Isinglass is a dried gelatine in sheets, generally used in the kitchen as a thickener, in particular for the preparation of desserts. The name comes from the production procedure originating in Russia, where it is produced starting from the swim bladder of sturgeon and/or similar fish and from fish cartilage. It is very useful for thickening or stabilizing creams, jellies, bavarois, and is available in supermarkets, both in sheets and in powder form.
How to use fish glue
The gelatine sheets must be softened in cold water and left to swell for a few minutes, then drained and squeezed delicately, and finally dissolved completely in a hot liquid (water, milk). At this point you can combine everything with the ingredients chosen for your preparation. Today on the market there are mainly jellies, improperly known as isinglass, produced mainly using pig rind together with bones and cartilage of bovine origin; therefore only the name remained of the fish.
- Isinglass sheets are a dried product, therefore in order to use them you must first rehydrate the product by soaking the sheets in cold water for at least 10 minutes. Make sure the sheets are completely immersed in water, if necessary you can also cut them into two parts.
- After soaking, the sheets must be drained and wrung out well. Especially if you have cut them, it is best to drain them in a fine sieve, so that you will be able to collect any possible pieces.
- At this point it is necessary to dissolve the isinglass in a hot liquid, usually hot milk or cream. All you need to do is heat even a few tablespoons of liquid, turn off the heat, add the isinglass and mix well to make it all dissolve.
- Let the liquid cool down and add it to your preparation.
How to avoid lumps forming
Isinglass sheets are very practical and simple to use, you just need to pay attention to the various steps to avoid the formation of lumps, which would be annoying and impossible to eliminate.
The salient points are: soak the sheets in cold water for at least 10 minutes, dissolve them in a hot liquid and mix well. This step is essential for the perfect success of the preparation. Once the isinglass has melted, make sure to add the liquid to the preparation when it is not hot, then let it cool to room temperature and add it to the other ingredients.
