Catching your own fish, prepping the fish, frying, grilling, or smoking fish is one of my favorite things about Puerto Peñasco. The fish are plentiful. Even if you are not a fisherman, or don’t have time to catch fish yourself, you can buy fish at a fish monger like Jessy’s and the fish is inexpensive, fresh and a real crowd pleaser for a large group of friends and family.
I like to target the Orange Mouth Corvina, Grouper, and Flounder. These fish don’t disappoint or have that fishy taste, especially when they are swimming in the morning and are served for dinner the same day. Freshness makes a world of difference.
Growing up in the Midwest I have a long history with the Friday Night Fish Fry featuring Walleye, Crappie, or Catfish. The fish was fried, had a crispy beer batter coating, and may have had hush puppies, fried okra, and coleslaw as a side dish. A homemade tartar sauce was usually offered. Local favorites are fried green onion, and cilantro cooked in oil or butter, homemade pico de gallo with corn tortillas. Yumm!
As I have gotten older, I limit my fried foods, but grilled fish with a lemon, butter, caper, and white wine sauce is satisfying and slightly healthier than the fried version. Smoked fish is another way to enjoy fish. I use a brine of brown sugar, salt, orange juice, Tabasco, Old Bay Seasoning, as well as a few other seasonings. I brine the fish for a minimum of 4 hours, and overnight when I have the time. I like to fire up the smoker with applewood and fish. Smoking time varies with the size of the fish, wind, and temperature. Most of the time for a light smoke it takes around 4 hours. Another popular way to fix fish is the smoked fish dip. Shred smoked fish into small pieces, add sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Tabasco, liquid smoke, Old Bay, lime juice, and your favorite seasonings. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips, stand back and watch this item disappear from the appetizer table. I think I need a fish taco. Hope to see you on the water soon.
Vince Deadmond The Retired Fly Fishing Hardware guy can be reached at vincehasgonefishing@outlook.com or 480 818 1796.
