View Articles
Shake-n’ Bake Sea Robin
Article posted on: May/22/01
author: Bill Sullivan
(howto@noreast.com)
|
Thirty years ago monkfish didn’t exist. There were sea monsters called either “goosefish” or “anglers” that occasionally came up on cod lines, but only the brave would think of eating one. Now you have to pay for them in the better restaurants.
A similar thing happened with ling. Most people looked down their noses at them in the early 1960s. In reality, they are one of the best-eating fish, if they are chilled quickly and filleted. If you have a home smoker, they’re better than whitefish.
Sea robins are the next fish ready to be converted from trash to table status, but there is a trick to filleting them.
First, run a cut behind the head as you would with any fillet. Then pass the knife along the backbone to the tail and skin the fillet. The fillet cuts and skinning are fairly easy on a sea robin since the meat is firmer and the skin tougher than even fluke.
Trim away any rib bones. Finally, there is a row of bones running lengthwise down the middle of the fillet. Simply cut out a line of meat one-quarter of an inch wide from the middle and remove the bones. You’ll be left with two pennant-shaped pieces of fish about 4 to 5 inches long.
Cooking is even easier. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees. Rinse and dry the fillets and put them in a bag with a Shake `n’ Bake mix. When I tried this recipe the first time, the only mix I found in my cupboard was the one intended for pork, and it worked fine. I use a Pyrex baking dish, lightly sprayed with olive oil, and bake them for 15 minutes.
You will be pleasantly surprised. Sea robins fillet better, are more plentiful, easier to catch, and are great to eat. If the commercial inductry can think up a nice name for them, you’ll probably be paying $5 a pound in a few years.
People may look at you sideways, but remember two things — Think back to all the “anglers” (monkfish) that never made it to the table and you go home with a bag of fillets while everyone else goes to McDonald’s and talks about all the 16.5-inch fluke they threw back.
|
|
 |
|
| Some of these articles have been gathered from the archives of Nor'east Saltwater and all references to size and bag limits may be out of date. Be sure to check the regulations section of our website for the latest regulations in your area. |
|
