salmon rigor mortis

[Markshoreline]

I've found that salmon are more difficult to fillet when in rigor mortis than after they have rested in ice and relaxed.  I also think that they taste better after the rest period.
Anyone agree or disagree?

Mark

[Grizzle]

So are you like saying you cut fish up with a knife and stuff? You don't just tuck in to it fresh...

[Hydro-Therapy]

 Mark I have found that if you bleed them when caught and put  them on ice with a wet burlap over them they filet really nice even after 4 or 5 hours . I prefer to catch , dis-batch, bleed, filet ,and put on the grill within a hour for the best fish . Don't even give them much of a chance to quit flopping before putting them on the grill. I might add any fish in the freezer for more than a month at my house goes in the smoker.  We have also been known to bonk one and filet it and have our sushi-mi right there on the boat.  The fresher the better.


  H-T

P S Grizzle I can't do fish slime and skin. LOL

[xplorz]

I'll let you know as soon as figure out how to catch some. 

[StreamFixer]

Over night in the fridge makes fillet work much easier

StreamFixer

[Markshoreline]

That fresh sashimi picture is so gnarly- I love it!

When I said fillet I meant remove the skin    They do fillet ok no matter when

However, our favorite sushi master (Shiro, of Shiro's- at Second and Battery in Seattle) says salmon has to be frozen before eaten raw because they begin life in fresh water and are vulnerable to pathogens that can be transmitted to humans that would not be present in a fish whose entire life cycle was in salt water.

We take chunks of our freshest and fattiest salmon and freeze blocks of them for sashimi.  Shiro invites us to bring in our catch for him to slice up for us- and he doesn't charge for the service!!!

What I really hate is that crab season just opened up here, and I'm finding 8oz vacuum packs of crab from last July thru September.  I just hate using them up and then end up with old ones  :nono:

Mark

[croaker stroker]

Mark,

+1

Any fish should be frozen first in a commercial freezer (-4 F) before eaten raw to kill worms, parasites, etc.


http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/pubs/parasite.htm

[Hydro-Therapy]

  Croaker very interesting flyer.from UC Davis.


Mark we very seldom take the skin off of salmon ,99.9% of them are cooked skin side down on the BBQ grill. The skin may get chard this way but we don't eat the skin anyway.


  H-T

[bay arima]

Our family sushi chef will cut up most things we catch and serve it right there sashimi without freezing except salmon. Thats the one fish that needs to be frozen before consuming raw. They are two generations of chefs, each trained in Japan for years.

[Threeweight]

On my boat, I apply the wood shampoo immediately (so they don't flop around and bruise themselves), then bleed them (in my multi-purpose square bucket, to avoid attracting sea lions).  In warmer weather, I will then gut them.  Then they go into an icewater slurry, either in the fish box or into a cooler.

When I get home, I fillet them, remove the rib bones, and usually steak my fillets.  Since they lay flat in the fish box or cooler, the stiffness helps me fillet them.

[Markshoreline]

H-T
Interesting,
tonight I found a recipe for crispy salmon.  you slit the skin, salt it then pour on olive oil and fry it until cooked half way through., then flip over for 1 minute and serve.  The skin is very crispy and delicious.  tonight we served it with a fresh dungeness crab topping.  just be sure and scale it very well.
Mark

[Hydro-Therapy]

  Mark I can not stand to eat that fishy tasting skin . I love the taste of salmon , but if there is any fishy taste to it , you can have it. You might call me a fish snoot. But after managing a fish a chips restaurant , you learn real fast what is good and what is not. Like my new son-inlaw  put it ,(fish does not have to have a fishy taste to be good.)

  H-T

  P S I will ship you all the fish skin you want , just let me know how much you would like.

[Markshoreline]

We like Japanese food of all sorts- hot pots, sushi, sashimi, and Korean dishes and you can imagine what all they put on a plate!
The crispy salmon skin is an ingredient in many sushi rolls as well as other dishes.  Mackerel skin is also tasty when broiled correctly.
Though the version i made is not Japanese, the skin is a crispy precursor to a wonderful bite awaiting you, especially if you leave the center a bit undercooked. Scales would be a no no, however!
Our favorite sushi place even fries fish bones and provides them for a snack- delicious!  And our chef saves the fattiest part of the belly for us- whether salmon or with tuna which is called toro,  as well as serving us broiled collars of salmon and halibut.  Fish parts what we Westerners consider throwaways are considered delicacies in other cultures and we have certainly learned to enjoy them.
What kind of fish are you cooking up in your place?  If you're skinning them you must be getting in the fresh stuff and not buying the frozen breaded stuff.  Good for you- must be a great place!

Mark

[croaker stroker]

Crispy salmon skin is actually pretty darn good.  High in omega-3.  Tastes like bacon from the sea.  





Hey, that rhymes.

[finfinn]

For me the most challenging part is getting the salmon in contact with the hook - way before I need to consider the rigor mortis . When the hooking/fighting/netting sequence has been played out to a happy conclusion I bleed the fish immediately in a bucket and toss it into cooler on top of an ice bag. If weather allows and fishing is not red hot I get the guts and gills out soon after bleeding and put the fish back on top of ice. If fishing is hot and/or weather is bumpy I do the gut thing on the boat before going in. The pinks get the immediate bleed/guts out/ice treatment. I try to avoid using fresh water in the process if possible - a bucket of clean sea water works perfectly.

By the time I get home or to the camp the fish is already appropriately stiff to be easily handled for further processing - filets and so on. I do not remove skin or scales of a salmon, since pretty much all the salmon dishes we prepare need the skin to turn out right. Which reminds me that I have just finished smoking one of them critters and it is cooling down in the smoker outside . Better go get it to the next phase before the darn coons get to it...

[So.Cali]

I've never been a fan of salmon with the exception of lox and bagels. it's usually too "fishy" and the texture is mush. maybe I've been getting the wrong salmon? however fish skin doesn't sound appealing. nor does chicken skin I suppose, but I love that! I'm gonna have to do a salmon trip sometime. Maybe if Chuck, and Liver will have me, I'll haul my boat up to their part of the woods and try salmon fishing on the sac. river.

[StreamFixer]

Fresh salmon is not 'mushy' nor does it taste or smell 'fishy'.  You may have been getting it in restaurants or meat counters that is about a week or so old by then.  I once had an extended discussion with a restaurant owner about those issues when served mushy-fishy salmon on the Oregon coast.

I don't eat salmon prepared at a restaurant anymore.  Besides, it's usually farmed and as my son has advised me, "friends don't let friends eat farmed fish..."

StreamFixer

[GoodDays]

if its fishy and mushy...... Its crap...   Real Fresh  ( or properly frozen) salmon should be neither fishy nor mushy !!!    You need to try some "real"salmon.. You will love it !

GoodDays Greg

[Wyrguy]

  Besides, it's usually farmed and as my son has advised me, "friends don't let friends eat farmed fish..."

StreamFixer

... or the other statement: "Real fish don't eat pellets!"

Rick

[Markshoreline]

So Cali,
You're getting the wrong stuff if you don't like salmon!

There are only a handful of restaurants that you can count on to 1) have good product, and 2) not cook the hell out of it and the further you are away from the source I imagine the harder those are to find.

Even here in Seattle, most stores and fish markets don't have the best quality fish and frankly, it turns me away, too.

Best is to catch it fresh- and my preference is fat Chinook, Sockeye and Coho (in that order), bleed it immediately, and process it quickly.  It is fine being frozen if you get it in there soon enough.

[SRanger]

Used to wonder how people could swallow raw fish...that ammonia scent always gagged me.  Then I tried some fresh tuna and it was almost like butter but even a little nutty taste.  Can't remember what part of the tune it was but count me in on fresh sashimi.

[Markshoreline]

If it has a fishy smell, I don't eat it!

[So.Cali]

Now I have a good reason to go vist family in the PNW! If and when I can afford to do that, I'll figure out when the best time to make the trip is, and maybe somebody here might be willing to show me the ropes on salmon fishing\catching? I'm surely willing to try fresh salmon. I have some in the freezer (store bought, frozen in a bag) because my wife loves it. I havn't prepared it yet 'cause I typically don't. I have some cedar planks somewhere. I shud find them and see what I come up with. every time I've prepared salmon, I find anything I can to hide that stong, fishy smell. As for farm fish, I can tell the differnce in the trout here as well. The stocked trout are not nearly as good as the ones that have been llivin in a stream for a while, if not their whole lives.

[Hydro-Therapy]

  SoCali  if your wife ever gets to try some fresh NW salmon she will insist on you making an annual trip to get her some.For some reason they become salmon snoots after they have had some. Mine told me the other night she doesn't want anything but springers or LV fish. No more silvers or up river brights, She told me if you want to catch them you eat them or smoke them,I don't want them. I said fine that just means more fresh fish for me.


   H-T 

[So.Cali]

Yeah, I could forsee something like that happening to me. However, I'm sure if I didn't take her with me, I would be in the dog house for a while. That girl is just as eager to fish as any man I've ever met. That's probably one of the things that drew us together the most. She was the first girl (and only) I had dated that could go just as long as I could on a fishing trip. Plus she could clean her own fish! I just had to do the cooking.