A currently active thread describes a series of ways to prepare fish.  What is your preference?  Make your selection(s) and add a note that describes any special "treatment" you use for preparation and/or cooking.

dd

While tripping I prefer my fish to be pan seared with a little butter and oil, lightly seasoned with a grind or two of sea salt... or with a sprinkle of lemon pepper, or possibly even Tony C's Cajun seasoning!

Bruce

I like my waldos 'bronzed', cooked over hot heat w/ 50/50 blend of canola oil & squeeze marjorine. Any seasonings, including cajun, can be used.

I like my lakers baked in foil.

So, one method does not cover me. No vote.

Old Salt wrote on Nov 18^th, 2009 at 1:38pm:

That's why the lead in says "selections(s)" ... you can vote for more than one "style" on this poll.  BTW:  If you mis-interpreted the poll initially, you should be alble to remove your vote (lower-right corner of the poll panel) and re-vote with more than one selection.

I've not done straight "sushi" on a canoe trip, but I have eaten roe taken directly from the fish ... amazingly salty, but what would you expect of "caviar?"  I've also tasted a few slivers of fish while cleaning.  (Raw fish doesn't really bother me, but I guess to be completely safe from parasites, etc. it should be cooked.)

Searing (as arkansasman/solotripper suggests) is cooking (usually with a skillet) with no or minimal oil.  Typically you need to cut the portion sizes a bit smaller so its easier to cook through, if that is your desire.  So, if your fish is lake trout, you might be able to get away from using any oil.

I realized when I created the poll that fish could be batter fried or fried with seasonings and baked over the fire or in foil.  Ultimately I ran out of poll choices to list (only one unused option when the poll was created).  So, when I asked for "notes/comments" part of that was to identify your cooking style with that selection.

I'll generally cook fish in a style that I'm in the mood for ... so I fry (with and without batter/breading), sear,  poach (usually with beer at home) and bake (in foil)

I guess I'll have to try grilling! 
dd

FWIW, the "sushi" option for "white meat" isn't a good one for 2 reasons.  One, the taste is very bland and has all the palette pleasure of a rotten apple.  Two, the parasite factor.  May as well cook it.

OTOH, lake trout can inspire a decent sushi - particularly on a cracker with some flavor (triscuits, etc...) or even rolled in rice wrapped in a birch leaf.  Yeah, a birch leaf.  Get out the wassabi!

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The first time I had Sushi was when I visited my sister and brother in law in CA before they retired to AZ.
 John my brother in law worked with some Japanese guys, who found a mom and pop type sushi place right on the ocean. They had their own boat and made whatever they caught that day. It was so fresh, the fish were flopping when they were cleaning it !
I was a little apprehensive, but dove right in, and every trip out, we made 2-3 trips there.
 Sushi was just starting too be popular then and hadn't made it into MI at that time. Now it's all over, even my local Kroger store has a Sushi Kiosk in the Deli isle. The Sushi guys/gals are all Japanese and make it "fresh" daily. Problem is the "fresh" part? Even though it's probably flown in by jet daily, you wonder how long it was on the big boat before it hit the plane ?
 They were giving out free sample one day, so I tried a few that I recognized. Like db said, I was disappointed  It was tasty, but not "fresh" and I never bought any. Other shoppers were raving about how "fresh" it tasted  I asked the Chef when no-one was around about how it compared to right off the boat Sushi? He winked at me, laughed and said he was born and raised in MI, and had never had anything other than flown in Sushi

I like it fried with cornmeal type breading, baked with lemon and butter, broiled with white cheddar cheese and garlic, sushi with wasabi (and if I can get it served by geisha like DD, I'd love it, even though I don't care for the Japanese business culture...another story), grilled  especially salmon....heck I guess I just like fish. serve it any way you please, as long as it is fresh I'll eat it!

"much like venison that wasn't aged properly"

Don't mean to change the subject db, but, what is 'proper aging' for venison?

Terp

I'll have my walleyes fried with a cornmeal type breading in peanut oil or pan seared in Parkay with some kind of spicy seasoning and then added to a rice dish.
Lake trout I like baked with various seasonings and wrapped in foil. Also a favorite is butterfly filleted stuffed trout. For stuffing - Stove Top stuffing mix made with lemon juice instead of water.

I'm a big fan of cleaning fish quickly after they are caught and then taking good care of the cleaned fillets. Wash them thoroughly removing excess blood and then keep them as cool as possible until it's time to eat them.
What I think affects fish texture and flavor is towing fish around on a stringer for any length of time beyond 20-30 minutes. Stressed fish release chemicals from their organs that are eventually absorbed by their muscle tissue, the part you eat. If the water is warm say over 60 degrees that speeds up the process significantly. And if they die on the stringer those fish are certainly going to be low quality fare.
For keeping fish cool put the clean fillets in a plastic bag and then into a canvas or other cotton bag that is kept wet and always in the shade. Fish will be ok for several hours kept this way. I like to hang fish in a shady spot where there is a little breeze which enhances evaporation and cooling. They will also dry out more quickly in the breeze so keep an eye on them.

I was told the proper way to cook a fish is to start a fire and get the pan hot before making a cast! I did this once, but frying up fillets at 11:30 pm seemed like ringing a dinner bell.

The other few times we have eaten fish on a canoe trip, I immediately cut the gills to bleed the fish before filleting. We then headed back to camp and started a fire. I was told to do this from someone I know who worked in a fresh fish/seafood store. I guess the theory was that it improved the flavor of the meat.

Anyone else hear anything like this?

How, exactly, do you cut the gills? Angle? Where? Pretty quick death I assume?

I use a stiff fillet knife and sever the spine on game fish, assuming it ends any possible suffering and bleeds 'em out. Slicing the spine is the hardest part so if you were a fish, how'd you rather go?

I've bagged more often since the white headed walleye trip. I needed to deep six two carcasses on that trip since the gulls weren't cooperating at one campsite. Cleaning fish wherever, away from any campsites is always a plus.

db wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2009 at 7:08am:


Just a quick slash cut to the gills on both sides. Sorry, I don't have any gory pics. They bleed out pretty fast. We also clubbed them, immediately upon landing, to kill them before employing this technique. If you 'google' 'alaska fishing', you will find some good pics and videos.

because the animal wasn't shot properly and the meat properly afterward?

I left out a word. "meat properly HANDLED afterward."

sorry.

Carry on with the fish discussion....

-- kypaddler

HAS ANYBODY EVER TRIED WHITE WINE AND HERB MARINATE ON YOUR FISH FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES.IT HAS 1/4 CUP OF OLIVE OIL IN IT SO AFTER IT MARINATES YOU POUR IT ALL IN YOUR SKILLET.THE WALLYS WILL CRAWL OUT OF THE PAN.BEST I HAVE EVER TRIED.I LOVE SHORE LUNCH BATTER BUT JUST SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

I believe KF is correct about the chemicals being released in a poorly handled fish. I see people hauling a loaded stringer of fish down the lake or across portages all the time. I think they would enjoy the fresh fish taste more if they stopped and filleted/cleaned the fish as he mentioned, and stored in a wettable canvas or cloth bag.
I hauled a clean and gutted laker down the length of Sturgeon on a 90 degree day, stopping occasionally to re-soak my canvas bank coin bag I use as a "cooler". Kept it under my seat out of the sun. Was still cold too the touch hours later when I grilled it.

 I agree with the comments about properly aged/ taken venison.
Milos Cihelka, who was the owner/chef at the famous Golden Mushroom restaurant in the Detroit area, was born and trained in Europe and his place was famous for it's wild game menu. He was/is a hunter and in Europe, they "age" all their game, from small to large.

 My late Dad was a life long deer hunter. He wouldn't even let me go until I could put every shot from my weapon of choice into a 9" pie plate at 100 yds offhand. He said that a true sportsman had a obligation to take his game as humanely as possible. A true hunter makes sure his marksmanship skills stay good enough to make a quick/clean kill. Sadly in this 24/7 no-time society we live in, you see guys hitting the woods for deer season with 0 range time and relying on FIREPOWER not skill to take their deer. Dad grew up during the depression. He hunted with a .22 for small game on the farm they owned.  Shells cost money, which was in very short supply then. His Dad would give him a half dozen .22 shells, and he was expected to bring back the same amount in rabbits/squirrels or birds. He hunted for years with a single shot rifle until us kids bought him a lever action .35 Remington. Dad said and science now shows, a wounded animal that you have to track and kill or one that takes multiple hits before you can bring it down, often has tough "gamey" tasting meat. Sometimes the feed is the culprit, but often it's the result of the Adrenaline that has flooded its body as it flees for it's life. I'm sure the same thing happens in a poorly handled fish? Maybe not Adrenaline, but some equally damaging chemical.

 I know people who say they "hate" fish, because it smells/tastes "fishy"
 Then when they have fresh, well prepared fish, they can't believe how good it is

 

I always thank my fish before I smack their little craniums with the back of my knife and proceed to butcher and eat them. It's a circle of life thing, just as I was raised, what goes around comes around. I thank campsites as I leave too ... hey, couldn't hurt.

I'll try youtube sometime. Near the bottom? One of the reasons I stopped taking fish home is I never watched the guy who cut out the gills so they'd be legal at the border.

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 I would be willing to bet, that more deer and black bear have been taken in ( lower 48) with the Winchester 30-30 and Remington .35 than any other caliber. I laugh at all these guys caring Magnum caliber rifles with there vicious recoil for deer hunting in particular. It's all about shot placement not necessarily caliber. My Irish born Grandfather on my Mother's side used to get a deer every year with a single shot .22 rifle. That was back before the DNR set minimal caliber standards. He was the head Greens Keeper at a local golf course, that in that day was in the "boonies". He would take a big wool blanket and a oil lantern into the woods and sit against a stump with the blanket over him and the lantern keeping him warm. Sooner or later a big buck would wander close with curiosity and Granddad would pop him in the head, a quick clean kill shot. All the club members who were also hunters couldn't believe he got a bigger buck every year than they did and with a .22 short too boot

Hey firetiger, I'm with you on pike. The trick of course is to filet it boneless. Most people I know won't mess with them but I think they are excellent, especially the firmer texture. As for the blood that's what a sharp knife is for. I always get rid of any red meat. I have never tried adding honey to egg. Sounds interesting.

My favorite seasoning is called POTLATCH. You can get it at most Sonoma Williams stores. They use it on salmon typically but it is excellent on all fish (and of course chicken). It will run you about $10 but you just need a little. It goes a long way. Try it!