Smoking Fish - Hints and Tips

Hayden Speed has a few fish-smoking tips to share.

One of the main reasons we all go fishing is to put food on the table. This might be by collecting shellfish or kina, bagging a fillet for the pan or earning a piece of tuna for sashimi. Hot or cold smoking is a great way to utilise the whole fish and to also make the most of some other species that might be less suited to pan frying or any of the raw fish dishes. Too often people will only take the fillets off a fish, discarding some of the best bits. Parts such as the wings, head and frame are oily and delicious, especially when smoked.

Sourcing the fish for smoking can even be done without going fishing! You can sign up to either receive or distribute fish heads and frames on the app ‘free fish heads’. Another option is your local community fishing pages on Facebook. A post on these pages almost always results in a solid hook up!

Some anglers take smoking fish to the next level and build their own 'Smokehouse'.

Care of the catch

Almost all fish can be enjoyed smoked; however, some types are better suited to it. Species such as kahawai, kingfish, trevally, gemfish, marlin, warehou and trout are favourites of many anglers when it comes to smoking.

Regardless of how you intend to use the fish, it is important to look after your catch to get the best eating quality from it. The fish should be bled out and put on ice straight away, and try see that it doesn’t bruise itself (don’t leave it flapping around on the deck). Bleeding the fish will reduce the blood content throughout the fillet. This enhances the taste, and the fish will also last longer.

There are a couple different types of smoking methods: either a ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ smoke. In this article, my thoughts relate to a traditional hot smoking process.

For the best results I like to smoke my fish the day after capture. This allows the fillets and frames to rest overnight – whether this be in the fridge or in a chilly bin packed with ice. This will give your fish much better texture when smoking.

There are many opinions on how best to prepare fillets for smoking. Some people will soak their fillets in a brine for 24 hours, but I just like to season the flesh with a generous amount of ‘non-iodised’ sea salt. I let this work into the fish overnight, so the salt absorbs into the flesh. I will then rub a small amount of brown sugar over the fish before placing it in the smoker. It is important not to add too much brown sugar as this will melt and create moisture. If it’s too wet, the moisture will drip off the fillet during smoking, taking the smoky flavour away with it. Sometimes I will experiment with some other seasonings as well – lemon pepper or sweet chilli are other good options.

Hot smoking tips

If you are using the old-school stainless steel hot smoker, either with methylated spirits or on top of a barbecue, it is important not to run the smoker too hot. This will overheat the wood chips and release tannins that will taint your fish. It can take a bit of practice to get the temperature right but by reducing the heat, turning the gas down, using one dish of methylated spirits instead of two, or by lifting the smoker further away from the heat source, you should be able to generate just the right amount of heat. You will find that if the temperature is too hot and tannins have been released, not only will you taste this on the flesh, but you will be able to see it built up on the lid of the smoker. You obviously want to avoid the release of the tannins and a good indication that you have achieved this is that the underside of the smoker lid will still be reasonably clean after smoking.

It's important to put a thin layer of wood chips all over the bottom of the smoker (approximately 5mm thick).

Don’t get tricked into putting a weight on top of the lid, thinking that it will hold the good smoke inside the smoker, creating a better result. Doing this can trap more heat inside the box resulting, again, in tannins being released. Another handy tip is to have the smoker on a slight angle so that any build up on the lid won’t drip down on top of the fish. It is also important to not run the smoker for too long as this will obviously overcook the fish. The first sign that the hot smoking process is complete is when the flakes of the flesh just start to pull apart. Once this happens, remove all heat as at this stage the fillets will be cooked through.

Slightly elevating one side of the smoker will ensure that if tannins do build up, they won't drip off the lid onto the flesh.

Smoked fish can be used in many ways. It is beautiful as it just comes out of the smoker while it is still warm and moist. However, it is still delicious after it has cooled and there are many other ways it can be incorporated into a meal. Smoked fish is the key ingredient in smoked fish pie which is a tasty and easy meal. It goes well in a salad or on a platter with cheese and crackers. I have also recently come up with a delicious smoked fish dip. All it requires is a portion of smoked trout (although any other type of smoked fish will work), and equal amounts of Greek yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce (adjust the amount of sweet chilli to your liking). Just sitting here writing this and looking at these photos is making my mouth water!

March 2022 - Hayden Speed
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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