What is the best way to cook fish on the trail. I am trying to avoid carrying a fry pan. I will have a canister stove, but open fires will not be allowed where I am going.

Thanks

You could steam the fish. If you have a big enough diameter pot, boil the water, then place some tin-foil with holes poked into it over the pot. Place your fish on top and steam it.

Edited to add that Andy Berner did posted something similar in the fishing section of BPL a couple of months ago.

Edited by ChrisFol on 03/15/2010 16:20:02 MDT.

I have never tried this myself, but you could steam bake them using an oven bag over boiling water in a pot. The backpacker, which I have and have used for actual baking, describes this as an easy way to make fish, with no mess, since you get to eat out of the bag. Without a backpacker, you would need some way to suspend the bag in the pot over the water that was boiling. I think the cooking section here has stuff on steam baking that describe various homemade attempts at the concept, including using rocks.

Keep it simple. Little olive oil, little pepper and garlic salt. Perhaps some "true lemon" if you have it. I add a little water into the sauce as well.

If you really feel like doing the fish justice, when you are done eating the meat boil down the bones with some water. Pick out the meat, and then use that stock as the foundation for your Ramen or whatever soup after removing the bones, easier than it sounds). This also has the added benefit of reducing what's left of the fish to dispose of to just a small pile of bones.

Edited by johnz on 03/15/2010 16:35:32 MDT.

I haven't tried this, but supposedly you can cut fish into small stirfry sized pieces and then boil it for 5 minutes or so to poach the fish. Then drain the water and season. One good way to eat this is to season the fish with taco seasoning and then make fish tacos. Of course you'd need to have a few tortilla's on hand and a few other things to flesh them out.

The nice thing with poaching is that it's quick and low mess.

Edited by dandydan on 03/15/2010 23:51:39 MDT.

my preferred method now is to cut them into small chunks and boil them in a pot with seasoning and (optionally) some olive oil

i think extract and debone them and add them to the ramen, pasta, couscous, etc. that i cook in the same seasoned water

or they can be eaten as is

but the suggested method works well, is easy, tasty and provides a full, satisfying meal

How about sashimi?

Maybe some soy sauce and a little wasabi and that's it. No cooking gear.

Surely the lightest option of all. And quite tasty too.

Several suggestions: 1. Get the titanium grill that used to be sold on BPL and grill over a fire (campfire or your stove's fire). 2. Get a Jetboil and Fry Pan accessory and saute in olive oil 3. Wrap the fish in aluminum foil, add some oil (to keep it from sticking), wrap tightly, and set in the fire. All three methods work with a cleaned whole trout or fillets cut in pieces. You can add your favorite seasonings, lemon juice, cut up green onions, or dehydrated bacon bits if you like.

While on the JMT last year, we found poaching fish in a small freezer bag with spices and wild green onions was the tastiest. Allow bag to barely simmer in water to your likeness. Easy clean up too.

"How about sashimi?"

This works especially well with the roe sac. Nice and rich and eggy. Just rinse in water and let it melt in your mouth. Mmmmmmm, mmmmm. As The colonel used to say, "It's finger lickin' good".

One the easiest and most delicious ways to cook fish is simply sprinkle the fish with salt, stick it on a skewer, and set over a flame to roast. It's one of the most popular ways to eat fish in Japan, especially when camping. Works great with oily fish like trout or salmon, but good with just about any fish.

Be careful with sashimi. Some fish have parasites that you need to cure the fish first for.

Cary, how long do you boil the fish for?

the amount of time needed is probsbly only a few minutes, depends on how you like it cooked.

overcooked fish isn't nice!ideally it needs to be barely just cooked.

when the fish goes from translucent to opaque its probably done, its very quick, and the residual heat in the fish and will keep cooking the middle

Edited by benp1 on 03/17/2010 08:54:23 MDT.

A useful rule of thumb for cooking fish is the Canadian cooking theory. (Legend has it it was developed by the Mounties.) Ten minutes per inch of width, measured at the thickest point, regardless of cooking method or whether it's a whole fish or fillets. With backcountry trout that usually means two or three minutes max. Obviously the chef can vary this to suit personal preferences.

I've used the steam bake method on trout with good results. It helps if you know how to fillet the fish first.

The BEST (and messiest) results I've had is by frying fillets in garlic olive oil. First, you cover the fillet in a mixture of Cajun spices and flour.
This may not be the healthiest, nor the cleanest; but it's definitely the best tasting.

- JV

Joe, I totally agree with you on the breading and frying in flavored oil. Last year in the boundary waters we had fish 3 of the 6 nights where we coated the fish in bisquick and spices and fried them in olive oil and made fish tacos with a dirty rice mix Soooo goood.

We saved the oil each time and the flavors just got better and better!

Mint, sorrel, and wild onions - all of which can often be found near mountain streams - are other tasty additions, especially if you steam or foil-bake your fish.

"Mint, sorrel, and wild onions - all of which can often be found near mountain streams - are other tasty additions, especially if you steam or foil-bake your fish."

+1

I don't know about mint or sorrel in the Sierra but wild onions, often found in boggy areas along the outlets of streams up to ~10,000', are excellent stuffed in the body cavity of trout before roasting/steaming in foil on a bed of coals.

For those of you who fry your fish, mix up a batch of instant mashed potatoes beforehand, season to taste(chopped wild onions are a nice addition here), and then fry the mashed potatoes as a big potato pancake in the oil you used to fry the fish. When it's brown on one side flip it and fry until brown on the other side. A tasty way to get your carbs plus the extra calories in the fish frying oil that might otherwise go to waste.

The recipe above sounds KILLER!! Thanks, I'll try that this summer!

Seems like the perfect application for that tricky self storing grill that we were all drooling over a while back. Don't have time to search. I've never tried grilling with a canister stove but I might try it. A piece of heavy duty aluminum foil would be handy.

Boiled fish is dog food (no offense). Mixed with rice or pasta is good. You would be better off finding some good leaves and use the boiling water from your pasta to steam it. When it's flaky it's done.

BJ

Edited by lilorphanbilly on 03/22/2010 18:19:23 MDT.