Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => The Fish Kitchen => Topic started by: fishseeker on October 17, 2009, 07:46:47 PM
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Any opinions on the quality of chum?
I went out fishing today and landed an exceptionally bright chum. Normally I return these back to the river but this time I decided to make an exception because it looked like a better than usual quality doe and my wife and I love Ikura (roe). My wife was not keen on keeping the fish for anything other than the Ikura but I will not kill a fish simply for it's roe - that just seems horribly wasteful and sad to me. I convinced her to give it a try.
Anyway we got home, cut it all up and prepared the Ikura. Fortunately for me, my wife, being Japanese, is exceptionally good at preparing fish and the Roe for eating. (She strongly resists my attempts to pilfer roe for bait but I managed to talk her into letting me keep some aside for that purpose :)) Anyway I have a point:
When the meal was prepared and we popped that fish into our mouths we were amazed! This fish was way better than expected - definitely superior to pink [I would even venture to say that it was comparable to springs but i have never eaten a freshly caught spring]. The texture was nice and firm and the meat just flakes away when cut. Why does this fish have such a poor reputation as valid table fare? (Names like "Dog Salmon" immediately jump to mind when I think of these fish - not a name that whets my appetite much. )
In fact the fish exceeded expectations so much, my wife is starting to wonder if we really got a chum. I know it was on account of the vertical blue bars on it's body (..it was just starting to change color).
Here are some photos:
(Before cooking we just rubbed it over with salt to remove the sliminess then rubbed it over with white wine to remove any odor. After that it was just grilled with dill and a slightly spicy seasoning mix - it didn't really need much.)
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/fishseeker/Ikua_small (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/fishseeker/Ikua_small)
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/fishseeker/tasty_chum_smal (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/fishseeker/tasty_chum_smal)
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Being a low fat fish Chum doesn't have a lot of taste (like Sockeye for instance), your Wife obviously has a light touch and that's exactly what's needed with Chum-that looks delicious!
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I just ate a chum that wasn't the most silver looking, but it tasted quite good, again better than the pinks. The meat was firm and flakey and quite enjoyable. No roe though it was a male. My wife made it with a peach sauce recipe.
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This is good to know and I won't be so quick to throw a half decent looking chum back again :). [..though I suspect the ones that have gone completely brown aren't worth keeping]. Its been a really good discovery because I have always thought chum were supposed to the bottom of the heap when it comes to eating quality. Interesting about the low fat content - my brother actually preferred that to the higher fat content of the 'better quality' salmon like Sockeye or Coho.
Personally I love that firm flakey texture and it doesn't really need much - just a light grilling with a little dash of dill or some light spice mix does perfectly for me. The Ikura (Roe) is the best part and you really wouldn't believe how highly that stuff is rated on the Japanese market. The only downside is it takes a bit of time to separate all of those eggs from the skeins but it's worth il. When I get a chance I will include some instructions for those of you who are interested - if you have a taste for Japanese food Chum Ikura is the best, awesome taste.
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Interesting about the white wine and salt... wonder if that would work with white springs as well.
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If the fish has a fishy smell white wine does a very good job of removing that. Just be sure to remove the wine before adding the salt. (Some tissue to soak up the wine). Japanese sake is another very good way to remove smell from fish especially those like mackerel or sardines.
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It helps to have a good cook at home. ;)
Many fish concidered poor table fare by some when prepared right actually taste really good.
Chum meat is also good done similar to tuna tataki.
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I too have found it to be quite tasty in meals... :) Providing the your catch has not 'coloured' much.
I have cut them into steaks and fillets. My missus has even made soup with some of the belly meat and left over chunks.
Lastly - I find it quite forgiving when smoking.
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A chum like this tastes just as good as any ocean caught spring or coho:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/milivoj/ChumDerby2009062.jpg)
It is next to impossible to find such fish in the Vedder, though.
I'd rather leave the tigers alone and get my fix of chum out in the ocean - which I just did this weekend. ;D
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Wow what a beaut! Cant get any better than that. I am really surprised people (including me), do not appear to know this - I guess I should have kept this a secret :(
I will be more reluctant to throw back a bright chum in future.
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I'm Interested about this Ikura recipe can you share it, How was is done? Thanks!
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That makes two of us ...
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I'm Interested about this Ikura recipe can you share it, How was is done? Thanks!
Sorry guys, I meant to do this but I wasn't sure if there would be much interest. I will consult my wife for the exact preparation and add it into this thread [..or maybe create a new one specifically on that topic]
All I can say, is if you like Ikura, it is well worth the effort!
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OK, I started by putting the Ikura recipe here and then decided it was probably better to create this as a new thread since it is a separate topic.
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marinade in soy sauce and brown sugar for a couple of days it tastes great but plain chum aint great unless its clean
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Fish and chips, fillet the chum, cut it into chunks, dip it in tempura, throw it in the deep fryer.
Also you can put it in beer batter and fry it that also tastes great.
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I tried roasting a fairly good conditioned chum whole back in Nov. Didnt work out too well, didnt cook evenly. Probably best to use smaller fillets or steaks to even up the cooking.