Anyone ever eaten mountain whitefish? what's the best way to clean and eat it?
Printable View
Anyone ever eaten mountain whitefish? what's the best way to clean and eat it?
I have filleted and pan fried them. They taste good, thow not quite up to bluegill standards . I really can't tell the diference in taste between mountain white fish and Great Lake's white fish or Great Lake's cisco.
Mountain whitefish also taste good in a light batter with tarter sauce in a hot dog bun for a fish sandwich
The classic method is to smoke them. There are still places that sell smoked whities out here. They're better in winter and spring than summer (mushy, oily) and fall (spawning).
Slough Foot: I eat a lot of them. In fact I make a special trip to catch all I can and stock my freezer. The first thing to remember about the whitefish is that is a relative of the trout and has the same bone structure. The whitefish has a whitish flesh which is a bit oilIer than the trout and they also have large scales which cause some to thing they are a trash fish.
When I catch the whitefish I try to scale the fish as soon as possible. Then I clean (dress) it as you would a trout. Then when I get it home either fry the fish or can them.
To fry them I flour them & then fry as you would a trout. I usually don't eat the skin. To can them I skin them, romove head, tail and the fins and then cut them into chucks and follow one of the many recipes you can find for fish. If you can them you can leave the bones in the meat as they become soft in the canning process. Canned whitefish can be used just like canned tuna fish. One of my favorites it whitefish salad. Just use the canned whitefish in lieu of the canned tuna.
Hope this helps
Tim
Must be an aquired taste. I put some in my smoker, and ended up throwing the smoker away. For me, they are nothing like trout. Very strong fish flavor, and a terrible fish smell. They were caught in December near Basalt Colorado, so I doubt any water is going to get too much colder than that unless it's solid ice.
It's just my opinion, but I would cook them on a cedar plank. When it's done throw the fish away and eat the plank.
I tried to smoke 'em once, couldn't get the darn things to light up...;)
Kelly.
Did you try lighting the wrong end? ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by kglissmeyer
... prepared by a fellow who had been cooking them that way for a long time, one time and it was just fine. If I regularly ate fish, I would target whitefish and learn how to smoke them properly or otherwise prepare them as table fare.
Last week when I was on my way over to fish Rock Creek, I stopped at Flint Creek and ended up talking to a fly angler for a while. He told me about a neighbor of his who once asked him didn't he fish quite a bit. He acknowledged that he did. She asked him what he did with the fish. He told her that he released them. She started to cry, knowing that food that would be very important to her father and herself was being returned to the creek. Since that time, Leroy has been targetting whitefish and helping to feed his neighbors.
John
Up the "half-mooned club" the chef came up with this recipe for White-tees. I hate to call him chef maybe camp cook is more accurate, but he's an overachiever and tries real hard to please the membership.
Anyway, chop off the head and the tail, eliminates the recognition factor and proceed with a stuffing that makes you want to eat the stuffing more than the fish. Collect some Elodea Waterweed, some stoneflies, preferably the yellows, they seem to have more protein, Acroneuria Pacifica would be an excellent choice, gather about a half a cup. Net another 1/4 cup of scuds, they should be in the weed. A word of warning here, DO NOT ADD CASED CADDIS , some of the members have complained about losing or chipping a tooth with an overzealous bite.
Liberally, or is that, Conservatively,(we have a hell of a time being politically correct at the club), put some salt in the eviscerated fish, lot's of it... Next might be the most important ingredient, split a Ball Park Frank in two and place in the cavity with the skin sides opposing so as to release the all important fat's into the soon to be scrumptious white-ee flesh. Your other ingredients get molded around the halved franks. Then tooth pick the viscera together. Your ready for the pan.
You'll need some grease in the bottom of the pan, and my choice and the chef's is bacon. A little hard on the ole arteries, but I'll let you decide. Proceed with a hot skillet, and fry your fish both sides, looking for that epicurean golden brown crust. The next step might scare you, you'll need some grain alcohol, (at the club we make our own), splash the fish and light the be-jeezes out it. The flames will hit your cabin ceiling so watch out! Everybody get's excited at this point, you can say: "WAH LA"! All our member's go nuts when they see the flames.
To plate it, put a glob of butter on top of the fish and garnish with a sauteed sculpin which has some of the weed inserted in it's mouth along with the fly that you used for the catch. That's special.
You will never ever eat a better Ball Park Frank!;)
hairwing,
I'm gonna get you your own show on the Food Network, or maybe Comedy Central?
Enjoyed your tongue in cheek speared post immensely!! :D
Gentlemen,
Let's leave the culinary tastes as a personal preference and not as a chance to argue a point.
REE
Point taken. Post deleted.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Eagle Elk
I ate a couple once that were from the Bow River in Canmore Alberta, Easter Weekend. Since the water was cold (and had been) and the flesh was firm, they were fine. Just panfried like any other fish. I don't know how they would taste of the water was warmer - like in August.