Many buyers, when choosing fish, prefer the Salmon family. Pink salmon, trout, chum salmon, and salmon are some of the most beloved. After all, the meat of these fish has a delicate taste and fat content, despite its low calorie content. But not all buyers know that kunja is a fish that also belongs to the Salmon family. Where is it found? What can you cook from it? In this article we will consider its beneficial properties, habitats, and also give recipes for cooking and pickling. First things first.
Characteristic
Despite the fact that kunja is a fish that is not particularly famous and popular, it is very tasty and healthy.
Unfortunately, you can't often find it in stores. But if you are lucky and you see a name unknown to you on sale - kunja (fish), feel free to buy it, your family will be absolutely delighted. What is she? A distinctive feature of this type of fish is the almost complete absence of scales, which significantly reduces its cooking time. This is one of the largest representatives of its family. Its weight can be more than ten kilograms, and its length can be about a meter.
What kind of fish is kunja?
This fish is a representative of the salmon family. It is included in the subspecies of “chars”, so named because of its peculiarity - the almost complete absence of scales, due to which the fish looks as if “naked”.
Appearance
The kunja fish is similar to other representatives of its family, but it also has certain differences that make it impossible to confuse it with other fish. This is a very attractive looking individual with elegant bright colors. Its body is usually amber to brown in color and its fins are bright orange.
There are quite large white spots on the back and sides of the kunja, which is why this type of salmon is also called speckled white (unlike other Arctic char, which have dark and red spots on the body). The elongated body of the kunja is covered with small, barely noticeable scales. Her mouth is slanted and large, with many small teeth.
Weight and size
Kunja is one of the largest representatives of its species. The weight of this fish can reach more than ten kilograms, and the length of the kunja grows up to one meter. However, these are the largest ones. The average weight of caught kunja is two to three kilograms.
Distinctive features
As mentioned above, this fish cannot be confused with the rest of its relatives. The kunja has distinctive white spots, very small scales, bright orange fins, and a silvery belly on its elongated darkish (brown or amber) body.
Habitat
This fish lives in the Seas of Okhotsk, Bering and Japan, and is found in the northwest Pacific Ocean, in the Amur, in the rivers of Kamchatka and some large lakes of Japan. Freshwater specimens are found in the Russian Magadan region. Usually the kunja lives near the shore, without going deep into the sea. Under favorable conditions, kunja in the wild can live for ten years.
Diet
Kunja is a predatory fish. Its main diet consists of small fish such as smelt, sand lance, gobies, and minnows. Kunja also feed on large insect larvae and freshwater shrimp.
Reproduction
This fish comes to spawn in rivers, and the spawning process itself takes place mainly in late summer - early autumn. During its life, a kunja can make over ten such migrations.
Fishing for kunja
It is worth noting that kunja is not bred artificially - this fish needs both fresh and sea water, and not every fish farm can do this at the same time.
Fishing for this fish is carried out mainly in Russia and Japan. At the same time, in the latter country, kunja occupies one of the leading positions in consumption. In addition, Japanese fishermen actively catch this fish for subsequent sale in East Asian countries located on the mainland.
In the European part of Russia, this fish is not often found on sale, and therefore it is not cheap. Although, given the taste and beneficial properties of this fish, the price and quality of kunja corresponds.
Popular recipes
Kunja fish dishes will bring variety to your kitchen and will become one of your favorites. Here are the most accessible cooking recipes.
- Baked in the oven. For cooking you will need: kunja, onions, sunflower oil, salt and pepper. The most important thing is to prepare the fish: wash, clean, remove fins and entrails. Cut off the head and tail, but do not throw them away; they will make a very tasty fish soup. Pour sunflower oil onto a baking sheet or roasting pan. We cut the peeled onion into rings and put it inside the fish. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Turn on the oven and put the fish there. In 30-35 minutes the dish will be ready. You can boil potatoes or rice with it. It should be served hot. It is not recommended to expose fish to heat again.
- Potato pancakes with kunja. For this recipe, it is advisable to use smoked kunja. You will also need: potatoes, sour cream, yogurt, salt, pepper, milk. Mix equal amounts of sour cream and yogurt. Add salt and pepper. Grate 5-6 medium potatoes, you can add a pinch of nutmeg and a little milk. Pour sunflower oil into a frying pan and fry the pancakes. Place the finished ones on a plate and place a paper towel on it to absorb excess fat. Take a pancake, put a piece of fish, cover it with sour cream and yogurt mixture and sprinkle with green onions. Bon appetit.
- How to fry kunja? We offer a very simple recipe. What do we need? Fish, flour, oil, salt, spices. Prepare the fish and cut it into small pieces. Then you need to salt it and add spices. Leave for 30 minutes in a plate until it is well salted. Take a frying pan and pour in sunflower oil, then heat it up a little. In the meantime, we do the following. Roll each piece of fish in flour and place in a heated frying pan. Fry on both sides. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in preparing this fish. It can not only be fried and salted, but also made into cutlets, soups, pies, and added to salads.
Spawning of kunja
Puberty in the kunja occurs at approximately 3-4 years. During sexual maturity, the color of the kunja changes. It starts to get dark. Females mature several years later than males.
Their spawning also depends on the type of kunja. Migratory fish, ready to reproduce, begin migrating from the sea to rivers for spawning grounds. The predator chooses calm sections of the river, tributaries with icy tundra water, and bays.
The residential form also spawns in tributaries of lakes and streams with extensive beds. The difference between these two types is that the residential form does not have to migrate from the sea to the river every year.
Spawning of kunja begins in August and lasts until September. The main condition for successful spawning: a pebble bottom, from which the kunja makes a kind of nest. During spawning, the fish does not feed. She noticeably loses weight and loses strength, which she will then actively restore. During the spawning period, the female lays up to 2000 eggs. The fish buries the eggs in nests pre-built for this purpose. Fish spawn annually. The fish's caviar is light yellow in color. After spawning, predators remain in the river and begin to actively hunt. The fish needs to replenish the strength lost during spawning, because winter is ahead. Fish overwinter in the river, and then migratory species migrate to the sea. Summer feeding and further spawning will begin. Fish spawn on average for 10-12 years.
Kunja (fish): how to salt?
We offer you two of the simplest and most delicious ways. Choose according to your taste.
For the first one we will need: half a kilogram of fish, 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil, lemon, salt. Clean the kunja and remove everything unnecessary. Then grease with sunflower oil, sprinkle with lemon and salt. Place in a cool, dark place, preferably overnight.
Second way. Cut the processed fish into two parts along the belly. Rinse well with cold water. It is necessary to make a solution for salting. Take a liter of cold water, eight teaspoons of salt, a tablespoon of sugar. Mix everything thoroughly and add the fish. Now put it in the refrigerator and forget about it until the next day. Exactly one day later, try the fish. You will definitely like it. However, there is still one drawback - there is never enough fish, no matter how much you make.
Kunji Lifestyle
The kunja's lifestyle directly depends on the type of life strategy. Residential kunjas are much smaller than their relatives. Their life expectancy is also much lower. Marine inhabitants are more common and their habitat is wider. Residential representatives live only in some areas. This representative of the char, like most salmon, needs clean, cold water rich in oxygen.
Kunja is a ruthless and very skilled hunter. There is an opinion that fish causes great harm to marine and river fauna. While in the river, kunja loves to feast on caviar and fry of other salmon representatives, such as grayling and lenok. The fish does not disdain crustaceans, gobies and insect larvae. If there is a lot of food, the kunja will not rush into the hunt thoughtlessly. In such cases, she hunts from ambush. After sliding into the sea, the fish feed on smelt, sand lance, and young salmon, which also rolled into the sea.
Kunja can be called a sport fish. She is always on the move. The fish rests only after a hearty lunch, but very soon it will go hunting again.
Helpful information
- If you are going to cook kunja in the oven, then it is best to put foil on a baking sheet - the fish will be more tender and juicy.
- How to achieve a golden hue when frying? First roll the fish in a small amount of flour. You can also add a small piece of butter to the sunflower oil in the pan.
- In order for the kunja sea fish to be tender and juicy, you first need to fry it longer than on the other side.
- Kunja (fish) is suitable for preparing a variety of dishes. How to salt and cook is described in this article. We suggest you take a little advice. To salt fish well, you need to keep it in hot salty water for about five minutes. It will salt evenly and the taste will be simply amazing.
- Do you want to make beautiful cut salted fish? First place it in the freezer for ten minutes.
Useful properties of kunja
The meat of this fish, like all salmon, is red. It is juicy and tender and somewhat reminiscent of trout. Therefore, kunja is recommended for preparing various types of dishes. In addition, it is highly praised by nutritionists, so we advise those who are watching their figure to eat this fish.
Meat composition
Kunja meat, like any fish of the salmon family, contains a huge amount of useful substances, antioxidants, and microelements. Thus, the flesh of this fish contains very few bones, but contains zinc, phosphorus, molybdenum, iron, and niacin. Kunja is extremely rich in protein, which is easily digestible.
So, one hundred grams of meat contains more than 70 grams of protein, 18 grams of fat, 9 grams of Omega-3. Please note that kunja meat may vary depending on the season when it is caught. So, if the fish is caught in the spring, the meat will be white, and if it is caught in the fall, it will be pink.
Vitamins
Kunja contains vitamin B - it is necessary to keep nails and hair in perfect order. In addition, regular consumption of this fish will replenish the body's daily requirement of vitamin C. Thanks to this, your immune system will work like clockwork.
Calorie content
The calorie content of kunja, despite the fatty and tender meat, is small: only about 150 kilocalories per 100 grams of product. Therefore, doctors recommend this fish for dietary nutrition, as well as for those who closely monitor their diet and figure.
Consumer Reviews
In the 21st century, you can buy a huge variety of products in stores. But unfortunately, there are some that are not sold in all Russian cities even today. Similar food products include kunja (fish). Now you know how to cook it. It does not require a lot of time, as it is very easy to clean, it has practically no scales. Those who have tried this wonderful fish are unanimous in their opinion: its taste is reminiscent of trout. Fried, boiled, salted, baked - no matter how you prepare kunja, the result will always be the same - satisfied and happy faces of family members and guests.
Life cycle of kunja
The year-round life cycle of the kunja is repeated from year to year. Residential and migratory fish have different cycles. Residential fish approach the tributary of the lake to spawn. They do not need to migrate long distances.
Migratory representatives of the family make about 10-12 migrations from seas to rivers and back during their entire lives. Having reached the period of sexual maturity, the fish rolls out of the river into the sea, where it begins its pre-spawning feeding. At this time, the fish is actively feeding. By August, the fish begin their spawning run. Throughout September, the brown trout actively lays eggs and buries them in nests. After the end of spawning, the brown trout remains in the river and begins to eat off before wintering. The fish remain in the river for the winter. With the onset of spring, the fish roll into the sea and summer feeding begins again. During this period, the fish likes to stay close to the coast. The fry, emerging from the eggs, remain in the river for 3-4 years, and then also roll into the sea. They begin their life cycle.
Kunja fish: description, cooking recipes, price, photo and review
Trout, bream or pike are a healthy food product for humans. One of the salmon representatives that is not so famous, but tasty and highly valued, is kunja fish. Find out what kind of fish this is - kunja, where you can find it, how to cook it in the oven, cooking recipes, at what price you can buy it, and what are the benefits and harms of red kunja meat.
Habitat of the kunja
Kunja lives and breeds in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in the Amur and Kamchatka rivers, and is caught in the Sea of Japan and Bering Sea. It is found in the Sea of Okhotsk, the cleanest in terms of natural biological resources, and also hunts off the coast of Magadan. Fish loves to live in cold and clear rivers enriched with oxygen.
In the Far East, its biology has not yet been fully studied. There is no reliable data on its reproduction in rivers such as Avacha, Bolshaya, Paratunka and Kamchatka.
The summer bite begins before dawn. In the evening the fish are not as willing to bite. During the day you shouldn’t even cast a fishing rod. In winter, the predator is well caught using small fish, pieces of meat, and chum salmon caviar.
Appearance, size, weight, photo of kunja fish
Although spotted kunja has some similarities with the salmon family, it still has its own peculiarities. Therefore, it is especially different from other relatives. The surface of the fish is covered with shiny mother-of-pearl. The fins have a pronounced orange color.
Kunja differs from other fish of the salmon family by its white spots. People sometimes call it speckled white. The elongated body is covered with small scales.
The sea dweller's mouth is slightly bent to one side, and its numerous teeth are strong and large in number.
Click to enlarge Sometimes kunja can be confused with Dolly Varden, but never with char, which has a bright reddish belly
The average weight of kunja is 2–3 kg; length is 1 m. Individual specimens of white-speckled salmon are 1 m in size and weigh up to 10 kg. Massive specimens are extremely rare. Not long ago, a 1.5 m long kunja was caught in the Ola River, which is located near Magadan.
The marine life lives up to 15 years. As a rule, salmon representatives are caught at the age of 6–10 years. By nature, kunja fish is very cunning, dexterous and accurate. Having noticed the gear or the fisherman, she quietly moves away from the shore.
Spawning time
Red kunja fish caviar (can be increased)
At the end of August and beginning of September, brown trout swims into rivers and lakes to spawn. Puberty occurs in the 3rd–4th year of life. It is very difficult to breed such fish under artificial conditions, since it consumes both sea and fresh water. Fish spawning occurs all year round. Some simulate populations. One residential kunja throws out up to 500 - 2.2 thousand eggs.
What does it eat?
The marine inhabitant of the salmon family is a predatory fish. The main diet includes small gobies, gerbils, larvae of large insects and river shrimp.
Average price in Russia
Prices at which kunja was found in certain regions of Russia.
Price status updated in 2021.
| State/Region | In Moscow and St. Petersburg | In the Far Eastern and northern regions |
| n/r chilled | From 330 rubles per kg | from 240 rubles per kg |
| frozen | From 300 rubles / kg | from 200 rubles per kg |
Nutritional properties
Kunja is a close representative of the famous king trout. The taste qualities of both salmon families are quite healthy with a refined taste. It contains a sufficient amount of valuable microelements, vitamins, and proteins. There are very few bones in the meat. The color of the meat depends on the time of year. In spring it is white, in summer it is pink.
Calories and nutritional value
The meat of such fish is not fatty, so its calorie content is not high. 100 grams of meat - 140 kcal. Therefore, such an expensive product is well absorbed.
Nutritional value per 100 grams of product:
- Proteins – 18 g.
- Fats – 4 g.
- Carbohydrates – 0 g.
Benefits, vitamins and elements
Fish has a high content of vitamins and minerals. When consuming 100 grams of kunja, the daily standard dose of vitamin C, iron, magnesium and niacin (Vitamin PP) is provided. Such microelements support the strengthening of hair and nails. The meat also contains a group of vitamin B, which are responsible for skin elasticity.
Harm of red kunji meat
Due to its low calorie content, doctors advise overweight people to consume marine life.
Fish meat increases the performance of the endocrine system, helps support the homeostasis system, and increases the productivity of the human brain. Eating such a dietary product is the key to the health of every person. No special restrictions on the use of this fish have been identified. There is a separate category of people whose bodies cannot tolerate seafood.
It is prohibited to eat kunja meat for people with digestive system disorders, as well as for people with individual allergies.
How to cook in the oven
There are several ways to bake kunja in the oven.
Preparation. Recipe No. 1 baking with onions
Baking option with tomatoes and lemon
Take one medium-sized fish carcass, one large onion. For this recipe you will need: sunflower oil 2 - 3 tablespoons. To give such a dish taste and aroma, take salt, ground pepper, preferably some herbs - dill, parsley.
The fish's head, fins and tail are cut off. Then it is cut up, gutted and washed in running water. Let the water drain a little and place on a baking sheet greased with sunflower oil.
Cut the onion into rings onto a plate, add salt, mix the spices and season the fish. The oven is turned on at 180 degrees . Thirty minutes later the dish is ready.
This side dish is usually served with potatoes or buckwheat porridge.
Attention! An expensive predator usually does not throw away its head, fins and tail. Another healthy dish is prepared from them - fish soup.
Recipe No. 2
You will need 3-4 fish carcasses, 2 large onions, 2 large carrots, salt, ground pepper and bay leaf.
Carefully cut the fish and wash it. In order to give the meat more juiciness, place it on foil for baking and then on a baking sheet.
Cut onions and carrots into medium half rings, add salt, ground pepper and bay leaf. All this is mixed and placed inside the fish. The top of the carcass is salted and wrapped in foil.
Bake the dish in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees .
How to pickle correctly
In order for the seafood to be salted and appetizing, you will need 0.5 kg of kunja meat, 3 - 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil, 1 lemon, salt.
- Place the fish meat on a plate.
- The lemon is scalded in boiling water to soften it.
- Then the juice is squeezed out of it into a separate bowl, vegetable oil is added, and the whole thing is beaten with a spoon.
- This syrup is poured over the meat and refrigerated for 24 hours.
The finished dish is served on the table as a cold appetizer.
Kunja fried in a frying pan
To make the meat tender, soft and crispy, you will need 0.5 kg of fish, 4 - 5 tbsp sunflower oil. l, 500 ml flour, salt, bay leaf, black pepper to taste.
The fish is cut, washed and cut into small pieces. The finished fillet is salted, peppered, dipped in flour, placed in a frying pan, sunflower oil is added and fried over low heat. When the pieces of fish fillet acquire a golden crust, the dish is a success.
Video review of kunja meat in comparison with pink salmon + salting recipe:
Marine inhabitants continue to conquer humanity with their unusually useful properties. For many Russian residents, finding such exclusive fish on retail shelves is a big problem.
Still, there are no hopeless situations. And if luck smiles, you should not spare money.
After all, the inhabitants of the depths of the sea surprise not only with their size and amazing beauty, but also with their extraordinary taste, although sometimes they are not cheap.
