Utilising your catch

So often, when the image of a big fish catch - a snapper in particular - is posted on social media, it brings the haters out, bagging the angler for having killed ‘a breeder,’ ‘a magnificent specimen’ etc etc.

This slagging frequently takes place without the baggers knowing the circumstances behind the catch or how it was utilized afterwards.

The fishing at Waipu Cove this past winter and early spring has been fantastic, with solid baitfish schools attracting the gannets above and snapper, kingfish and john dory below. There have been plenty of decent snapper around, and reports of anglers ‘binning out’ is a common theme.
In mid-November, a couple of crews launched off the beach and fished less than a kilometre out alongside some light foul, catching several fish to eight kilos. I was lucky to be part of the action, and while some fish were returned, others were kept.

So, what do you do with a big snapper, rather than just whack the fillets off and throw the rest away? Sure, you can gut and split the fish and put it in the smoker whole, but most people don’t have a big enough smoker to do justice to a whole fish of this size.

The following is how one of our fish was utilized; the only items thrown away were the guts (sans roe), gills and tail.

The fish was filleted in the conventional manner, leaving behind the ‘wings’, frame and head. The fillets, with skin left on, were then reduced to smaller chunks to allow more even coverage during the brining and smoking process that followed.

The head and wings were separated from the frame, while the male milt sac was removed from the guts and set aside. (Similarly, if processing a female fish, the female roe can be kept, taking care not to split the membrane.)

The tail was chopped off the frame, and kitchen shears were used to remove the spines around the exterior.

With the large snapper broken down, as described above, it was used in the following ways:

The head

There are two options for the head. One is to smoke it with the fillets and the other is to boil it up with some onions, salt and pepper to make stock. There is plenty of meat in the head for those happy to pick it out. For those with the inclination, the eyeballs are quite sweet and tasty.

The wings

Like the head, there are a couple of options for the wings. My preference is to smoke them in a hot smoker and pick away at the meat while dissecting the day’s actions with the crew over a coldie or two. The other possibility is to add them to the pot with the head and boil them up to make stock, with the meat enjoyed afterwards. The meat around the wing bones is sweet and delicious - my favourite part of the snapper.

The frame

On a big fish, there is always plenty of flesh left on the frames, even if you’re a competent filleter.

Cut through the backbone after every second vertebra – finding the white cartilage to chop through makes this easier than it sounds.

Make up a bowl of seasoned flour – I use garlic salt and ground pepper, or try some Fog Dog Subtle Seafood Seasoning – and coat the frame sections thoroughly. Heat some rice bran oil to a reasonably high temperature in a fry pan (or on a barbecue hot plate) and sear the frames quickly, just enough to cook them through. Once again, these make great, though a little messy, finger food eaten straight off the barbecue.

Smoked fillets

There are plenty of ways to smoke fish (see last month’s edition for a feature on the subject), but my favourite for snapper is as follows…

Cut the snapper into smaller chunks approximately 150mm square and brine overnight. I like the Bradley maple cure, rubbed lightly into the exposed flesh, followed by a few tablespoons of white wine sprinkled all over. The fish is then placed in zip-lock bags and refrigerated overnight.

Prior to smoking, remove the fish from the bags, wash off the brine/rub, dry with paper towels and allow to air dry for an hour or so. Just before smoking, I brush some maple syrup sparingly over the fish.

I give the fish a short burst of full heat for 60 minutes or so, then turn the heat down to around 70-80 degrees C and cold smoke until the flesh is finished to my liking. Most smokers need a further four hours or so, depending on the thickness of the fish, with the vent at the top of the smoker left open. Wings should be taken out earlier, as they are less dense and prone to drying out.

The roe

My Rarotongan fishing buddies introduced the concept of eating the male milt to me. Their preference is to eat the sacs from smaller snapper, rather than the big fish. They slip down whole, tasting and feeling much like an oyster - but I will let you decide on that!

The female roe is nice smoked and can be used to make a dip or spread au naturel on crackers. A simple dip can be made from a can of reduced cream, a couple of finely chopped shallots, a packet of Maggi seafood soup, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste, all mixed in a bowl with the smoked roe and chilled before serving with chips or crackers.

As responsible anglers, we need to maximise the use of our catch. So if you cannot be bothered going to this extent (it probably doubles the time spent at the filleting bench), go to www.freefishheads.co.nz to contact people who will gladly take the frames off your hands.