubles per kg to the saunas (that link had a job - just transport the batch from place to place and get delta for 200 rubles per kilogram), where it was sold customers for 1200 rubles/piece.
A friend tried to sell directly to the sauna for 850 rubles, but he was so scared that he was discouraged from such transactions.

So my friend abandoned this business about a year ago. Firstly, when he made fish without me, the quality was worse, and sometimes there was a defect: the flesh was not dry, but sticky, or did not separate from the bones at all - we broke our heads, looking for the reasons. We did the timing of my work, and videotaped, and carefully weighed, and controlled the temperature, and measured the speed of the draft in the chamber with an anemometer, but we still couldn’t figure it out: he said that while working without me, he repeated everything one after another.
But I have a guess that he did not have time to sort and salt 100-200 kg of fish without me - and it overheated and began to spoil.
And it was expensive for him to call me every time, although I didn’t charge much back then: 10 thousand rubles. for departure, $100 per day.
Now, if anything, it’s more expensive.

Well, I told you all this so that you know and remember: all this dried fish in markets and stores is made in much the same way: as a rule, in the garage and on the knee. Only, unlike us, manufacturers usually do not have drying chambers and climate control. And even these cameras are not there: they are drying in the attics.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the salt crystals, larger than black peppercorns - but it was one of the most delicious things I’ve tasted in my life - only the platform of this warehouse in Maryino


In such 1-ton bags, salt is brought from Baskunchak and repacked in the hangar that is visible from behind into 50-kilogram bags. I recently asked a friend for the address of the base, but he doesn’t remember it at all.
It's a pity.

The northern flounder ruff (Hippoglossoides platessoides) belongs to the flounder family.

The fish lives in the cold waters of the Barents Sea at a depth of up to 400 meters.

Until recently, ruffed flounder did not have much nutritional value, but recently it has become highly valued in its dried form. The popularity of dried flounder ruff is constantly growing. And moreover, the ruffed flounder becomes the calling card of Murmansk, from where it is often asked to be brought through acquaintances, relatives, friends or business colleagues who visit the glorious polar city of Murmansk.

A little-known and interesting fact about the ruff flounder:

Few people know that at birth, the flounder ruff looks like an ordinary fish, swimming not horizontally, but vertically, and has a body familiar to most fish with eyes on both sides, and only after some time does metamorphosis occur with the flounder. The eyes “crawl” to one side and the blind side of the fish lies on the bottom.

Where to buy dried flounder ruff in Moscow?

Recently, dried ruff flounder has been sold in the online northern fish store Grayling House. You can come and buy it in the store near Akademicheskaya metro station on the street. Dmitry Ulyanov 33k10 or order ruff flounder with delivery to your home or work.

The flounder ruff that I managed to find is produced in Murmansk. All fish are 100% caviar, you can see for yourself by looking at the photo. I also managed to find a fairly large ruffed flounder up to 300 grams in size. Its meat is very tasty, fatty, not over-salted or over-dried.

All fish will be packed in paper that does not allow smell and fat to pass through. This is especially convenient when you want to while away the evening with foam. It is convenient to wrap all cleanings from flounder ruff in paper.

Add. description In one package ~ 500 g, 2-3 pcs. per package, 1 piece ~ 200 gr. All kamabala ruff is 100% with caviar, packaged in paper. Made in Murmansk.

Along with the typical sole, there is the cabala ruff, often simply called the ruff. We are pleased to offer you a real Murmansk delicacy - dried flounder from the Barents Sea. The fish has a pleasant taste and smell, has virtually no bones and is easy to clean. Produced by natural drying, directly after catching, exclusively from fresh fish.

Where is it caught?

Ruff belongs to the flounder family, is distinguished by its fat content and is excellent dried. It is considered a valuable game fish in the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic. It is mined mainly in the Barents, Norwegian and White Seas.

How to cook?

No additional processing is required when serving. Fish with excellent taste can be an excellent addition to beer or stronger drinks. Dried large ruff, cut into pieces, can be used as a savory addition to fried or boiled potatoes.