Content
Hot smoked catfish is an incredibly tasty and healthy dish that can dilute your usual diet. You can prepare it at home without much difficulty. To do this, you need to select a suitable carcass, prepare it for hot smoking and determine the optimal recipe. Therefore, you should study the technology of the process in order to get a tasty dish.
You can prepare hot smoked catfish in just a few hours
Useful properties of the product
This type of processing is gentle, since the original product is subjected to minimal processing, which allows you to retain most of the vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Main beneficial properties of the product:
- Hot smoked catfish contains a sufficient amount of protein.And this component is the main building material for muscle tissue.
- Fish oil contains a large amount of unsaturated fatty acids, so it is well absorbed by the human body and helps reduce cholesterol in the blood.
- The minerals and vitamins contained in soma play an important role in human health. They normalize water balance, help strengthen bone tissue, improve the functioning of the heart and nervous system, participate in the process of hematopoiesis, and improve metabolism.
BJU and calorie content of hot smoked catfish
The main advantage of hot smoking is that no additional vegetable oil is required during the cooking process. Therefore, the caloric content and fat content do not exceed the permissible limits.
Hot smoked catfish contains:
- proteins – 17.6%;
- fat – 4.8%;
- carbohydrates – 0%.
The calorie content of 100 g of product is 104 kcal. This low figure is explained by the fact that catfish consists of 75% water.
Principles and methods of smoking catfish
This type of fish is one of the most delicious and popular. This is due to the fact that catfish meat is tender, fatty, but contains virtually no bones. It can be prepared in different ways, but if you want something special, it is best to smoke it.
The main role in the preparation of this dish is played by heat treatment. There are several popular recipes, but despite this, the cooking process itself is not significantly different. The adjustments concern only methods of preparing carcasses for hot smoking.
You can prepare the dish at home in a smokehouse, in the oven, or using liquid smoke. Each of these methods has its own characteristics, so you should familiarize yourself with them in advance.
Selection and preparation of fish
Any fresh catfish, which can be purchased in a store or from avid fishermen, is suitable for hot smoking.
The carcass should not have any foreign odors
Before you start cooking, you must first prepare the carcass. This will allow you to achieve the desired taste of the final product, as well as remove harmful components. Therefore, initially you should carefully gut the catfish carcass without violating the integrity of the gallbladder. Otherwise, the meat will have a bitter taste. Then you need to rinse the catfish under running water and use paper towels to blot off any remaining moisture on top and inside.
After this, it is recommended to remove the gills and fins before hot smoking. The head must be cut off if the fish needs to be cut. If cooked whole, it should be left.
How to salt catfish for hot smoking
The next step in preparing catfish involves salting it. To do this, you need to generously rub the fish with salt on all sides and place it in layers in a glass or enamel container under pressure. To properly salt catfish for hot smoking, you need to make cuts in the meat without disturbing the integrity of the skin. Initially, you need to pour a layer of salt on the bottom of the container, and then place the carcass or pieces of catfish. After this, put it in a cool place and keep it like this for 3-4 hours.
At the end of the waiting period, the fish must be taken out and placed in cool water for 20 minutes.This procedure will remove excess salt. After this, the carcass should be blotted with a paper towel, and then hung outside in the shade of trees or under a canopy to dry for 2 hours. And to protect the catfish from insects, you need to wrap it in gauze, previously soaked in a solution of vegetable oil and vinegar.
How to marinate catfish for smoking
This preparation method is used to give smoked catfish a more refined taste and tenderize the meat.
To prepare a marinade for hot smoking 1 kg of catfish you will need:
- 1 tbsp. l. salt;
- 1/2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper;
- 5 laurel leaves;
- 200 g water;
- 100 g lemon juice.
Cooking process:
- Place the catfish in an enamel container, pouring generously with the mixture of the listed components.
- After this, put oppression on top.
- Keep the fish in the marinade for 24 hours.
- At the end of the time, blot off excess moisture with paper towels and air-dry the fish for 4-6 hours.
After preparation, the fish must be thoroughly dried.
Hot smoked catfish recipes
There are several options for preparing the dish. The choice of recipe depends on personal preferences and capabilities. Therefore, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the main features of cooking in order to make a choice.
How to smoke catfish in a hot smoker
Before you begin the procedure, you should decide on the wood for hot smoking. After all, the final taste and appearance of catfish depends on the smoke. To obtain a beautiful golden hue, you should choose wood chips from oak, alder and fruit trees. And to get a light golden color you need to use linden or maple.
To prepare this dish, you need to install a stable smoking chamber. Then place the grate and generously grease its upper part with refined vegetable oil. After preparation, you should place the carcasses or pieces of catfish on the grill, leaving a space of 1 cm between them. Cover the fish with a lid on top.
After placing the fish, wet wood chips should be placed in the smoke regulator of the smokehouse. Set the temperature at 70-80 degrees. When ready, cool the fish without removing it from the smokehouse. After this, you need to ventilate the catfish well for 2 hours to 24 hours. This will remove the pungent smell of smoke and imbue the pulp with a pleasant aroma.
How to smoke hot smoked catfish with honey
This fish recipe features a delicious marinade that gives the meat a sweetish-cinnamon flavor.
To prepare it you need to use:
- 100 ml of natural flower honey;
- 100 ml lemon juice;
- 5 g cinnamon;
- 100 ml refined vegetable oil;
- 15 g salt;
- pepper - to taste.
To prepare for hot smoking, you need to prepare a mixture from the proposed components and load pieces of catfish into it for a day. After the time has passed, keep the fish in water for 1 hour, and then air dry for 2-3 hours until a thin crust appears on the surface. After this, the hot smoking procedure must be carried out according to the standard procedure in a smokehouse or oven.
Hot smoked catfish with honey turns out tasty and tender
How to smoke catfish marinated in juice
For lovers of original taste, you can prepare a special brine for hot smoked catfish.
You need to prepare the following components:
- 100 ml apple juice;
- 250 ml warm water;
- 100 ml pineapple juice.
Catfish is smoked at temperatures from 60 to 100 °C
After this, you need to combine them, mix thoroughly and add as much salt until it stops dissolving. Then the catfish carcass needs to be cut along the back and divided into pieces 4 cm wide. Lay the fish in layers so that in the first row they lie skin down, and then lay the meat next to the meat. When finished, pour the marinade over the catfish so that the liquid completely covers it, and put it in a cool place for a day.
After the waiting period, the fish should be soaked in clean water for 1 hour, and then dried in air for 2-3 hours. Subsequently, hot smoked catfish prepared according to this recipe can be cooked in a smokehouse or in the oven.
Recipe for smoking catfish with liquid smoke
In the absence of a smokehouse, it is also possible to prepare this dish. Liquid smoke will help with this. This component gives the smoked taste.
For 1 kg of catfish meat you need to prepare:
- 30 g salt;
- 10 g sugar;
- 30 ml liquid smoke;
- 30 ml lemon juice;
- 1 liter of water;
- a handful of onion peels.
Cooking process:
- Initially, you need to rub the cleaned fish with a mixture of salt and sugar and moisten it on all sides with lemon juice.
- After this, put the catfish pieces in a plastic bag.
- Make an infusion of onion peel water, cool and peel.
- Place the fish in it for 40 minutes, which will give it an appetizing golden hue.
The delicacy goes well with fresh vegetables and herbs.
After this, wet the fish with a paper towel and apply liquid smoke to its surface from all sides with a brush. Subsequently, you need to fry the catfish on an electric grill until cooked.
How to cook hot smoked catfish in the oven
You can prepare this dish even without special equipment. In this case, you can use an electric oven, which should be placed on the balcony or under a canopy outside to avoid smoke.
First of all, you should prepare the wood chips. To do this, you need to pour it into a foil container and fill it with water so that the liquid completely covers it. After 15 minutes, when the sawdust swells, the water must be drained. This procedure prevents their possible fire. The container with wood chips should be placed at the very bottom of the oven, and after it is heated, the smoke will rise upward.
To prepare, you need to cut the catfish carcass into pieces of 200-300 g. Then put them in foil molds, leaving them open on top to ensure access of smoke to the meat. After this, place the fish on the grill and grease it with vegetable oil on top to form an appetizing crispy crust. During cooking, the carcass releases fat, which drips onto the wood chips and creates acrid smoke, which worsens the taste of the meat. To prevent this, you need to place a deep baking tray on a lower level.
Catfish should be baked at a temperature of 190 degrees. The first sample can be taken after 45 minutes; if necessary, it needs to be prepared further.
A dish cooked in the oven can be served warm or cold
Smoking Clarium Catfish
This type of fish is significantly larger in nutritional value and size than usual. Therefore, it is specially grown in fish farms.
To get delicious hot smoked fish, you need to soak it in a special marinade.
To do this, you should prepare the following ingredients for 1 kg of catfish:
- 70 g salt;
- 40 g olive oil;
- 5 g ground black pepper;
- 5 g dried paprika;
- 3 g basil;
- 5 g white pepper.
The clarium species is relatively large in size and requires cutting
Initially, you need to clean the carcass according to the standard procedure. Then pour oil into a container separately and add all the spices to it, leave for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, wet the alder chips and pour them into the smoke regulator of the smokehouse. After this, install a wire rack in the upper part, grease the carcass with aromatic oil on all sides and lay it out.
Smoking of clarium catfish in a smokehouse takes place first for 2 hours at a temperature of 60 degrees, and then for another 2 hours at a temperature of 80 degrees. Before serving, the fish must be cooled and ventilated for 4-5 hours.
Catfish smoking time
The cooking time for this dish is 1 hour. However, depending on the size of the carcass and pieces of fish, it may shift by 10-15 minutes. up or down. In this case, it is necessary to periodically open the smokehouse or oven and release steam. After cooking, you should not immediately take the fish out hot, otherwise it will lose its shape. Therefore, the catfish must initially cool down.
Storage rules
Hot smoked catfish is a perishable product, so it is not recommended to cook it for future use.
Acceptable storage times and temperatures in the refrigerator:
- +3-6 degrees – 48 hours;
- +2-2 degrees – 72 hours;
- -10-12 degrees – 21 days;
- -18 degrees – 30 days.
Hot smoked catfish should be kept away from foods that absorb odor. These include butter, cottage cheese, cheese and confectionery.
Conclusion
Hot smoked catfish is a delicious dish that can be prepared in various ways. However, for this it is necessary to strictly follow the recommendations outlined.Otherwise, the taste of the product may deteriorate significantly, which will be an unpleasant surprise. You should also strictly follow the rules for storing the finished product and not consume it after the expiration date.
