Difference between ruff flounder and regular flounder. Dried flounder ruff (~200 g) Murmansk sea ruff fish
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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. Sea flounder
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 thing characteristic feature
What determines 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 ordinary flounder is important, since the optimal methods for their 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.
Flounder- Hippoglossoidcs platessoides limandoides (BToch).
Signs
The ruffed flounder has a rough body covered with ctenoid scales; hence the name ruff. The lateral line is almost straight, with a very slight bend above the pectoral fin. The mouth and eyes are large, the interorbital space is narrow, with a crest covered with scales. The scales cover the entire sighted side, extending onto the fins and partly onto the jaws. Gill rays 8. Lateral line 85-92. Vertebrae 45-46.
Related forms
The closest is the American flounder, N. platessoides plattessoides, common along the Atlantic coast North America south to Cape Cod and off Greenland and differing big amount scales between the lateral line and the upper edge of the body; then close is the Pacific halibut, N. elassodon.
Spreading
The ruffed flounder lives in the northern part Atlantic Ocean from the British Isles in the south to the northern coast of Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land in the north; Barents Sea; Kara Sea.
In the Barents Sea, ruffed flounder is found everywhere east to Novaya Zemlya, and in commercial quantities in the western and central regions. East of Kolguev there are few in number.
BIOLOGY OF THE FLOUND Ruff
Characteristic
The ruffed flounder is a typical sea fish; mainly juveniles live in the coastal zone. Flounder-ruffe is found at depths from several meters to 500 m, at water temperatures both significantly above and below 0° (up to - 1°), but in commercial quantities it is found at temperatures not lower than - 0.3 (-0 ,5°).
Spawning
Occurs primarily on the high seas; The main spawning grounds in the Barents Sea are the Murmansk and Kildinskaya banks and the western and northern parts of the Central Plateau. The ruffed flounder also partially spawns in Motovsky Bay and its lips (Titovka, Kutovaya, Motka, Eina, Vichany).
The spawning period in the Barents Sea (and Motovsky Bay) is March - June. Spawning occurs at depths of 125-200 m at a water temperature of 1-3°. Fecundity 240 - 370, on average 285 thousand eggs.
Development
The caviar is pelagic, with a large circular yolk space. The diameter of the eggs is 1.4-2.6 mm. The length of the larvae with a yolk sac is 4-5.5 mm. The larvae acquire body asymmetry upon reaching a length of 20 mm; at a length of 30 mm, they begin to lead a bottom lifestyle.
Height
The greatest length in the Barents Sea is 51.5 cm and weight up to 1.5 kg. Age limit 25 years. The catches are dominated mainly by five and eleven year old individuals with a length of 20 to 45 cm.
It becomes sexually mature in the seventh or eighth, partly in the tenth or twelfth year of life (females), males mature two to three years earlier.
Nutrition
The food consists mainly of bottom organisms: brittle stars (Ophiura sarsi, O. sericeum, etc.), mollusks (Pecten groenlandicus, etc.), then fish (cod, haddock, cod, Triglops pingeli, etc.) and partly pelagic and bottom crustaceans. The feeding intensity noticeably decreases in March-May, which is apparently associated with the breeding season.
Competitors
Haddock, partly cod.
Enemies
Cod, stingrays, arctic shark.
Migrations
In the Barents Sea, fish that have reached sexual maturity migrate annually in the spring from eastern regions to the western for spawning, and in the summer, apparently, they again move to the east. To reproduce, ruffed flounder migrate from shallow waters to depths.
Ruffe flounder fishery
Meaning
There is no special fishing for ruffed flounder; this fish is caught as bycatch in the trawl fishery, partly in the longline cod fishery and in the shrimp fishery (in Norway).
In Russia, flounder-ruff is caught trawl fleet in the Barents Sea (in 1930-1939 in the amount of 10-12 thousand centners per year) and, in addition, in small quantities, in the coastal fishery on Murman.
Technique and progress of the fishery
They are caught with trawls and longlines.
Usage
The bulk of the catch is frozen, partly followed by hot smoking. Part of the catch is salted, but when salted, ruffed flounder is a less valuable product in terms of taste than ice cream.
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 general principles salting and drying fish, built a drying chamber with climate control, called wholesale fish stores, went, 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 so, 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: Latin name listed 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 peel 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’s 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 dark sides were turned to the dark ones, and whites to the white ones 
do you see some specimens with spots? This is deliberate 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 wrapped plastic bags boards, 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.
At industrial production the fish is dried under powerful hot fans for 2-4 hours, and it goes on sale - but fish 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 almost removed 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, video filming, careful weighing, and control temperature regime, and the speed of the draft in the chamber with an anemometer was measured, but they 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 all this so that you know and remember: all this dried fish in markets and shops it is done 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.
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 distinctive feature 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 northern seas 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.
Flounder fish is a representative of the flounder fish. Lives in sea and river waters.
Flounder lives on the seabed and therefore has this shapeThe body is flat, as it grows, the eyes of the fish shift to one side, usually to the right.
Length can reach 60 cm, weight - up to 7 kg. The main habitat of the fish is the seabed.
Where do flounder live? Flounder is a common sea fish, and there are also river species. Lives in the Northeast Atlantic, in the Western part Mediterranean Sea, in the North and White Seas.
In Black and Seas of Azov There are large Black Sea flounder (kalkan), glossa, and sole.
Is flounder an oily fish or not?
Flounder meat contains a minimal percentage of fat and is dietary, nutritious, rich in vitamins and minerals.
Due to the absence of connective tissue, the meat of this fish is immediately digestible. The body spends a minimum of energy on this process.
Flounder is useful for eating by weakened people, pregnant women and women during breastfeeding; flounder is also useful for the full growth and development of the child.
One more healthy dish for children is . Fruit and milk jelly is very useful for little sweet lovers. It saturates their body with essential valuable substances and improves digestion.
How is flounder useful?
This sea fish is rich in protein, so it will become an indispensable product in the menu of athletes and those who want to improve their muscle condition and make their body healthier and stronger.
Flounder meat contains antioxidants and fatty acids known as. These substances have antitumor properties and stop the destructive effects of free radicals.
It also has an antitumor effect. Phytic acids in soy prevent the development of tumors.
Regular inclusion of flounder in the menu will help increase the body's immunity, strengthen bones and teeth due to the high concentration of phosphorus salts.
You will learn more about the benefits of flounder from the video:
The calorie content of flounder is low, 90 kcal/100 g of meat. There are practically no fats in its composition.
The ratio of BJU in flounder meat, nutritional value:
- proteins - 15.7;
- fats - 3 g;
- carbohydrates - 0.
Flounder also contains water (79.7 g), ash (1.6 g), omega-3 (0.6 g) and healthy cholesterol in the amount of 58 mg.
Fish is characterized by a high content of micro and macroelements such as iron, zinc, copper and fluorine.
One more useful product is . Despite the frightening appearance catfish, its meat has many advantages, including an excellent and rich taste, a unique composition and relatively low calorie content.
How much does flounder cost? The cost of flounder depends on the type of fish, the place where it is caught and sold, and the size. For example, the price of a large fresh Murmansk flounder, weighing a little more than 1 kg, is approximately 400 rubles. Fresh frozen fish is sold for less than 300 rubles/kg.
In front of everyone beneficial properties flounder, its consumption can bring both benefit and harm to the human body. Flounder should not be included in the menu for those who are prone to allergies or intolerant to protein; people who have problems with the liver, kidneys, etc. Flounder meat contains a lot of proteins.
This fish tends to deposit heavy metals in it, so it should be caught only in ecologically clean areas. It is dangerous to eat flounder that has not undergone heat treatment because... its meat may contain helminth eggs.
Differences between flounder and sea ruffe
The ruffe is mainly found in the northern seas; flounder is found in the sea near the borders of Russia.
Externally, fish have a lot in common, but there are differences between them. The body of the ruffe is more elongated, unlike the flounder, and is covered with scales. The ruff is painted in Brown color with dots, flounder has spotted skin.
The main difference from a culinary point of view is the way the fish is prepared. The best taste of flounder is revealed when it is fried; sea ruffe smoked, dried and canned. 
Dried sea ruffe has excellent taste
How to clean flounder?
First, the carcass must be washed well, then the head must be cut off and gutted. It is more convenient to place the fish with the white side up. Next, you should cut off the fins and tail with scissors and scrape it with a knife.
Flounder has a specific smell that goes away when the skin is removed.
The skin is easiest to separate from frozen fish. When cutting fresh flounder, you need to cut the fish across its entire width and carefully remove the skin.
Baked flounder
Flounder can also be deliciously cooked in the oven. Both stewed and baked flounder retains maximum beneficial properties.
Ingredients:
- medium flounder up to 1.5 kg;
- a little softened butter;
- fresh herbs;
- lemon;
- salt;
- favorite spices;
- vegetable oil.
On the light side of the fish carcass, cuts are made along the entire width, then the fish should be well salted. Bake in a preheated oven at 220 C for 5 minutes, then pour lemon juice over the fish and bake for another 20 minutes. at maximum height from the fire. While baking, you can take care of the greens: chop the dill and parsley, add a piece of butter and mash with a fork. Finally, pour the mixture onto the finished fish.
You will learn another recipe for baked flounder from the video:
Fried flounder
Flounder can be deliciously cooked in a frying pan. For this, in addition to the fish itself, you will need salt, black pepper, and any other spices, onion, flour as a breading and vegetable oil for frying.
The prepared fish is cut into pieces, salted, sprinkled with spices and rolled in flour. In a heated frying pan, fry evenly on both sides. After 5 min. add onion to the fish.
Caviar
Often, flounder is caught with caviar, which also contains a lot of useful substances, for example, calcium, potassium, phosphorus. It is useful to give caviar to children with anemia and iodine deficiency.
Eating flounder caviar saturates the body with valuable substances, therefore it is beneficial, but the harm can be the same as including fish fillet in the menu.
Dried flounder has a unique taste and retains all the benefits of the product, however, this method of preparing fish involves increased use of salt, which can harm the body and cause arthritis.
Is flounder healthy? For high-quality nutrition and maintaining health, you must definitely include dishes from flounder and other species sea fish on your menu several times a week.
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