NGC - Grilled Fish Advice Solicited - NGC

[atavar]

I post this here just because I know there are a bunch of gourmands and grilling experts that frequent the board.
I am not a big fish eater so this is really out of my bailiwick.  I do not like fish that tastes like fish (trout, salmon, et.al.). 
I have a new BBQ grill and would like to try grilling some sort of seafood. 
I have done Blue Hake in the past with great success but I cannot find that here in South Dakota.  Schwan's no longer carries unbreaded Hake steaks.
Walleye seems like it would be way too flaky to successfully grill.
Shark has already been vetoed by SWMBO.
Any advice and suggestions are appreciated.  So far I am leaning towards planked Halibut or possibly Scallops if I can find some Provence Herbs.

[Triple Jim]

I don't like fishy fish either.   Striped Bass is excellent, and Cat can be good too, if it's from fresh water and is fresh.  I blacken them most of the time, with a buttered, very hot iron skillet and seasoning.

I can't eat Scallops because they are way too fishy tasting to me.

[sknapp351]

You can do lighter, flaky fishes using a technique called En Papillote. This basically means putting the fish, flavorings, and such into a pouch made from parchment paper (not wax paper). If cooking in the oven, this can go right in. On the grill, you then make a pouch over this one with heavy duty foil. Here is a recipe specifically for the grill:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/grilled-tilapia-piccata-en-papillote

However, there are tons for the oven but just use the foil pouch over. This is one option for fish on the grill. The cast iron skillet on the grill is great too. That way you can still get more smokey flavor.

Sam

[Chuck in Indiana]

I don't like fishy fish either.   Striped Bass is excellent, and Cat can be good too, if it's from fresh water and is fresh.  I blacken them most of the time, with a buttered, very hot iron skillet and seasoning.

I can't eat Scallops because they are way too fishy tasting to me.

You must not be able to get fresh scallops. Lobsterman Rolf, a good friend, corrects me to say skol ups. Not scowl ups.  ;D
If your fish is a little old, soak it in milk for a while. That'll get rid of the "fishy" taste.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Sashimi.  Impossible to cook it wrong unless you cook it.
 Oysters on the half shell, same same.

[poorBob]

Not sure what your options are in South Dakota but mahi is a great fish for the grill. I brush a little olive oil on both sides and cook it directly on the grill, turn it shortly after putting it on and then turn it again so it doesn't stick. 2- 3 minutes per side depending on thickness. Have a fork handy and if it flakes when you stick the fork in and turn it, it's done.

If the grocery store doesn't have it fresh, Costco has frozen mahi burgers that are a quick grill and taste great. I always prefer fresh over frozen but will go with frozen rather than go hungry. The frozen mahi burgers are awesome when we are going out and need something quick. Slap 'em on a bun with a little Duke's mayo...

Any good whitefish - orange roughy, flounder, even cod will cook on the grill if you put it on tin foil and turn the edges of the foil up to make a little container. My wife likes to throw a couple slices of lemon between the fish and the tinfoil. When it flakes with a fork, it's done.

[wrbix]

Two words: PLANKED SALMON.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cedar-planked-salmon-2/

[Triple Jim]

You must not be able to get fresh scallops.

I don't know, Chuck, I think it's just me.  Even the Scallops I got at the buffet in the Hilton in Tokyo were so fishy to me I turned pale and had to wash it down with beer and move on to something else.

I've mentioned to my wife that if she took a piece of fish out of the refrigerator and it smelled like Filet Mignon, she'd say "yummy" and cook it, but if she took a piece of Filet Mignon out of the refrigerator and it smelled like fish...

[ibis1]

I love fresh sea scallops wrapped in bacon and cooked on the grill. If they are fishy, they are not fresh. Fresh Mahi as poorbob said is also great. I use an adjustable fish basket. This allows you to take advantage of the grill without using foil and makes turning the fish a snap. :BEER:

[RinkRat II]

Any good whitefish - orange roughy, flounder, even cod will cook on the grill if you put it on tin foil and turn the edges of the foil up to make a little container. My wife likes to throw a couple slices of lemon between the fish and the tinfoil. When it flakes with a fork, it's done.

 THIS.. Works very well with Walleye. Rub with butter  lemon salt and lemon slices Deeeeelicious.  Medium heat, highest rack setting . Enjoy :)

    Paul :BEER:

[Red07]

Have you considered Swordfish, or even Tuna?  Both of these have a very firm texture (almost beef like), and are very good on the grill.  The Swordfish would be my first choice.

As far as local catches go, Walleye is still my favorite.  Not as firm as the SF or Tuna, but delicious.  Other locals such as Perch and Bluegill are good as well.  With these I usually wrap well in foil with a little butter and Lemmon pepper, lowarys, etc.  Just a few minutes per side and voila.

Seafood is one of my favorites.  Kinda funny, I love to eat fish, but I don't like fishing.  My youngest son (9th grade) and his buddies can't seem to get out fishing enough.  It's a win-win for all of us.

Randy

[krglorioso]

Any fish flown in from Lake Como would probably qualify as "Guzzi content".

Ralph

[Chuck in Indiana]

I don't know, Chuck, I think it's just me.  Even the Scallops I got at the buffet in the Hilton in Tokyo were so fishy to me I turned pale and had to wash it down with beer and move on to something else.

I've mentioned to my wife that if she took a piece of fish out of the refrigerator and it smelled like Filet Mignon, she'd say "yummy" and cook it, but if she took a piece of Filet Mignon out of the refrigerator and it smelled like fish...

Until you've had scallops fresh off the boat, reserve your judgement.  ;D The buffet (!) in the Hilton wasn't fresh, either.  ~;

[Guzzistajohn]

Here's my favorite fish recipe:

Salmonella

you'll need:

Salmon
2T garlic powder
2T onion powder
1t salt
3T curry
1T ginger
1.5 T sesame oil
3T terragon
11/2 T olive oil
4 vanilla wafers
butter flavor spray

rinse salmon with cold water and pat dry with paper towel
place fish skin down on cedar plank
mix oils and rub on fish
put on a thick dusting with the spices and spritz with the butter spray
sprinkle on vanilla wafers and grille DON'T OVERCOOK!

GOOD STUFF!

Ask lowriter & biking sailor(they know)

[Chuck in Indiana]

Have you considered Swordfish, or even Tuna?

I have a marinade for tuna that I do on the grill. It's outstanding. Even meat only people snarf it down.. ;D Sorry, I'd have to kill ya if I told you what it is.. ;D

[rodekyll]

Any fish that smells fishy is bad.  Any fish that tastes fishy was prepared badly.  I hate going to a restaurant that claims to know fish and have a fish odor in the air.  Not that I'd order fish at a restaraunt.  Overall, I'm reluctant to eat fish that I didn't know personally.

here's what I did for dinner tonight:

Cut a fillet of salmon into strips about 1/4" thick.  Cut across or biased on the grain.  Make a marinade with Yoshida's, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, lemon juice or pineapple juice from a small can of chunked pineapple, and melted butter.  Heat it up a little to melt the flavors together and let it cool.  Then let the fish swim in it for about an hour.

Start a stir fry of veggies and diced pineapple and get the rice cooker going.  When the veggies are about half done, in a separate pan melt butter at medium heat and add some of the marinade.  Fry the fish only until the middle goes from shiny to dull -- maybe a minute per side.  A rule of thumb is to turn it when the sides just turn from shiny to dull.  Don't overcook it.  The #2 problem with cooking fish is that people cook it to within an inch of its life.

Add a little marinade to the veggies, and when they are done, combine them with the fish over rice.  The marinade makes a good sauce, or use your favorite stir fry sauce.

[Lannis]

I have a marinade for tuna that I do on the grill. It's outstanding. Even meat only people snarf it down.. ;D Sorry, I'd have to kill ya if I told you what it is.. ;D

Whole empires and economies were built on the fact that a dusting with Ground Ginger will take the "fishy" taste out of any (non-spoiled) fish ....

Lannis

[Chuck in Indiana]

Sounds yummy, David..  ;-T

[atavar]

Until you've had scallops fresh off the boat, reserve your judgement.  ;D The buffet (!) in the Hilton wasn't fresh, either.  ~;

When I lived in Maine we used to get scallops off the boat for $50 per 5 gallon bucket (shelled).  {This was a couple decades ago} We would go through those in a single bbq.  They were scrumptious.  Of course the mass quantites of beer may have helped.

[Triple Jim]

Until you've had scallops fresh off the boat, reserve your judgement.  ;D The buffet (!) in the Hilton wasn't fresh, either.  ~;

OK, I'll try one freshly caught someday if the opportunity arises.  Not long ago I was out on the lake, on my Pierboat with a talented fisherman.  I had the gas grill ready, and he caught a Blue Cat and filleted it immediately.  The fillets that went on the grill were still wiggling.  It was about the least fishy fish I've ever eaten.  Well, except for the blackened Redfish I had at the Crab Trap in Sommers Point, NJ about 25 years ago, but that's another story.

[malik]

Eel - especially japanese style grilled over charcoal & basted with, say, a worchestershire/soy mix - google "unagi" for more - doesn't taste like fish at all.

Damn! I've not long eaten & all this is making me hungry again.

[boatdetective]

Lots of great suggestions here. I'd reinforce that the first and foremost is quality. I live and grew up in the Northeast- so I get to be particular.  The major scallop fisheries come in to New England (New Bedford), so we get good stuff. I have never met a scallop I didn't like. However- I certainly wouldn't trust any in SD.

The Swordfish and Tuna suggestions are excellent. You can marinade the steaks (but do NOT overdo it- over one hour is a no-no). As Dave mentioned- if you overcook it, you will ruin it. I think there is a tendency to think if you cook it just a little bit longer "it won't taste like.."  Trust me: resist that urge.  As soon as the meat goes from translucent to opaque- you are good to go. Both tuna and sword dry out something awful if you overcook them.   BTW, a good fresh Mako shark steak has a very similar texture and taste to sword. Really good eating. However, there is a "blood spot" in the center of most Mako steaks that grosses people out. Ignore it and eat around it.

I'm pretty sure that the use of fats (butter and mayonaisse based sauces) as well as acids (lemon juice) are all geared to address "fishy" flavor.  My response would be the same as Dave's- if it smells fishy before it's cooked- something's wrong. There's a fish market near me that never smells bad- which is a huge testament to their quality control.

I might hazard a suggestion that proper grilling of seafood can be a delicate process. If you are on the edge about seafood, I think you'd have much more control using an iron skillet on the stove. The objective here is yummy fish- not simply the grill.

[AJ Huff]

You can cook any fish on the grill, even flaky fish. For really flaky fish you may need to put a grid or perforated plate down on your grill grates first. Use non stick spray liberally and have a good spatula preferably a fish spat.

AJ

[Perazzimx14]

Sashimi.  Impossible to cook it wrong unless you cook it.
 Oysters on the half shell, same same.

 :+1 on the Sashimi. Fresh Y/B tuna wasabi soy sauce and pickled ginger :BEER:. Oyster on the 1/2 with a dash of hot sauce and pinch of sea salt :BEER: :BEER:.
 

[donn]

The #2 problem with cooking fish is that people cook it to within an inch of its life.

Very true - it applies more to some types of fish, but those are the great grilling fish.  Salmon, tuna, halibut, easily botched in this way.  But for me, each one has a different limit.  Tuna should be raw inside -- I've seared the outside with a propane torch, that's a fine way to "cook" it.  Salmon's anadromous lifestyle exposes them to bear parasites, and anyway the flavor peaks when just starting to firm up inside - pull it off a little rare, and it will get there on its own.  Halibut I don't know, I know people who can grill it beautifully, but it isn't really worth the price I have to pay for it to learn.

In the other category ... black cod can be an incredible taste treat.  Rich, delicate, falling apart ... you need some kind of pan to cook it in, typical grilling procedure will lose too much of it, but I think there's no real worry about overcooking.  I don't imagine it shows up on the shelves in South Dakota, but I'd just guess that most of the local freshwater fish are OK to cook all the way through.  Same with oily types like mackerel, sardine.  I guess most of us are not used to anything like the flavor of grilled mackerel, but if you have a source I'd give it a try.

Even here in Seattle, I usually go frozen, especially there are a couple local boats that freeze on board after it's caught.  You have to look out for sellers who will try to sell the stuff as "fresh" for an exceedingly long time, then give up and throw it in the freezer, but fish that was really fresh and kept frozen properly can be as good as anything you can get.

[brlawson]

Talapia is a good choice for grilling and readily available in most places. It doesn't have much of a fishy taste and doesn't flake apart as bad as some other choices. A 30 minute marinade in Old Bay and Italian dressing works really well to tame the gaminess of most types of whitefish.

http://www.food.com/recipe/grilled-tilapia-238985

[Triple Jim]

You fish-loving guys don't get what it's like for guys like Atavar and me.  I'm very sensitive to the fish flavor, and do not enjoy eating the vast majority of fish.  A lot of posts have suggested fish that, no matter how fresh, and how properly cooked, I do not enjoy eating, but to someone who likes fish, are not a "fishy" tasting fish.

[rodekyll]

Some folks don't like fish.  That's ok.  I don't care for bear.  We all have our tastes.

But I have served fish to people who wouldn't eat it that said afterward it was the best *food* they'd ever eaten.  . . . so there's always hope.   :food

[pebra]

I am not a big fish eater so this is really out of my bailiwick.  I do not like fish that tastes like fish (trout, salmon, et.al.). 

If Norwegians have trouble getting children to like fish we usually start with trout or salmon as our experience is that children find that least off-putting, I've been thinking least fishy.....
I always thought it was cute when my kids said "hey, it's Sunday, can we have some good fish for dinner pleeeeeaaaase!"

I think flaky fish should be cooked so as to preserve the juices, i.e. in foil, paper, filo. So on the grill, use foil.

I'd also strongly recommend angler fish for grilling (and other ways of cooking, yummy!). Don't think it's been mentioned yet.

[rodekyll]

Which begs the question , are there bears that don't like fish , and if so , do they get "poked" at for their dislike of fish ?
 " Marge , I told ya that boy ain't right "  ;D

  Dusty

I never met a bear who met a fish he didn't like, but since we're outnumbered on the island, I haven't met them all.

My problem with bear is that it tastes fishy.