Pickled Pickerel
(fish #9 of the quest: Chain Pickerel)
Since pickerel have a Y-bone and ours was too small to try to remove it, we chose a pickling recipe that would render the bones harmless. We selected a sucker recipe from our favorite fishing book "Fishing for Buffalo".
The recipe requires that the fish be cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces. The chunks are then placed in a dish and covered with white vinegar. To the vinegar, we added a healthy amount of salt - about three heaping tablespoons. This mixture needs to be stirred every day, for 5 days. We will switch out the vinegar every other day. Then we will rinse and cover the fish in cold water for 8 hours. While this setting, we will boil a mixture of 3/4 cups water, 3/4 cups dry white wine, 3/4 cups sugar, and 1 tablespoon of pickling spice. Once cooled, we will add thin raw onion rings and 1 1/3 cup of white vinegar. This mixture will be poured over the drained fish and refrigerated for 48 hours. Then it is ready for a cracker. Wish us luck!
|
Pickerel and the lure that caught him. |
|
We cut off his head and skinned him. The trick is to cut off the fins and use pliers to pull the skin. |
|
We cut the body into bite sized chunks. |
|
Added vinegar until the chunks were covered. |
|
Added about 3 tablespoons of salt, then off to the fridge. |
We will post a picture in a few days to show the progress.
My late brother-in-law, Steven Grace, showed me how to cook a pickerel. First filet the fish into two filets. There will be a few larger bones that can easily be cut out. Leave the skin on the filets. Make a cut every 1/4 inch along each filet to the skin but not through it. You will have kind of a pickerel accordion. Dredge it in flour and cornmeal and fry in hot oil. The small bones dissolve, leaving you with two delicious filets.
ReplyDeleteGreat Tip! We still have a redfin pickerel to catch for the quest and when we do we will try that recipe. Keep the advice coming!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to finding out if this recipe is good. I might have to try it.
ReplyDelete