Lake whitefish recipes

[Camdec]

My brother in law caught quite a large whitefish this winter. I have a couple nice skin on fillets in the freezer. Wondering how best to prepare. Was thinking of smoking, but never done one up. Would appreciate preferred methods. Thanks in advance.

[snowman160]

As much as guys argue with me I love them deep fryed fish n chips style.I use long John silver recipe you google it’s super simple. There is two key things you MUST do to the fillet is of course de bone those litl pin bones(YouTube)
Also the most important is remove all the fat that’s all the white on the fillet, as well as I take my fillet knife an shave off as much of the brown lateral line material as possible, the more the better.
Makes super nice white flakey fish n chips and everyone I’ve fed em to doesn’t believe me when I tell em it’s lake whites. Hope this helps!

[pikeman06]

Scrape that red-brown stuff off the skin side. It might be good for you but it's very fishy tasting. Soak them in salt water overnight and they are excellent eating.

[Marty S]

I thot lake whites was just sled dawg food???

Tried some winter caught netfish once… horrible.

But didnt doctor them before trying to smoke… both the house and patio reeked of fishy fishy fish slime fish. Actually my dawg wanted no part of them either

[stein]

Originally Posted by Marty S

I thot lake whites was just sled dawg food???

Tried some winter caught netfish once… horrible.

But didnt doctor them before trying to smoke… both the house and patio reeked of fishy fishy fish slime fish. Actually my dawg wanted no part of them either

they are usually full of worms

[Seli]

I caught one last week, did not have much in the camper expect "Catch and Cook" so did it as a dry rub, just oil in a pan on the BBQ. Kids and I enjoyed it!

I have never thawed one from frozen. I have read on other threads that Whitefish does not freeze well and gets mushy. I am curious how yours turns out. Please let us know!

[Camdec]

I thought I heard they were good smoked? For sure I would tweezer out those bones regardless of how I prepare it. Appreciate the suggestions provided.

[Seli]

From what I have seen, most people do smoke whitefish and there are a lot of videos of people smoking them on YouTube. I have never smoked any fish but like you would like to try one soon.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Camdec

My brother in law caught quite a large whitefish this winter. I have a couple nice skin on fillets in the freezer. Wondering how best to prepare. Was thinking of smoking, but never done one up. Would appreciate preferred methods. Thanks in advance.

Have the perfect whitefish smoking recipe. Sounds like a big white so go with 3 cups of brown suger, 3 cups of soy sauce (kikoman seems best) and 3 cups of water. Stir it up nice until sugar is dissolved. Can shave off to 2 cups of water if you want it a bit sweeter. Easy recipe.

Soak in this brine overnight in fridge with skin side up. Can also score a bigger white a bit to get the brine to soak further. I use apple wood chips. Don't worry about patting off the brine. You will get good and messy adding it to the smoker so have some paper towels handy. Skin side down in smoker racks.

Cold smoke for 3 - 4 times (or pucks if you have a Bradley smoker). Finish off at 250 F for an hour after cold smoke.

I've been told by everyone who tries it that it is their favorite. Eating it fresh of the smoker ...hard to stop. If you put it in the fridge overnight just know that the smoke flavor permeates right through. Good or bad depending on how much smoke you like.

[SNAPFisher]

That said on smoking, if you clean up a white nice like described above, I do a recipe that is coating in shredded and spiced up hashbrowns on one side. I'll see if I can find that one. Best recipe hands down. I don't smoke many whites after using recipe because this is so much better.

Also do whitefish burgers. Pigeon whites have so much fat they make an amazing burger.

I don't smoke many whites anymore with these two recipes in hand

And, properly cleaned whites with no skin on the fillet keep well over a year with proper sealed freezing. They are not mushy at all.

[New2Elk]

Whitefish is very versatile and can be prepared so many different ways. We catch and eat a ton of whitefish up here. I even got my wife (who disliked and never really ate fish before) liking fish by starting her out with a couple of whitefish prepared different ways. Smoking is done a lot up here although I haven’t tried that myself yet. A few of the ways we’ve done them and liked here are beer battered and pan fried in some oil, ground up and made fish burgers, coated in shredded potato, or baked in the oven with a coating made of mayo, egg white, dill, and onion. If you’re interested in any of that, let me know and I can dig up some recipes.

[Stinky Buffalo]

We used to save our milk cartons, and slip the scaled and gutted whites in those. Fill up with water, staple shut, and place into freezer.

I don’t recall them being mushy, but we did eat a lot of fish in those days. Some were great, some not so much, depending on the recipe, really.

[FlyTheory]

I’ve made bacon out of the larger fillets. Just substitute the pork for whitefish and it’s great!

[snowman160]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Scrape that red-brown stuff off the skin side. It might be good for you but it's very fishy tasting. Soak them in salt water overnight and they are excellent eating.

I’ve never found em fishy tasting once the brown stuff is removed but I could see it happening I guess. Never thought of soaking em though I’ll give it a try!

[Seli]

Originally Posted by Camdec

My brother in law caught quite a large whitefish this winter. I have a couple nice skin on fillets in the freezer. Wondering how best to prepare. Was thinking of smoking, but never done one up. Would appreciate preferred methods. Thanks in advance.

So how did you prepare your whitefish? Was it tasty??

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by New2Elk

Whitefish is very versatile and can be prepared so many different ways. We catch and eat a ton of whitefish up here. I even got my wife (who disliked and never really ate fish before) liking fish by starting her out with a couple of whitefish prepared different ways. Smoking is done a lot up here although I haven’t tried that myself yet. A few of the ways we’ve done them and liked here are beer battered and pan fried in some oil, ground up and made fish burgers, coated in shredded potato, or baked in the oven with a coating made of mayo, egg white, dill, and onion. If you’re interested in any of that, let me know and I can dig up some recipes.

1/2 cup mayo. 1/2 cup sour cream. Fresh dill and chopped green onion. Mix.

Salt and pepper deboned fillets.

Place in greased baking dish

Spread mix on top.
bake in oven @ 425 for 8 minutes. 10 min if a thick fillet.

[Speckle55]

first fillet Lake Whitefish

skin stays with filleted fish waste (skin n scales goes to local elder)

take out lateral line of bones n fat (fish heads goes to locals for soup)

shake n fry in butter (cornflake crumbs n Lawry Salt in bag)

mmmm good

David

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by stein

they are usually full of worms

All fish have worms.

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by Speckle55

first fillet Lake Whitefish

skin stays with filleted fish waste (skin n scales goes to local elder)

take out lateral line of bones n fat (fish heads goes to locals for soup)

shake n fry in butter (cornflake crumbs n Lawry Salt in bag)

mmmm good

David

I always eat the skin ,its the best part, in my opinion, good fishing to you.take care.

[Red Bullets]

If you are smoking your whites... either a wet cure or dry cure overnight then put fish on a rack to dry for an hour or so to create a pellicle. A pellicle is just a dry film that forms on the fish.

Diamond willow is the ultimate smoke for whites.

[AK47]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Scrape that red-brown stuff off the skin side. It might be good for you but it's very fishy tasting. Soak them in salt water overnight and they are excellent eating.

When I eat smoked whitefish it I always look for that stuff and fat first - tastes absolutely the best when smoked . I smoke it a bit differently, - cut it through the back and open like a book for brining. This way all flavors and fat are not lost during smoking. Tried smoking cut in chunks or fillets and it was not as good as open book style.

[pikeman06]

Some of my native buddies talk about smoking their fish that way. Never tried, but sounds like a neat way to smoke them. I did goldeyes whole a couple times but they were pretty mushy, had better luck with filets.

[Camdec]

Originally Posted by Seli

So how did you prepare your whitefish? Was it tasty??

Haven’t done it yet, but think I’m going to try the recipe SNAPFisher provided. I have another good size jack to do so plan to do this upcoming weekend. Will update with results.

[AK47]

Some people asked how do you cut fish through the back for smoking, here is picture. Just cut along the back and open like a book.

[pikeman06]

That looks deadly. I love smoked whites, struggle with biting into that grey fatty layer personally. If you like that fishy taste, fill your boots. I clean up my fillets till you can see thru them almost and its a totally different fish. As you said before prepared this way distributes that fat layer. Ill try it. What is your brine, etc?

[AK47]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

That looks deadly. I love smoked whites, struggle with biting into that grey fatty layer personally. If you like that fishy taste, fill your boots. I clean up my fillets till you can see thru them almost and its a totally different fish. As you said before prepared this way distributes that fat layer. Ill try it. What is your brine, etc?

I use something very similar to what Snapfish described - brown sugar, water and either coarse salt or soy sauce. Brine 12-24 hrs, rinse, dry on the smoker it goes.

[akn]

Is there anything wrong with the belly meat? I fillet mine and in every fillet video they discard the belly.

[AK47]

Originally Posted by akn

Is there anything wrong with the belly meat? I fillet mine and in every fillet video they discard the belly.

It is fatty so not everybody likes it. I love it!

[fordtruckin]

Think last time I fried whitefish I used shorelunch original. Dipped fillets in buttermilk then coat with seasoning and fried in vegetable oil. Seeing some of the recipes in this thread is making me feel like a Neanderthal!! I really need to try this.