Eating the whole fish.

My friend/coworker’s kid got a Ling.  Craziest looking fish ever.    I WANT TO CATCH ONE!

Anyways. He’s cleaning it up and about to huck the head into the garbage.  I grabbed it and out in on ice.   He moved the knife further down the body and I ended up with some meat actually.   My wife is Taiwanese and fish head is a thing.  I made up a Japanese Ponzu sauce.    We shall see. I have a “plan-B” for myself. 

You all whole fish people? 

Yep. Lotsa meat still in the head, not including the cheeks.  Grill the whole head, use it in soup, etc, etc.  Just watch out for the teeth... they fall out easily when cooked.

Oh yeah...some of the best parts aren’t the fillets. 

This thread came back up for me recently. You might dig it.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=77642.0

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Yum. I read through the thread that Jim linked- as a Santa Cruz hippy dippy, the idea of getting a use for the whole fish really appeals. I was going to put the fish heads in the crab trap, but if I can put them in me that's even better.

I'll try them the next time I catch a rockfish, but can anyone give me a description of a fish eyeball? Texture? Flavor? What's the scoop?

My wife is also Taiwanese, and it's always whole rockfish for us (and her Taiwan gang of friends, who actually get most of the fish I keep). The only thing I can filet is halibut, and even then I have to keep the head for fish-head soup.

My wife spent 3 years in Singapore and developed a taste for fish head curry. It's damn delicious.

https://www.myguidesingapore.com/travel-articles/my-destination-singapore-kitchen---fish-head-curry

It's best with cabbies, but lingcod heads are a close second. The eyes basically dissolve....you don't really eat the pupils. What you want is the gelatin/collagen from the bones and connective tissue.

Rockfish heads are good for fried fish head soup.

C’mon. Bouillabaisse!!

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12637-mark-bittmans-bouillabaisse

It's whole fish for us. My wife is Japanese, and she makes sure everything gets used. Small fish are cooked whole mostly by sauteing, or frying. We then pick at it with chopsticks until a museum quality skeleton is left behind. Large fish are filleted then the carcass  blanched, and meat removed for fish cakes, or something else. The bones are returned to the pot for a stock.

One of my favorites is anchovies, just gut, scale, roll in flour/cornstarch, fry, and eat whole.

We even use shrimp, and crab shells for stock.

We even use shrimp, and crab shells for stock.

Shrimp shells are the most flavorful discards in the kitchen. Cook em in butter till pink then puree the hell out of them. Strain the butter, keep in the fridge and add a spoonful to anything needing a little sea oompf

In my family, the cheeks, the collars and the meat just behind the head are exclusively mine. The kids have not discovered how good they are yet.