Hot smoked perch

When going after pike or pike perch, many spinning anglers are faced with a pleasant “problem” - perch. It is caught well in any weather and time of year. It takes a variety of baits: from spinners to rubber bands. It resists interestingly when fished. It would seem that we should be happy. However, there is an important detail - it is not clear what to do with it next. The average perch weighs approximately 200 grams. In addition, it is not fat and bony. But the main “sadness” of this little fish is that it cleans disgustingly. For this reason, to put it mildly, chefs do not like perch and flatly refuse to cook it. It's a shame, isn't it?

There is a solution. Smokehouse! Treat yourself and your friends to an amazing snack. When smoked, this fish acquires very interesting flavor shades, characteristic only of perch. You can smoke not only at home, but also in unsuitable conditions: at the dacha or right on the shore. Cooking time is about 1.5 hours.

For a medium smokehouse you will need:

  • 1. Perch. About 2.5 kg.
  • 2. Wood chips.
  • 3. Firewood. If not, use coal (as in the photo).
  • 4. Spices.
For an average smokehouse you will need

Preparation

1. Pour water over the wood chips and let it brew. As soon as the water becomes bronze in color, you can drain it. Approximately 40 min.

drain the water
Place wood chips on the bottom of the smokehouse

2.Wash the fish, place in a convenient container and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. I would like to emphasize that the perch does not need to be cleaned or gutted!

Rinse the fish

3. Let the fish sit for half an hour.

4. At this time, take care of the fire. The firewood must burn out enough to maintain its integrity. They must smolder.

The firewood must burn out
Firewood

5. Drain the perches. And, armed with gloves, and not like me (I think there is no need to remind real fishermen that this fish is prickly), carefully wipe each fish with a napkin in the direction of the growth of scales, removing excess water. This is a necessary procedure. After all, perch should be smoked, not boiled.

wipe each fish with a napkin
wipe each fish with a napkin

6. Place wood chips about 1 cm thick on the bottom of the smokehouse.

Place wood chips on the bottom of the smokehouse

7. Install the grille. Place the fish on its side, leaving the necessary space for each (to allow smoke to be accessible from all sides).

Installing the grille

8. Install the second row of gratings and repeat the same thing.

Install the second row of grates
We put the fish

9. Close the lid and place on the coals.

Close the lid

10. After 10 minutes, release the first steam by carefully sliding the smokehouse lid a little. The perches are not cleaned and there is plenty of extra juice in them.

11. After another 10 minutes, swap the grates (for uniform smoking).

swap grilles
swap grilles

12. After 10 minutes, remove from heat.

The indicator of readiness is the color of the perch and the produced wood chips (it should turn almost into coals).

Hot smoked perch

Recommendations

1. In the photo I used bricks (cooked at the dacha). But you can do without them. In nature, to keep the coals hot, I surround them with two large wet logs. They don’t have time to fully “get busy.”

2. For aesthetes, at the last stage of cooking you can sprinkle the fish with lemon and add a few sprigs of dill. But you need to put them on the perches, and not on the grill (otherwise they will just burn).

3.An important component of the recipe is wood chips (aka sawdust, aka twigs). In the photo - it is alder (from the store). But for gourmets, I would recommend large sawdust from any fruit tree. Apricot or apple are suitable. And if the cook is not lazy, then shavings from “live” cherries are even better. To do this, I finely chop the twig with an ordinary fishing knife. True, you will have to try. This will take at least half an hour. Walnut chips are absolutely not suitable. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that it gives the dish a persistent smell of iodine and even medicine.

4. You don’t have to wash the smokehouse, using a purely “male” method. A fire is the best cleaning agent.

The smokehouse does not need to be washed

5. It is not difficult to guess that this dish will be mastered by happy fishermen. So don't skimp on the ground pepper. Maybe even under the gills. And then this striped predator will become the most favorite beer snack.

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Comments (5)
  1. Genghis
    #1 Genghis Guests 21 February 2015 22:41
    4
    Instructive! But it’s better to take a minimum of “stuff” into nature. A grill grate, ordinary firewood (whatever you found), GOOD COMPANY and 0.5 vodka are enough. In the evening after fishing by the fire ON THE SHORE - IT’S UNFORGETTABLE!!!
  2. MARAT
    #2 MARAT Guests 9 June 2018 21:35
    0
    Lay out the bricks, 4. You don’t have to wash the smokehouse, using a purely “male” method. A fire is the best cleaning agent.
  3. Guest Alexander
    #3 Guest Alexander Guests 15 August 2018 11:02
    2
    “I would like to emphasize that the perch does not need to be cleaned or gutted!”
    Nonsense, fresh perch is very easy to clean: you just grab the gills with two fingers and pull out ALL THE GIVING. And no cuts. Try it - you'll like it.
    And also, when there are a lot of fish, we stack them tightly one to the other on the belly. And since it wasn’t cut, all the juice is inside...
  4. justice
    #4 justice Guests 23 June 2019 17:38
    3
    Don't gut the perch??? Well then the gallbladder will do its job. I listened to these cooks... Definitely gut them!!!
  5. Fishing
    #5 Fishing Guests 13 July 2023 08:31
    0
    If you place the smokehouse on coals (not on fire), then the wood chips will not catch fire, and wet wood produces a lot of soot and the fish will be bitter, especially if not gutted. Such a recipe