Today we’re cooking these two handsome trouts the traditional Romanian way: fried in breading and served with polenta and mujdei, the famous Romanian garlic sauce.
To prepare the breading you simply mix one cup of bread crumbs with 2-3 tablespoons of flour and season with a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper.
Then let the trouts rest a bit in the breading so that it sticks properly to their skin and forms a nice layer. You can also press them a bit on both sides to ensure proper coverage.
Now fry them in oil for about 7-8 minutes each side or until the crust shows a nice golden color. Another way to know when the’re done is to inspect the section where the meat is visible and when it becomes white, it means the meat is cooked.
To prepare the mujdei you will need to press or chop 10 garlic cloves and place them in a garlic pounder press or a spice crusher. One might say that’s a lot of garlic, but you know: romanians need to keep them vampires away :))
Mix the garlic really well with one tablespoon of oil, one teaspoon of vinegar, a bit of salt and one tablespoon of sour cream.
Preparing the polenta is pretty easy: I brought to boil half a liter of water with a bit of salt. While continuously stirring with a wooden spoon, pour about 150 grams of polenta mix (yellow corn flour) into the pot very slowly. During the mixing process, the polenta will thicken up quite fast so take good notice of how much flour you add there or it will be too viscous.
The right consistency depends on your taste. I like it when you can still pour the polenta out of the pan, so still quite moldable to be poured in a shape. However it solidifies rather fast so take it out of the pan as soon as it’s cooked.
That’s it, serve the trout with a side of polenta, plenty of mujdei and some fresh cherry tomatoes.
It’s guaranteed you will be safe from vampires the next hours. Maybe you should also postpone romantic dates.
Enjoy and let us know how you liked it!
Romanian style Trout with Polenta and Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 medium trouts (we had about 300 grams each)
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 2-3 tablespoons flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the mujdei (garlic sauce):
- 10 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sour cream or yogurt
For the Polenta:
- 150 grams polenta mix (cornflour)
- ½ liter water
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
To make the trouts:
- On a large flat plate, mix together bread crumbs, flour, salt and pepper.
- Cover the trouts on both sides with the breading and allow them to rest in the breading for a couple of minutes.
- While the trouts are resting, heat up a large flat frying pan over medium heat with the oil.Once the oil is hot, add the trouts. Fry about 7-8 minutes on each side. Turn them with a thin spatula or two forks. Be very careful, as the skin is very thin and fragile and might break easily.The trouts are done, when the skin has a nice golden color and the meat is looking white, rather than pinkish.
- Serve trout together with polenta and mujdei. Enjoy!
To prepare the mujdei:
- While the trouts are frying, start on mujdei (garlic sauce). Peel and chop or crush the garlic cloves, place them in a garlic pounder press or a spice crusher (can also be done in a deep bowl). Add oil and mix well, squashing the garlic against the sides of the bowl with the back of the spoon.Add the vinegar salt and sour cream. Mix everything well, squash the garlic a bit more, to infuse the sour cream.Move to a serving dish.
To prepare the polenta:
- In a medium saucepan bring ½ liter of water to boil.Once the water is boiling, while continuously stirring with a wooden spoon, pour the polenta mix (yellow corn flour) into the pot very slowly. During the mixing process, the polenta will thicken up quite fast so take good notice of how much flour you add there or it will be too viscous.The right consistency depends on your taste. I like it when you can still pour the polenta out of the pan, so still quite moldable to be poured in a shape. However it solidifies rather fast so take it out of the pan as soon as it's cooked.
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