Aimless
31-05-07, 06:32 PM
My dad has always been big on boats and fishing, so while I've tried a lot of fish in my time, from all around Australia and some overseas, my own foray into the cooking world of fish, with a bit of improvising, has left me with the best fish I've ever tasted. I'm sure it works with other fish as well.
Firstly, you need a little hot smoker. They shouldn't be too hard to find, and for the added taste on camping trips they're well worth the money; mines a little too bulky to do an all walking trip with but you can get little ones with a slide out grill which are pretty compact.
Basically, clean out the fish the normal way, cutting from the arse up I guess you'd say, trying to slip in between the ribs and then digging your thumb in to get all the organs and stuff out. That's the not tasty part.
The recipe basically consists of salt, pepper, brown sugar, orange juice (meant to be lemon but I was so impressed with orange I stuck with it) and whatever you use to smoke, I use jack daniels flavoured whisky chips, I'm not sure what wood it uses but basically it's just flavoured with a bit of Jacks.
recipe:
First, cover the fish in salt, a whole lot of it. Rub it till it's pretty ground in with the moist flesh.
Then do the same with a small amount of pepper, and then grab a fair bit of brown sugar and do it similar to the salt, a fair amount rubbed in.
Stick it on the grill, then get the juice you're using; most citrus should work, I use orange.
Put a fair bit inside to cover it, if you've stuck it in between the grill bits then it will collect near the head and add flavour but not all smokers have the room to do it.
If you're not using whisky flavoured chips than a little bit of the real stuff can't hurt, but this parts completely optional, the juice is usually enough.
Finally rub in a bit more salt, and smoke it. Most smokers have enough room for a few fish, but you can get some real monsters.
I haven't tried with a big fish but I guess it'd be less flavoursome cooked this way.
Then light the spirit well (don't forget to put in the chips if you haven't), smoke for between 10-15 minutes usually, or when it's a pretty colour (orange-brown depending what wood you use). Then you can make a little cut near the head and peel the skin straight off, almost like a banana. With trout the bones are quite thin and break off easily, so it's best to stick a fork at the top of the ribs and follow them down, so you don't get any. It makes for a lovely looking fish, easy to eat and very, very tasty!
I probably wrote more than I should have... Oh well, I've made my contribution. Original inspiration came from one of my favourite TV shows, A River Somewhere, in a NZ episode where they catch a massive spawn run trout. The recipe is basically the same with a few additions/changes :) I'll take some pictures next time I make it.
Firstly, you need a little hot smoker. They shouldn't be too hard to find, and for the added taste on camping trips they're well worth the money; mines a little too bulky to do an all walking trip with but you can get little ones with a slide out grill which are pretty compact.
Basically, clean out the fish the normal way, cutting from the arse up I guess you'd say, trying to slip in between the ribs and then digging your thumb in to get all the organs and stuff out. That's the not tasty part.
The recipe basically consists of salt, pepper, brown sugar, orange juice (meant to be lemon but I was so impressed with orange I stuck with it) and whatever you use to smoke, I use jack daniels flavoured whisky chips, I'm not sure what wood it uses but basically it's just flavoured with a bit of Jacks.
recipe:
First, cover the fish in salt, a whole lot of it. Rub it till it's pretty ground in with the moist flesh.
Then do the same with a small amount of pepper, and then grab a fair bit of brown sugar and do it similar to the salt, a fair amount rubbed in.
Stick it on the grill, then get the juice you're using; most citrus should work, I use orange.
Put a fair bit inside to cover it, if you've stuck it in between the grill bits then it will collect near the head and add flavour but not all smokers have the room to do it.
If you're not using whisky flavoured chips than a little bit of the real stuff can't hurt, but this parts completely optional, the juice is usually enough.
Finally rub in a bit more salt, and smoke it. Most smokers have enough room for a few fish, but you can get some real monsters.
I haven't tried with a big fish but I guess it'd be less flavoursome cooked this way.
Then light the spirit well (don't forget to put in the chips if you haven't), smoke for between 10-15 minutes usually, or when it's a pretty colour (orange-brown depending what wood you use). Then you can make a little cut near the head and peel the skin straight off, almost like a banana. With trout the bones are quite thin and break off easily, so it's best to stick a fork at the top of the ribs and follow them down, so you don't get any. It makes for a lovely looking fish, easy to eat and very, very tasty!
I probably wrote more than I should have... Oh well, I've made my contribution. Original inspiration came from one of my favourite TV shows, A River Somewhere, in a NZ episode where they catch a massive spawn run trout. The recipe is basically the same with a few additions/changes :) I'll take some pictures next time I make it.