Trout Indian Style

[JonathanD]

By far the best and most efficient way that I have ever learnt to de-bone a trout or any fish for that matter was watching Ray Mears in Sweden, and he is right, this is why God created thumbs. There is zero waste and absolutely no bones!!!!

Impresses the ladies too if you can do it while empathising with the bad day the've had

 

[Keith_Beef]

The end result certainly looks impressive. As you say, there's no waste there.

But can you explain the technique?

For trout, salmon and perch (the limit of my experience, apart from pike that I turn into knyll), I'd not bother.

I'd cook it whole, and the flesh comes off easily. In your plate, eat the flesh from one side down to the bones, then gently lift the backbone and all the small bones come out with it, leaving the other side to be enjoyed.


K.

 

[ilovemybed]

The end result certainly looks impressive. As you say, there's no waste there.

But can you explain the technique?

For trout, salmon and perch (the limit of my experience, apart from pike that I turn into knyll), I'd not bother.

I'd cook it whole, and the flesh comes off easily. In your plate, eat the flesh from one side down to the bones, then gently lift the backbone and all the small bones come out with it, leaving the other side to be enjoyed.


K.

It's good cause it works when you're dealing with fish bigger than the size of your pan, like a big salmon, you can cook it straight over an open fire, and you get a lovely chargrilled taste to some of the meat. Yum Yum!

 

[Buckshot]

But can you explain the technique?

K.

Cut the fins off - they're an extension of the bones so just get in the way...
Cut round the fish just behind the gills, just cut the meat - not the bones.
Work your fingers/ thumb into the gap and inbetween the meat and the bones, gently easing them away from each other. Do this on both sides and the back of the fish working your way down to the tail, then cut the meat off when you get to it.
You're left with a 'felix' style head/ bones/ tail and a butterfly of the meat.
Easy to do if you take your time.

Nice pistures P7, but the knife gets in the way of the fish.

Cheers

Mark

 

[falling rain]

Cut the fins off - they're an extension of the bones so just get in the way...
Cut round the fish just behind the gills, just cut the meat - not the bones.
Work your fingers/ thumb into the gap and inbetween the meat and the bones, gently easing them away from each other. Do this on both sides and the back of the fish working your way down to the tail, then cut the meat off when you get to it.
You're left with a 'felix' style head/ bones/ tail and a butterfly of the meat.
Easy to do if you take your time.

Nice pistures P7, but the knife gets in the way of the fish.

Cheers

Mark

As Busckshot says.
When cutting the fish, do it with the fish the right way up. IE as it would swim.
Cut into the 'neck' just behind the head, until you feel the back bone (don't cut through the back bone) bring the knife around both flanks of the fish just behind the pectoral fins, and ease thumbs under the spine and ribs to tease the meat out. Very easy to do....................harder to explain, especially if you're not the brightest pixie in the forest like me

 

[bambodoggy]

I'd cook it whole, and the flesh comes off easily. In your plate

Keith, the best thing about preping and cooking it like this is that you can eat it straight off the sticks it's cooked on and then drop them into the fire and hey presto....NO WASHING UP!!!!!

Cheers,

Bam.

(P.s. I think you'd struggle to do Pike like this due to the configuration of their bones...I tried it with Monk Fish a little while ago and it wasn't all that successful).

 

[falling rain]

(P.s. I think you'd struggle to do Pike like this due to the configuration of their bones...I tried it with Monk Fish a little while ago and it wasn't all that successful).[/QUOTE]

Good point Bam. I've done it happily a number of times with salmon and trout but had little success with other fish. As you say, due to the way nature's made them. I managed with Bass and Mackeral but it wasn't as easy and didn't look as pretty as the salmon or trout.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Keith, the best thing about preping and cooking it like this is that you can eat it straight off the sticks it's cooked on and then drop them into the fire and hey presto....NO WASHING UP!!!!!

Sounds good. How about wrapping the fish in wet leaves or moss, and putting it on a flat stone heated in the fire. This should steam the fish. Then you eat it straight off the stone. Still no washing up.

(P.s. I think you'd struggle to do Pike like this due to the configuration of their bones...I tried it with Monk Fish a little while ago and it wasn't all that successful).

When I prepared the pike I caught last summer, I skinned it, then stripped the flesh off the bones (a long, finisky job).

Then I ground up the flesh (no doubt with a few bones left in it), mixed this with breadcrumbs, eggs, cream, salt and pepper, and left overnight. The next day, I formed knylls (small sausages) between two tablespoons, dropping them into simmering water four or five at a time. They swell as they cook, so don't put too many into the water at a time. They need room to swim for three minutes.

It's a long job, but not too hard. And the other ingredients bulk out the fish, so that from only around a pound and a half of flesh, you can easily get thirty six knylls.
(The pike has such a big head that I got less flesh than I expected.)

K.

 

[nickg]

Here is (Ihope) a pic of the lunch we had at the kent meet last month. Trout as per the advice in the thread and a small chicken similarly set up along with Pauls chicken & rice stew and one of Mikes legendary bannocks.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1102&cat=500&ppuser=1691