Fish Head Recipes

Did you know each part of the fish can be used in a way that helps provide food for more people?

Fish parts often discarded as waste, such as heads and frames, are high in vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc and calcium.

Heads uses: Fish heads are versatile and can be used in curry and soup recipes as well as being smoked, boiled, baked and fried. Kai Ika distributes heads as they are, or smokes them.

Frames uses: Fish frames can be used as the basis for stock and soups, and can be enjoyed fried. Kai Ika distributes them as they are or makes fish stock out of them.

Offal (gills and guts) uses: Kai Ika uses offal from fish to fertilise community gardens in South Auckland. This is high octane, nutrient-rich fertiliser at its organic best!

It is still common practice in New Zealand to only use the fillets of a fish, and discard everything else. When we think of eating fish, this is the only thing we picture – the fillets. A fish fillet is attractive, it’s convenient and it’s easy to cook. Rarely do we think about the rest of the fish.

But what if we told you that New Zealand’s fisheries are being depleted faster than they can rebuild? This means that we must address not only how we catch fish, but also how we consume the fish we do catch. 

Kai Ika is teaming up with Free Fish Heads this summer to share underutilised fish parts to reduce wastage and conserve fish for future generations. 

If you have fish heads and frames to share or you would like to receive fish heads, go to www.freefishheads.co.nz and hook up with someone in your area.

Fish Heads

Matt Watson is a long-time LegaSea, Kai Ika and Free Fish Head ambassador. He loves sharing his philosophies around maximum utilisation. Here’s how Matt likes to enjoy his fish heads:

“I’m a fish head eater, and so are my kids. We love that succulent meat hidden in the head, and it’s not hard to enjoy. So how about you give them a try? You can smoke fish heads, steam or boil them, but a convenient way is to oven roast them. Because instead of taking six snapper to feed your family with the fillets, you could eat the whole fish and you only need to take three – that’s got to be good doesn’t it? So give my recipe below a try and if you really can’t bring yourself to give fish heads a go – give them away at Freefishheads.co.nz.”

Matt Watson is a long-time LegaSea, Kai Ika and Free Fish Head ambassador.

Recipe by: Matt Watson – The ITM Fishing Show

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Feeds: 1 large fish head per person

Part of fish: Head

Ingredients

Filling:

• Fish Heads

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Olive oil

• 1x red onion

• 1x lemon (cut into slices)

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. 

2) Remove the gills from the fish heads but leave wings attached. Remove the scales with a fish scaler (a dessert spoon or scallop shell work pretty well). Do this out on the lawn because the scales fly everywhere.

3) Place the fish heads in a roasting dish.

4) Rub salt into the skin and around the inside of the heads. Coat in black pepper and drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the fish head.

5) Add a few slices of lemon and red onion inside and out.

6) Cover with foil and bake for 20 mins, or

until the skin starts to split.

It’s good to eat now but if you like the crispy skin, tip the juice off, remove the lemon and place it under the grill for a few minutes.

To serve, plonk it on the table and hook into it. In my order of preference, the best bits are the wings, cheeks, eyes, and the top of the head. Beauty!

February 2022 - Matt Watson
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
Copyright: NZ Fishing Media Ltd.
Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited