Smokin' one of my Rockfish I caught yesterday as we speak...

[rob-kayak]

Smokin' one of my Rockfish I caught yesterday as we speak...
I got a free Cook'in Ca'Jun II that somebody threw out to curb a year ago.
Using Cowboy Charcole and split oak from my wood pile...
If you see a cloud of smoke as you pass by my house.. don't call the fire department.
Stop by for a munch in an hour or so.

Working on an orange, butter, dill sauce. Cleaned the fish last night but just too
tired to give either one a proper cook off.

As a side note... the local Korean Market a big tub of Belt Fish... they were weighing
it out for probably a restaurant. I would have never known what it was except one
of the members caught one on the eastern bay earlier this year.
They don't look very appealing... must be a ton of bones.

[apekzhrk]

As a Korean, they are delicious fried with just a pinch of sea salt. We use chopsticks to pick out the meat from the bones so it is not that big of a deal to eat them. Meat taste similar to mackerel in my opinion and texture is flaky.

[rob-kayak]

I didn't do a full smoke to the fish... more of a 'cold' smoke for about 45 minutes... with heat from oak for about 15 minutes.
So it stayed very moist... I rubbed the outside and inside with a fajita seasoning before smoke. I basted the fish with the sauce
after the smoke, it wasn't an over powering sauce.
As a side note in place of the actual smoker... I have often used a small iron skillet.. placing charcoal in the skillet, setting that inside the gas grill without the gas on for a smoking process. Put the skillet to one side, the fish on the other. You can pull the charcoal/skillet when you get the result you are looking for and turn the grill on to finish cooking the fish.



And the 'money shot' with my the house critic inspecting the results (before sauce).

[Nitefly]

That looks really tasty. Was the flavor as good as the appearance? What wood do you find best for smoking fish? And do you put a rub on the fish? I use a pellet tube smoker on my gas grill and I have cold smoked cheese with it so I'm thinking it would be perfect for fish too. I have to give it a try this fall!

Link to the pellet tube smoker

[moc]

That looks great! I like the money shot.

[rob-kayak]

Nice to hear from ya Mr. Moc....

@apekzhrk
I hear ya... I ya got no fears using chopsticks... although these fish would have taken a bit of more a fry
pan than I have to use for cooking whole. I could have done something like that...
Frying is basically simple... and who doesn't like everything fried !! Locks in the flavor etc etc..
But I was in a lazy man's cooking mode... and tossing a fish in the smoker... drinking some beers watching
the fire... with no clean up except dumping the ashes into the bin... well ya got my drift.
Other than a big bowl of brown rice with spring onions.

I do get caught up in many recipes and sauces etc etc.. but not much this day.

@Nitefly
Brutha'.... it was awesome still is....... I've got two/thirds still left after picking off the bones.
It was not exactly a cold smoke per se.. I only used enough Cowboy Charcoal to produce a fire
for about an hour. The top of the smoker never got hot... only warm to touch.
Except at the end when I lifted the top and the Oak had more oxygen to ignite as opposed to smoking.

Wood chips... well I've used everything from Mesquite, to Apple, to sticks in the backyard...
People say Mesquite gives a bitter taste..
Soaking the wood chips... putting in foil making packets... or just tossing them on the fire.
I was using seasoned Oak from my wood pile. I split into finger thickness or a little more.
One thing I found, this time, is the size of my split Oak, allowed them to smoke without
catching fire. As opposed to store bought small chips that catch fire easily.

Spice rub... I often make my own... but I mentioned above I used the Badia Fajita spice,
well I didn't mention the brand, but once again... I was in my cook and get the job done
mode... it's just what I had on hand... and is actually a year old. But it has all the basic
stuff for a rub.

You may have notice in the pictures, slits in the skin.. that's so the smoke and seasoning
can penetrate. You will just slice the skin... not going very deep, so you can remove whole
sections off the carcass.

My basic philosophy on cooking is let the fish.. vegetables... speak for themselves..
I grow as much as my own veggies in season so I get the best of that.
Then I make sauces just to challenge myself.
Smoking the fish... well that just gets my primal instinct going... and I like the taste.

As far as rubs and spices... as mentioned I like to make my own... but I have been using
a Badia Sazon Tropical spice I really like. And the Fajita is Ok too... I get them at Shoppers
Food Wharehouse... but you will see them at Latino and Asian markets also.
BUT... the Badia Sazon Tropical (orange) is not the one to get. It doesn't taste bad..
but has a bunch of Tumeric and coloring... so everything will be orange that you cook.
It's great to color some rice with small amounts etc..
But get the "green" Tropical Badia Sazon... much better.
The Fajita I used has less salt... and I was out of the "green" Tropical Sazon.

I am going to fire up the other Rockfish with my "trap" grate grilling... stuffed with
apples garlic... etc etc... I'll post that when I'm done in place of bit's and pieces here.

[kayak456]

What is a belt fish

[J.A. Veil]

Here is a wise guy reply.

fish belt.jpg

What is a belt fish

[Goody]

Yummy, yummy. Mighty delicious looking indeed.

[dsiekman]

Here is a wise guy reply.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9577[/ATTACH]

Looks like an awful lot of fiber. Think I'll pass.