Homemade Gluten Free Egg Free Gefilte Fish Recipe- Fish Loaf- Refined Sugar Free

If you haven't noticed yet from the recipes posted on this blog, I am a lover of traditional, ethnic foods. Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Ethiopian, Italian, Middle Eastern, Russian, etc... Jewish ethnic food is no exception. I like ethnic food because it usually is full of flavor yet made with healthy, all natural ingredients- no need to rely on chemical flavor enhancers to make the food taste good. And in many cases, they are also pretty frugal, because people generally weren't so affluent and able to consume large quantities of meat and fish, so the recipes tend to stretch them when using them.
Gefilte fish is one of those ethnic foods that I really love- an Eastern European Jewish fish dish, made from ground white fish and ground veggies. It's either boiled or baked, either in logs and then sliced, or in little dumpling shapes. It's generally soft and sweet, sometimes peppery, and usually served cold with beet and horseradish puree, though some like to eat it with mayo. I'll be honest- not everyone likes gefilte fish- some find its softness off putting, and some people think "fish shouldn't be sweet", but I'm certainly a fan, along with many others.

I'd wanted to make my own homemade gluten free and egg free gefilte fish, without any white sugar, but I wasn't sure it would be so doable, because without eggs and gluten, what would hold it together? Ground fish does not hold together the way ground meat does.
I made up this recipe and decided to bake it instead of boiling it, to ensure that it wouldn't fall apart. I like gefilte fish baked smothered in mayo and surrounded by a medley of spiced vegetables, the way I once had at a friend's house. You can leave out the veggie medley if you prefer.
It holds together beautifully when baked- staying moist and soft, and has a very authentic taste, despite my changes from the traditional.

Whether you've eaten gefilte fish in the past or never eaten it before in your life, this recipe is certainly worth a try!

Homemade Gluten Free Egg Free Gefilte Fish Recipe- Fish Loaf- Refined Sugar Free

Ingredients:
For Loaf:
1 3/4 cup ground white fish, any kind. (I used perch, but tilapia, sole, whitefish, carp, etc... are all ok)
1 onion
2 carrots
1 small stalk celery
3 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 cup potato starch, corn starch, or tapioca starch
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
For Vegetable Medley:
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 zucchini
1 onion
1-2 tablespoons mayo (I use homemade flax based vegan mayo)
Salt
Black pepper

Instructions:
1. Grind carrots, onion, and celery together until very fine.

2. Mix in the ground fish, flax seed, starch, honey, salt, and pepper.

3. Let sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to solidify a bit.

4. In a baking pan, form into a loaf.

5. Chop up onions, carrots, zucchini, and celery, and mix with salt and pepper. (Skip the next two steps if making without the veggie medley.)

6. Smear the log with mayo, and surround by the veggies.

.

7. Bake until the top starts browning and it is solidified. This should take about an hour at 375.

8. Cool, and then slice.

9. Serve with veggies and desired sauces.

Variation Options: Use wheat flour instead of the starches if making non gluten free. Use sugar in place of honey. Use 2 eggs instead of 3 tablespoons ground flax.