Smelt... how do you cook 'em?

[dlgobeavs]

I'm going to go try my hand at smelt dipping tomorrow. I know how to catch a sturgeon with them, but I've never eaten them. Is eating them worth the trip, or should I stick to my original plan of only using them only for bait??
Any advice on cleaning/cooking would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the help!!

[ 03-12-2004, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: dlgobeavs ]

[garyk]

Handle 'em like a meal (and not bait), keep cool, process immediately, etc.

Clean and cook like trout, yum!

[dlgobeavs]

How do you handle the bones?... and the cleaning?

I assume you cut off the head and remove the guts prior to cooking. Can you just eat the bones after they are cooked?

[ 03-12-2004, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: dlgobeavs ]

[ET]

While smelt will never become a staple at our house by any means, my wife makes a mean fish sandwich with them. She butterflys them so they are thin for a sandwich, breads them with panko and deepfries them. Hot deep fried smelt on toast, with lettuce, tomato and the most important raw onion slices, finish the sandwich with mayo. This is the only way we eat smelt at our house.

This is good for a few meals per year. Save most for bait!

[crabbait]

Original real deal recipe: Put a layer of oil in a frying pan. Get it good and hot. While its heating, coat cleaned smelt in cornmeal, salt and pepper.

Put a layer of smelt in the frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Keep the pan hot (important). You want the fish to be golden brown and crispy, not mushy. If they come out light brown and mushy you were either not hot enough or tried to cook too many at one time.

Put three of four at a time on your plate. With a fork, lift the flesh off one side of the bones then grasp the tail and lift the bones off the other side of flesh. Set bones aside on a separate plate. Cooked properly, the fish should easily separate into two boneless crispy halves. Cooked correctly, figure about 12 fish per person.


Cleaning directions: This is best accomplished as a two person operation. First person takes a smelt in one hand and scissors in the other. Cut down through the neck then slit up from the vent to the chin and pass to person two who pulls the head and insides out/off in one piece and rinses the interior. About 3-5 seconds per person per fish.

[Ray S.]

Clean em as soon as you can. I pinch the head off with a little paring knife, pulling the guts out at the same time. Wash them up a bit then pour some milk on them and let them sit for a few minutes. Shake the excess milk off in a strainer, drop em in a bag [paper or plastic] with a cup of seasoned flour or chicken coating and shake it up to coat them well. Fry them in hot oil till they are golden brown. Sprinkle with a little salt and dip in tartar or your favorite dipping sauce.
Try it you'll like it...
Ray

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Like Crabbait said but I'd add one thing.

When you're holding that nice crispy brown tail, eat it!

It's like a fish potato chip, just love to crunch the tails. Yummmmmm.

Dale

[dampainter]

this may take some time but trust me this is worth it. cut the head off and gut em, rinse. take a pair a scissors and split (butterfly) them to where their "vent" was. I have found them to be mushy if you don`t butterfly them. for deep frying we use GOLDENDIPT brand "english style fish and chips" just add water to make a not too watery pancake batter consistency batter. deep fry the heck out of them to make somewhat of a crunchy fish sticks. (we use the "fry daddy" deep fryer). now the tarter sauce..... we use about 1 cup of miracle whip with about a tablespoon each of ketchup, regular mustard and sweet relish with a tablespoon or so of minced onion. we do this same thing with ALL fish. eat em up, bones too!(you can`t tell that your eating the bones)

[ 03-12-2004, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: dampainter ]

[fortywinks]

You guys are going to way too much trouble. Dip 'em, fry 'em, eat 'em. I like 'em with mustard. Buuurrrrp!

[Spruce Goose]

Crabbait is wise. Do exactly as he says. The skillet should be hot enough during cooking that it will juuuust start to smoke once you've taken out the cooked the fish!

The cornmeal keeps the finished product crispy, not mushy.

Serve with soy sauce and enjoy!

[Born to be Wild]

You guys are going to way too much trouble.
Put 'em on a hook and feed 'em to the sturgeon. :grin:

[bucketmouth]

I prepare them like "Crabbait" indicated and cook them like "Crabbait" suggested but I use Progresso Herb & Garlic bread crumbs instead of corn meal. I coat them with the bread crumbs the same way "Ray S" suggest.

When properly cooked, the entire bone should pull out of the back (not the belly) of the fish. Or you could butterfly the fish from the back. Now the bone can be easily discarded.

[Slayerofthefishies]

Fish Food!!!! I know people who eat em, but I like to eat the big ones that eat them... Slayer

[gottafish]

I saw a asian guy on the cow just eating them raw strange race, Great Fishermen

[Walleyed]

Wouldn't want them all the time but man dos'e crabbait have it down.
Have tryed to cook them but never the same,always mushy.
mom,s been gone now 18 year but reading that shure brought back some fun days.

thanks crabbait :smile:

[buckfish]

Dad used to smoke them whole, head and guts intact and that's the way they were eaten too. I can remember them being pretty tasty, but just can't bring my self to wasting good fish bait these days.

[swampy]

I like to soak mine in 50-60 feet of fresh water... wait for the nibble, then the tug, tug back, reel in and discard any remaining smelt ...eat the sturgeon.

[DownTime]

This recipe works equally well for smelt and shad.You clean your fish and season to taste.Carefully place the fish on a cedar shake.Place in oven at 350 for twenty minutes.Remove from oven and separate fish from cedar shake.Eat shake and throw fish away because it tastes better than a shad or smelt ever will! :tongue: Smelt = sturgeon bait shad = crab bait.Salmon are for human consumption.

JB

[float2ber]

Hobart Manns recommends cooking them in bacon grease. If I ever eat them again, I will try it.

[Hauki]

This site has examples of cleaning and recipes.

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/fish/smelt01.html

Removing head\guts is optional. A good beer batter and HOT oil was all we used to cook them.

[Jsail]

:shocked: PLEASE DO NOT ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO EAT BAIT!