Blackend Fish

[xcmountain80]

A all time favorite amongst my crew is my Blackened Fish.

Tools:
black skillet 8" or larger
Metal or heat tolerant plastic or silicone spatula
Camp knife
Stove, Grill, Heat source generating 300+ deg.

Ingridients:
ground pepper
cayenne pepper
sea salt or kosher salt
dried basil
dried oregano
seafood seasoning if desired
2 limes
Pre-trip or pre-cook
#1 Scale or remove the fish skin altogether, remove as many bones as possible. If this is fresh caught and you are good with a fillet knife you will not have any bones. Fish selection will vary by region and thickness should not exceed 1.5" per fillet. If thicker cut in half or butterfly.
#2 using a plate add the desired amount of spices usually about a tablespoon of everything except the cayenne and salt it should be added in moderation varying on your preferred level of hot.
#3 make sure to coat the fish with your seasoning so that they look like they fell in the dirt, there is no need to rub the seasoning in.
Vegetable oil (DO NOT USE OLIVE) loer burn temp will burn your fish!

Heat skillet for about 5 minutes or until warm (not hot)

Add Vegetable oil to warm skillet, just enough to cover the bottom of your pan and let it get a little warmer ( a drip of lime juice will help you gauge when the oil is ready as it will sizzle and bubble.

Add fish when the oil is bubbling to a squeeze of lime.

Carefully lower fish into place and let it cook to about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through (color will go from translucent to opaque).

Flip fish to finish the other side (about 5 Minutes)

Add a squeeze of lime to the flipped fish and wait for it to finish.

A side of fruit salsa go well with this as does any ice cold beer to quell the heat.

Aaron

 

[Black Dog]

So is there any fish you recommend more than others? I think it is tuna that I had blackened once and that was good.

 

[xcmountain80]

So is there any fish you recommend more than others? I think it is tuna that I had blackened once and that was good.

Be careful my friend, Tuna is a coveted fish and is prepared incorrectly your guest might tar and feather you. All joking aside, the tuna's outcome will depend on how you like it. If you like sushi and then you may prefer your tuna rare and seared on the outside. Otherwise you may cook it all the way through. You can blacken just about any fish if memory serves me. Since I live in FL we have an abundance of snapper, grouper, dolphin, hog snapper in our freezer. Rainbow trout is farm raised in NC, and catfish are good too. Fish availability vary by region, check your market and don't spend a fortune on fish. Especially if its your 1st or 2nd time out. I still botch a few meals every year. Any other question feel free to ask.

Aaron

 

[Black Dog]

Rainbow trout is farm raised in NC, and catfish are good too.

Aaron

Rainbow trout I can do! Our local Noxon Rapids Reservoir regularly gives 20 inch rainbows to guys that work hard enough to get them, I've never caught one though. Lots of small mouth bass and pike and muskie and walleye though.

 

[FJR Colorado]

Tuna works great but don't overcook.

Salmon, Blackfish, Redfish, Snapper all work great.

Perhaps my all-time favorite was the time back in Cape Cod when me and my bro'-in-law caught several huge Striped Bass and immediately went to his deck to blacken them. We dipped the succulent Blackened Striper in a Ginger Butter sauce... you talk about good eatin'.....

 

[Lichen]

My favorite is blackened catfish. I don't use any oil, just dip the filets into melted butter, season, then drop into super hot cast iron skillet. (don't try this indoors).

 

[Wander]

Red Drum (channel bass, spot tail, red fish,etc-this fish has more AKA's than a rapper) is great for this but any firm meat fish will do. Softer meat fish like Flounder can be blackened but they tend to flake apart.

If you cook a lot of fish in a skillet or on the grill I recomend a fish spatula to help you flip them. It is slotted, thin (flexible) and has some curve to it. It works in that you can get under the fish with the thinness and flex and cradle it in the curve when you flip it. Check you local resturant supply source before you go to an expensive specialty shop and you'll save some $$.

Here's a trivia piece for the camp fire. Chef Paul Prudhomne is cited as starting the "blacked" fish thing from his resturant (K-Paul's) in New Orleans. I'm sure he stole it from some old Creole woman but anyway-he used Red Drum as they are plentiful and cheap in Louisianna. This started a craze that lead to a serious hit on the Red Drum and especially the large "Bull Red's" which lead to the single bull red limit in LA. The bulls are in the 35-50lb range and are a hoot to catch and on light-ish tackle (15-20lb test) are akin to hooking a submarine but when the suckers burry there nose in the bottom and refuse to move you have a fight on your hands!

 

[xcmountain80]

My favorite is blackened catfish. I don't use any oil, just dip the filets into melted butter, season, then drop into super hot cast iron skillet. (don't try this indoors).

Ahhh now thats the old southern way with butter, bacon fat works too but man the extra calories!

A

 

[FJR Colorado]

I have to disagree with using butter. It burns.

You want to use an oil with as high a flash point as possible. Peanut oil works best. And you only need a little!

Tip: To keep from over-oiling, don't take the entire silver safety seal off the top of the peanut oil. Simply poke a small slot with a knife into the seal and then you can use it like a squirt bottle.

 

[Lichen]

Unsalted butter does not burn. It only takes about 1 minute/side.

 

[Black Dog]

Tip: To keep from over-oiling, don't take the entire silver safety seal off the top of the peanut oil. Simply poke a small slot with a knife into the seal and then you can use it like a squirt bottle.

I use to use way more oil whenever I was doing anything, its easy to go overboard. I like frying tortillas as a quick snack in my 10 inch cast iron fry pan at home and only about 1 teaspoon is plenty enough to fry both sides and make it nice and crispy. I usually go for vegetable oil when I do that.

 

[Mike_rupp]

Unsalted butter does not burn. It only takes about 1 minute/side.

Unsalted butter will most definitely burn. All cooking fats will burn, given a certain temperature.

If you want to use butter, but want to cook at a higher temp, use clarified butter (ghee). The smoke point is 485F, which is quite high. The solids in regular butter will burn at a much lower temp.

 

[xcmountain80]

To hell with butter use bacon grease for a great flavor! So much for trying to lose weight.

A

 

[Mike_rupp]

Lard has less saturated fat than butter.

That being said, I'd rather use butter or lard for cooking than the mass produced, chemically processed fats like Canola or Vegetable oil. What the heck is a Canola anyways? My only gripe with bacon fat is that most bacon has sodium nitrite.

 

[xcmountain80]

Lard has less saturated fat than butter.

That being said, I'd rather use butter or lard for cooking than the mass produced, chemically processed fats like Canola or Vegetable oil. What the heck is a Canola anyways? My only gripe with bacon fat is that most bacon has sodium nitrite.

Very true but LArd? Sheesh I dunno canola is corn oil but nothing like ethanol

A