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1
Combine the fish bones, heads, sliced onions, the whole carrot, salt, and white pepper in a wide, heavy pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim any grey foam that rises during the first ten minutes. The broth is ready when it is clear and fragrant — approximately 30 minutes of gentle simmering.
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2
Pass the carp and pike pieces through a food mill fitted with a medium disc, or grind once through a meat grinder. Do not use a food processor unless absolutely necessary; the mill produces the correct uniform grain. The mixture should retain visible texture — coarse and slightly granular, not a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl set over ice.
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3
Add the grated onion, eggs, salt, white pepper, sugar, and matzo meal to the ground fish. Mix firmly with a wooden spoon or by hand until the ingredients are just combined and the mixture holds together when pressed. Add matzo meal sparingly — the binder is present only to assist cohesion, not to bulk the mixture. Chill the bowl in the refrigerator until the mixture is thoroughly cold and noticeably firm to the touch — at minimum 30 minutes.
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4
With wet hands, form the chilled mixture into oval patties approximately 8 cm long and 4 cm wide, using roughly 60–70 g of mixture per dumpling. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the mixture must be cold, the hands wet, and the shaping decisive — a warm or loosely bound mixture will disintegrate in the poaching liquid, and nothing done afterward can repair it.
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5
Strain the poaching broth and return it to the pot over low heat. Lower the dumplings gently into the barely simmering liquid — it must never boil. Lay one round of carrot on top of each dumpling. Regulate the heat so that only the occasional bubble breaks the surface. Poach for 45–60 minutes. The dumplings are done when they are firm throughout and have lifted slightly, turning opaque and pale grey-white all the way through when one is cut open.
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6
Remove the dumplings carefully with a slotted spoon and arrange in a single layer in a deep dish, each topped with its carrot round. Strain the poaching liquid over and around them. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate uncovered until the liquid sets to a trembling savoury aspic and the dumplings are thoroughly cold — several hours or overnight. The aspic should hold a clean cut when tested with a spoon.
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7
Serve cold, each portion accompanied by a portion of the set aspic and a generous spoonful of beet-horseradish (chrein) on the side. The chrein is not a garnish — it provides the heat and acidity the mild dumpling requires.