Hello all, I'm looking for a good recipe for a fish stew. One that I can add fresh fish to dried ingredients and cook in a small pot like a jetboil. Love to hear what you got. Thanks

I don't have a recipe, sorry, but when I make a fish stew (for backpacking), I start by making a pre-mix with dried ingredients:

chicken bullion
dried onions and garlic
dried veggies (a variety, depends on what I have in stock)
dried mashed potatoes
Cayenne pepper (ground - I put some "heat" in everything I make - ignore it if that's not your thing)
Put all these in a plastic zip bag.

In camp, with freshly caught fish:

Fillet fish (ie, remove all the bones)
Heat water and stir in the dried stuff.
Once the pot is starting to boil again, add the fish, and cook until it starts to flake.

Serve and eat.

Sorry I'm not specific on amounts, but no one who has eaten it has complained yet!

Stephen's recipe sounds good to me. If you are looking for easier though, take 1 pack of instant thai noodle soup (thai ginger or spring onion work for me). Bring to boil. Throw skinless boneless trout fillets (in chunks) in for one minute until opaque. Eat.

Sometimes I'll do the same using just wild leeks and cattail hearts in water as the poaching liquid.

Edited by Ike on 03/23/2011 08:56:29 MDT.

I think i'll try your recipe Stephen, It sounds good to me, just what I was looking for. Great idea Ike with the instant soup mix, although I don't trust my pickings of wild edibles.

That sounds delicious. I might have to try that next time my little guy catches some bass. We usually pan-fry or bake on a stick over a small fire but the stew would be great. Especially those trips early in the season when it's rainy and cold.

Warning... lol... what you are about to view is not a lightweight approach... not even close.

Here are a few pics of the bass he caught in the Chiniguchi region of Ontario (near Temagami) 2 years ago. He was 7 then and we were a group of 8 I think. He caught two of them and our friend Bill caught the other two. Not too shabby for the little guy seeing as his Daddy cannot catch a fish to save his life.

Here is the boy fishing...



Here is the catch...



And the fish my friend Roula cooked up for dinner



We didn't have any breading or flour so I rummaged my pack and dug out the jalapeno-cornbread crackers that were leftover from the pumpkin hummus that we'd had the day before. We pulverized them and coated the fish. Roula had packed in a lemon (for some reason I'll never figure out) and that was a great addition. She even brought tongs and a proper chef's knife. It's a good thing it was a paddle trip. I'm still teasing her about the amount and weight of the gear she had.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 03/23/2011 07:05:35 MDT.

Ike: Great ideas! I'll have to look for some Thai soup mix!

Laurie: Love the photo of your son fishing! Brings back some great memories! Jalapeño crust sounds delicious!

I love the photo too... a treasure for sure.

I'm going to start playing around with ideas for fish stew. Maybe something I can dehydrate at home to make a spicy broth (I like things with nip) as we are going to the same region again this year.

If you are looking for instant Thai soup mixes:
http://importfood.com/spicesingredients.html

Any instant soup mix that calls for coconut milk you can swap in coconut cream powder as well.

Laurie, great shots of the fisher"man" and his fish.


I recognize that stove as my car camping/winter backcountry touring MSR Dragonfly.
You can bake with the Dragonfly B/C it simmers VERY low. My Backpacker's Pantry oven is great with it. A jelly-filled "one pot" giant Bisquick biscuit is great at 5 F. in a winter backcountry ski camp.

Nice looking fish!
Ill bet you could dehydrate some bouillabaisse ingredients and then rehydrate it with the fish and let it simmer a little to finish it up. Sounds like a new woodstove baking adventure.

Edited by cadyak on 03/25/2011 22:01:10 MDT.

Mountain House makes a pretty good seafood chowder, which has shrimp and clams in a nice sauce. You could add your trout to it to make something pretty tasty and filling. The problem is that Mountain House is currently unable to keep up with product demand for some reason, and most items, especially the #10 tins, aren't available. Don't know why, maybe it's all being shipped to Japan, or maybe the U. S. military is doing some serious re-stocking. Anyway, this chowder is a decent alternative to dehydrating your own bouillabaisse.

I make a Mediterranean Vegetable and Balsamic Soup that might lend itself well to fish. When we have trout at home I make a Blueberry, Maple and Balsamic Reduction for it (way easy to do even though it sounds froofy). Anyway, I was thinking that the balsamic in the soup might work well with the fish. It also has shredded potatoes, red peppers, carrots, artichokes, mushrooms, eggplant, chard, and tomatoes. I just have to make sure that the flavor of the fish doesn't get lost because of the flavor of the soup and I might have to modify the recipe a bit.

I'll report back on how it worked out. If it works, it will be a simple rehydrate, heat and add the fish to let it cook.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 03/27/2011 08:51:33 MDT.

Has anyone used the dried fish I see at the Oriental grocery stores?

I keep looking at it, but I don't know what to do with it.

I think with some soup base you would have a pretty good meal.
Maybe a ramen noodle soup, some dried mushrooms and some other dehy veggies.
Nice break from beef jerky and packs of tuna.

I gotta man-up, get over the pungent odor, and give it a shot.
I think the price is pretty good too.

If you do use it, be sure to soak it in water first. It is very, very salty. Treat it like you would any preserved fish - it can be good though! (Ignore that for the little deep fried kippers that you sprinkle on rice - those are meant to be snacked on...yum!)

" (Ignore that for the little deep fried kippers that you sprinkle on rice - those are meant to be snacked on...yum!)"

+1 Almost as tasty as durian. ;-)

Lol...They are sooooo an acquired taste. Low carb and all ;-) That and the deep fried peanuts next to them on the shelves when I worked for the importer. Or the weird savory rice crackers soaked in MSG.

I tried everything once, some of it grew on me :-D

Unless you like it very salty... I'd recommend soaking and then rinsing because it ends up sitting in a brine like solution as the salt comes out. You could use salt cod but that requires quite a long soak time. It too, can be revolting if not thoroughly rinsed.

While not lightweight really, you can buy little single serve pouches of wild smoked salmon. Here MEC.ca sells them and they are great. I will sometimes take one on a trip. I make wild salmon jerky too... yummy.

For a good buy price wise check out:
http://chickenofthesea.com/product_line_detail.aspx?did=4800009108
You can find their smoked salmon in most grocery stores, Target and Walmart. Each pouch is one serving.
REI carries SeaBear's pouches which at $5.95 are pretty pricey but are made in Anacortes, Washington (that would be Fidalgo Island for those who care) which is one island over from where I used to live.
http://www.rei.com/product/761630
While I find SeaBear's betting tasting for plain eating, in recipes the Chicken of the Sea is a better deal.

One thing I ask people to think about is ethical fish choices. I always buy wild salmon because it is one of the few wild fish that is a better environmental choice than farmed. There is a great book on the subject called A Good Catch.

Chicken of the Sea's is wild salmon. As is SeaBear's.

No PNW'er worth their salt would eat...gag....farmed salmon. No one would. Gag. It is dyed. And greasy.

My favorite time of the year is the run off of Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island when one (with enough talent) can catch them as they swim by, through the straight of Juan de Fuca. Nothing like salmon caught in front of a NP property with the Olympic Mountains looming over the water.

I used to get these as my "tip" from the old guys when I ran the coffeehouse. Best "tip" one will ever get.