Help me cook some fish!

[_John_]

In Hawaii I ate fish all the time, but not so much when I moved back to the center of the country. Typically what I ate was caught the same day, and fairly often by me. Everything here tastes really fishy, do you have some fish or cooking methods that I can apply to start eating fish again? My favorites are Ahi and Mahi Mahi though seasonally I ate a lot of Opah if that helps. I used to go fishing for Mahi Mahi and bring it back to grill over charcoal, but that is the extent of my fish cooking knowledge. I had bass, perch, and catfish, but the last time I did was probably 25 years ago.
Thanks for your ideas.

[Strat50]

Hi John, I'm originally from the Midwest, so maybe I can help. For grilling, I recommend a good blackening or jerk seasoning. Omit the salt in the recipe, as you'll salt the fish before dredging in the seasoning. Use these on a hot grill, like you would for a steak. This is effective and tasty.For baking or frying, marinate your fillets in buttermilk for 3 hours to overnight before continuing your chosen cooking process. You can salt the buttermilk. Also, you can marinate in a weak acid solution like vinegar, wine, or citrus, diluted with water and with your salt. For this, plain yogurt also works very well. You can also use a soy based marinade: ¾ cup soy sauce, â…“ cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon black pepper. Marinate for about 5 minutes, till the fish darkens, then grill. You can add ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro, basil, dill, etc. This really brings out some good flavors. I've used these techniques and recipes at home and at work for 35 years, and they are an effective starting point. I hope this helps. If you need more, drop a line, I'll help you any way I can.

[_John_]

What kind of fish should I start with?

[Strat50]

Whatever you like. Perch or walleye sounds good.

[CandySueQ]

You made me hungry, Strat! I use buttermilk all the time on catfish and shrimp. I have two favorite Cajun spice blends, both made in New Iberia, LA -- Bon CaCa and Fruge. There's more pepper in the CaCa. I am definitely going to try the weak acid and herbal marinades. This method would be good for a pan sauté too.

[Dewesq55]

The residual 13 yo boy in my giggled at "CaCa".

DEW

[Strat50]

Another good one is pickle juice. My buddy at the restaurant does his fried chicken with this. He marinades it overnight, rinses, then breads and fries. It is really, really good.

[Breadhead]

I cook blackened salmon and mahi mahi on my BGE... In a cast iron skillet. It gets the house to smokey if I cook it indoors.