📌 This post is a continuation of our story. Read the previous part here: Fish in a Diabetic Diet: Hake Medallions, Chimaera, and Healthy Herring.
✍ After our general discussion about incorporating fish into a diabetic meal plan, I had one very specific question regarding formed hake. I wanted to understand its exact composition and production method to be 100% confident in its safety for an elderly person managing blood sugar levels.
It turned out that so-called "fish sausage" or hake medallions are a completely safe, wholesome, and beneficial protein source for diabetes management. This format is especially convenient when chewing soft food is required, as the fish fillet remains remarkably tender and entirely free of bones.
🐟 What Pressed Hake Medallions Are Actually Made Of
Contrary to concerns about highly processed foods, quality pressed hake medallions (often called "fish sausage" due to their cylindrical shape) are not made from scrap paste or chemical-laden fillers. They are simply a natural pressed fish product.
The manufacturing process is straightforward and clean:
- Freshly caught fish (typically Argentine hake or Cape hake) is thoroughly cleaned, skinned, and deboned.
- Pure pieces of whole fillet are tightly packed together and pressed into long cylindrical rolls without adding flour, starches, or soy fillers.
- This rolled fillet undergoes flash freezing directly aboard fishing vessels or at processing facilities.
- At the store, it is sold either as a full frozen roll or pre-sliced into convenient round medallions.
The ingredient label of a high-quality product lists only two items: hake fish and water (used as a protective ice glaze). Containing 0 grams of carbohydrates, it provides pure protein that satisfies hunger without raising blood glucose levels.
👁 Smart Shopping and Cooking Tips for Eye Health
To ensure fish dishes remain strictly beneficial for blood vessels and vision, we follow a few simple guidelines:
- Read Labels Carefully: We consistently avoid commercial fish sticks or breaded fish patties, which are packed with refined flour, breadcrumbs, and starches that rapidly spike blood sugar. We choose strictly pure pressed fillets.
- Cooking Techniques: Because pure medallions contain no binding agents (like eggs or flour), prolonged boiling in water can cause them to separate into individual flakes. They turn out best when baked in the oven in a dish drizzled with oil and seasoned with beneficial spices (like turmeric or dried dill), or gently simmered under a lid with zucchini and onions.
Now we confidently buy these convenient hake medallions and regularly bake them for a healthy dinner 🐟✨
👉 Read the next part: How Much Meat and Fish to Eat Per Week with Diabetes? Protein Guidelines for Vision Health