I've been living on an island for a couple of years now and I made a shocking find that will be hard to believe but it's true. I've been eating fish my entire life and I have never eaten a fish where the fish fat taste identical to grilled " beef fat "! Being on the island I don't get to eat a lot of premium beef... I grew up eating beef in america and to be frank, the island beef doesn't turn me on so when I took my first bite of the fat on this fish it was as if I had just took a bite out of pure heavenly good old fashion american grill ribeye beef fat! I was in a state of disbelief.
The black in the picture below is the fat of this fish.
It's not a lot of fat but trust me, if you are deprived of beef, you will slowly savor every bite of it.
The fish is called a " Milk Fish ". It is a delicacy in south east Asia. At first I hated this fish being an avid fisherman my entire life. It has to many bones so I stayed away from it. That was until one day I walked into the market and saw a fish vendor who was removing the bones from the fish. After talking with him for a while he told me the best way to eat the Milk fish was to " smoke " it. After eating fish for decades I knew immediately I had to buy it and smoke it. SMOKED FISH IS #1 ~ and you can smoke any fish you want and it will be delicious. Let me show you how easy it is to smoke your own fish at home.
Take any fish of your choice and marinate it any way you want. Hickory smoke liquid is the best but today I'm using a special island blend. Soy sauce & spicy coconut vinegar.
I'm using a Caldera with a top and I'm using a coconut shell that will create a sweet tangy smoke flavor that I like.
I crack the coconut shell into small pieces.
I place a small grill inside the pan.
I place the marinated fish onto a banana leaf and I place the cover over it and turn the gas heat up to medium heat. I smoke the fish for 25 minutes and it usually takes 10 minutes before the smoke starts to exit the pan cover.
Now this is the important step. After 25 minutes turn off the heat and DO NOT REMOVE THE TOP. Let the fish continue to smoke for about 20 more minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the cover and wala!
There is no other way to eat a fish in my opinion and to believe that you can actual eat a fish that taste like ribeye beef fat is probably going to be the greatest fishing secret that most fishermen will never know! But now you do.... If you have any questions or need some helpful ideas because you might not have banana leaves available in your area, leave me a question below and I'll do my best to help you find an alternative. Enjoy ~ Capt. Wild Bill