Lionfish

[Ponsoldt2]

I just got the #1. I live on the east coast of Florida and like to kill and eat Lionfish.  Has anyone smoked one?  I think they would be good in a fish dip. They are not very oily and the texture is very fine. They pick up flavors easily. Any ideas?

 

[SconnieQ]

I watched an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern called "Florida Keys: Horse Conch and Hogfish" where they went out and speared lionfish. They went back to a restaurant called Sharkey's and had lionfish ceviche, and smoked lionfish, both of which were proclaimed delicious! You would probably want to brine before smoking. Since there isn't a lot of fat, you will want to be careful not to smoke to too high of temperature or for too long. I would follow a brine and smoke recipe for a fish that you would consider similar if you can find one. You will probably be our first lionfish smoker.

Here's a picture of the smoked lionfish buffet from the show. Seems odd that they left the spines on, considering that the general public might be digging into this.
http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/bizarre-foods/photos/florida-keys-horse-conch-and-hogfish-pictures/page/11

Great that you are helping to control the population.

 

[Ponsoldt2]

They leave the spines on for show.  When you cook the fish the poison dissipates. They are really delicious. I found a recipe for smoked Lionfish dip but no instructions on how to smoke the fish.

 

[SconnieQ]

I have only smoked salmon, which is pretty different. I don't think you'd want to use the same kind of brine/cure for lionfish. Sounds like lionfish is mild, so I think you should start with a very basic, brine and smoke recipe. The link below would be a good place to start, see how it turns out, and tweak the brine or process from there. Use about 2-3 ounces wood chips or slivers from chunks. Hickory might be a bit strong. Fruitwoods, maple, pecan would be good. I don't care for alder, but that's popular for fish. I like to smoke fish to an internal temperature of 135. Temp it if you can, but lionfish might be too thin to probe. If it's on the thin side, then maybe you want to smoke at 180 for 1 to 1.5 hours instead of 2 hours at 200 like the web page mentions.

http://1source.basspro.com/index.php/component/k2/218-fish-recipes/978-how-to-smoke-fish-three-easy-recipes

 

[Ponsoldt2]

Thanks!