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Daughter (Megustapescar) and I just got home from Starvation. We fished Rabbit Gulch in about 22' of water, and couldn't keep the li'l perchies off. Got 3 doubles [cool] Never have done that before!
Also got 3 nice Starvy Steelheads, 16, 17, and 18". One was right on the bottom but the others were mid-water.
Off to go clean the perchies. Anyone have that recipe for perch chowder? (Tube Dude?) [  ]
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[cool][#0000ff]Glad you gals got in some fishin'...and that the fishies came to play.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here ya go...plus a bonus.[/#0000ff]
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Woohoo thanks TD! My arteries aren't quite hard enough, so I'll be having some fun with that. Can't wait to try it!
So when we clean the perchies we use the "10 second" method--ending up with what basically amounts to a skinless double fillet, but with the bones still in and the backbone still in between.
Anyone know of an easy way to bone those guys? I usually just fry 'em bone-in, 'cuz perch are great about the bones staying pretty well together and once they're cooked it's a simple matter for everyone to just "unzip" 'em right out of the meat.
Unfortunately these ones were kinda small so will be a pain to bone raw...hence the question on whether there's an easy way to do it.
Thanks again, TD, I LOVE your sense of humor [cool]
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TD will tell ya - he's got a pretty standard slicing method for many fisheses. I've been honing my technique for a couple years now. My kids are spoiled by boneless fillets (hopefully) while I grew up with the gut-em-n-grill-em approach. So we learned to skin and bone on the served plate.
These are TDs pix - I just slapped 'em into a PDF for ease/order. Also an informative PDF on perch - though I don't think it says anything about males vs females....
So - when you gonna get a camera, so you can show us all these purdy fishes?! [:p]
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[cool][#0000ff]I prefer to fillet my fish...skinless and boneless. That "10 second" method takes me longer than filleting them. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=184171;#184171"]LINK TO PERCH FILLETING[/url] Here's a link to a post I put up a while back.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The good news is that if you simply head, gut and skin the fish, the bones remaining are really not much of a problem. Once the fish is cooked the bones pull out easily...leaving the good stuff. The bones are all larger than the pesky flesh bones on the sides of trout but care should still be exercised if feeding your catch to younger people. Be sure to check it carefully to avoid "unpleasantness".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Another thing you can do is "poach" them for a few minutes in seasoned liquid...salt, pepper, onion flakes, garlic, etc. When the flesh turns white, let them cool a bit and then easily peel the flesh off the bones. Then mix up the mostly cooked flesh with some saltine cracker crumbs and an egg and make them into small patties. Fry them brown in butter and olive oil. A bit of lemon juice on the finished patties...or some tartar sauce...and you have dinkster cakes. Make great sandwiches on a nice roll too.[/#0000ff]
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I think the "10 second" method is great, even though it takes closer to 20 seconds, and works best as a way to make smaller perch easy by not HAVING to filet them.
If you deep-fry them the bones disappear (basically, they melt) on perch that started out 6" or less, and get dunked in 350 degree oil.
Otherwise, get a small, deep pot of water boiling well with salt, and drop the little bones-and-meat carcasses in a few at a time. In a couple minutes, depending on size, pick them out by their tails with clean pliers, or good grippy tongs and give them a few shakes. Most of the filets drop back into the pot (or another pot of cold water). If not, use a chopstick or small fork to help them along, and discard the bones. A slotted spoon helps bring em up and sort them. They will, or should be, not quite cooked.
You're left with clean meat chunks, and a nice mild fish stock. Don't just let em sit there boiling, or they'll crumble to nothing. Add chowder ingredients, or fish em out and cool them if you have other plans.
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Hi Yote!
Well, I do have a cam on my phone, but I didn't think anyone was interested in seeing a mess of dink perchies. [crazy]
Thanks so much for the info on perch and filleting, etc!! Have a great week!
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Woohoo again, TD! Thanks! For these ones I'll prob try the poach method, that'll come up with some nice broth anyway.
Thanks!!
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The bones go away when fried at 350? Really?? [shocked] I'm going to have to try that! Perch bones are so sharp I never wanted to mess with that but that's cool, thanks! [cool]
This time I'll probably try the partial-boil/poaching method you and TD are describing, 'cuz I really want some nice clean (no-choking/poking!) perch meat to try the perchy chowder recipe TD shared.
Thanks Springbuck!
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They go away on SMALL perch. If you hit a high enough temp, the proteins that hold the calcium together to make bones denatures, basically cooking or melting away, leaving soft bones. Deep frying those little guys in the proper coating results in crispy little whole perch you can just pop in your mouth.
On a larger perch, say 7" and up, the high heat may never reach that deep because of the thickness of the meat and its water content (water carries away a lot of heat when it turns to steam). Then the fish is well cooked, but still has bones. I'd just look at TD's method or any on the TubeYou websites until it makes sense if you wanna learn fileting.
If you like hot foods, get some Asian hot sauce called Sriracha (found in most supermarkets and ANY Asian market). It as a rooster on the bottle. One big squirt in 1/4 cup of ranch dressing makes a dipping sauce I've gotten rave reviews on.
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I should have eaten lunch before I popped back on this thread...You're making my mouth water. [laugh]
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if you have never had perch with the skin on your missin out...most fisherman usually fillet everything, however if you try gutting them, then scaling, you deep fry the whole perch except for the head that you cut off. Once the fish is fully cooked (dont over cook) you put it on a plate start by removing all the fins, do this carefully and the fin bones will stay attached and come out while pulling the fin. Then take a butter knife or fork and on top of the fish split the fish in half buy sliding your knife along the backbone and around the ribs, you will then have one full side of the fish boneless with white meat exposed and skin side down. Salt/Pepper and its amazing, the skin deep fired is very tasty on a perch, after you remove the scales of course...enjoy!
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Dang that actually sounds good, thanks! Will have to try that next time we camp there and have a campfire. Thanks dwayneb!
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what was the ice like
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10", solid. [cool]
With the weather we've been having though I'd advise extra caution. See Tube Dude's more recent report, too.
Good luck!
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[cool][#0000ff]The main ice sheet was still a good solid 9 - 10 inches...with a 2" layer of crusty snow. But that snow was getting soft as we departed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That was on Tuesday 2-7-12.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Supposed to be a fishing derby there on Saturday this week. I'm guessing there could be some ice access issues.[/#0000ff]
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That is what I was thinking. I will go check it out anyways tho.
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