Rántott Hal

The story

Breaded fried fish, rántott hal, is a frequent choice for Christmas Eve, because fish traditionally takes the place of meat on the fast day before Christmas, much as carp does in Polish, Czech, and Slovak tradition. The fish is usually dipped in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs and then fried until golden, a simple method that makes fish more appealing to children than a poached or baked version, so rántott hal is often the dish through which the youngest members of the family first “make peace” with fish on the table. It is served with potato salad or mashed potatoes. Different kinds of fish are used from region to region depending on what is available: carp inland, other river fish along the Danube and the Tisza. For Hungarian families in America, where fresh carp is not easy to come by, breaded fish is one of the easiest parts of the Christmas Eve dinner to adapt to locally available fish without losing the spirit of the tradition. It is the method, not the species, that makes the dish recognizable.