Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Cold Smoked Kingfish

Cold Smoked Kingfish is a traditional South African recipe for a classic dish of brined and cold smoked kingfish (or snoek). The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South African version of: Cold Smoked Kingfish.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

18 hours

Total Time:

18 hours

Additional Time:

(+210 minutes brining)

Serves:

6

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : South-africa Recipes



This is a classic South African recipe for cold-smoked fish. For best results cold smoked fish requires a fairly high fat content. The typical smoked fish are kingfish and snoek. The South African kingfish, also known as trevallie are several species in the Caranx family that have streamlines bodies that are flattened from both sides. The base of their tails are narrow, and the tail is deeply forked. The end of its lateral line becomes a spiny structure, or scute. They are silver in colour, differing in fin colour and spots. Kingfish can also refer to the Kanadi kingfish (Scomberomorus plurilineatus) is a species of ray-finned bony fish in the family Scombridae, the mackerel family.

Ingredients


1kg Kingfish Fillets (de-boned with the skin on) [or use snoek]
1l Water
200g Sea Salt (Non-Iodised)
100g Brown Sugar

Method:

Combine the brine ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently until the salt and sugar has completely dissolved. Take off the heat and set aside to cool completely then place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours (you are making a saturated brine solution, hence the need to heat).

Fillet your fish and remove any pin bones (but leave the skin on). For optimal results you need fillets that are no more than 2cm thick. If you have thicker fillets, you can slice the excess flesh lengthways to thin them out (use the removed flesh for fish pies, fish cakes etc.).

Take a large non-reactive (glass, steel, ceramic or enamelled) dish and pour in the brine. Submerge the fish fillets in the brine and allow to brine in the refrigerator for 180 minutes. After this time, remove the fish from the brine and soak in a bowl of cold fresh water for 15 to 20 minutes to remove some of the excess saltiness.

Drain and then pat dry and place them uncovered, skin side down on racks (with a drip tray underneath) in your refrigerator for 24 hours to firm. This has the added advantage of allowing the salt to further penetrate the flesh and dry the surface of the fish to form a pellicle for the smoke to stick to.

Heat up your smoker, then remove the fish fillets from the refrigerator and either pierce with meat hooks or tie string around the tail end. Hang the fish fillets from the rods or dowels of your cold smoker and allow the temperature of the fish to equalise with the ambient temperature of your smoker for an hour or two before smoking.

Smoke your fish for 12 to 24 hours depending on how strong a smoke flavour you enjoy. The fish will firm up during the smoking process as a result of water loss, thus intensifying the flavour.

Once the fish have smoked, place them in your refrigerator over-night to even out the flavour. After this time, either prepare and eat or freeze the fish to store.

You might also like this site's page on making a home-made cold smoker.