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Fish Head Stew


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#1 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 07 September 2007 - 10:11 PM

i reckon this is appropiate for the "sampling" topic area.
:)

Fish Head Soup

Last weekend i pulled a couple frozen fish heads from the freezer, actually 2 Drum and 1 Black Redhorse i had speargunned from the Conasauga a few weeks before. Since becoming active the last few years in pursuit of these frowned upon non-game beasts i had been feeling a wee bit guilty about throwing the heads away. But lately i have been getting braver while watching Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and "Bizarre Foods" on the Travel Channel. Great shows. That, and along with my cousin Walter telling me the French consider it a delicacy, as well as Dave Nelly telling me the Chinese consider the head the best part, and my experience years ago in Liberia, Africa while being served a big pot of "Bush Meat Stew". ( I stirred long and with much concern that evening hoping, looking for something i could understand amongst the chicken feets, fish heads, tiny torsos and who knew what else. I ate a lot of rice and drank plenty of Grape Kool-Aid that night ).

So now a few years later, a bit less cautious, why not give it a try?

I brought the three fish heads to a boil and added a handful of chopped onions, 3 colors of minced bell pepper and some Idaho potatoes. A wee bit later i poured in a can of rotel, a handful of fresh bean sprouts and a bowl of chopped collard greens. Then a good double splash of "Ranger Bob's Backyard Pepper Patch Hot Sauce". And finally a bit more seasoning with a touch of red wine vinegar, a little salt and pepper and a big pinch of fresh dried ground black trumpets, a summertime mushroom favorite.

All day long it simmered on the stove filling the house with a rich aroma. My little girls cried for chicken nuggets and french fries whenever they passed through the busy kitchen and glanced into the bubbling stew. My son will eat just about anything and Connie is a good sport for most of my culinary experiments but those two girls are being raised on 2 food groups, potatoes and poultry, to my dispair.

Dang it was good! The soup was delicious and we soon worked the skulls down to white bone. Tiny morsels of meat tucked here and there and well worth the prolonged picking. We ate the eyes, cheeks, lips near everything but the sandy gills and the thinking part.

One of the cool things was finding the molar plates of the 2 Drum. I dont intend on ever sticking my finger in a Drum's mouth! That is one mean looking bone crushing apparatus. Made of 3 pieces it has an intricate and somewhat random pattern of tiny shiny porcelan knobettes that would make quick work of any clam's shell that find itself there. I cleaned the plates up, and appropiately with an old toothbrush mind you, and sure enough in my latter years mental feebleness, absentmindedly threw them out on my next morning's dash to the studio. My intentions were to snap a couple photos of these oddities to share as i should have also done with the simmering stew pot well before we wiped our mouths, rubbed our bellies and pushed ourselves from the table.

Ed Scott told me that Indian maidens used the molar plates as earrings and i have enjoyed picturing that along with her fine buckskin and long black hair. He also told me to look for the "Lucky Stones" or "Pearls" that are in the skull but the raccoons beat me back to the compost pile the next day. I was told somewhere in Ed's house is a jar of these lucky pearls.

Anyway i do have a picture of the Redhorse before the pot but a little after our encounter, along with a photo of last year's fare, a table top workings for a roasted Gar, but that is another story for another day!

"You never really know a fish until you've eaten it".
David Etnier

"Rolly Polly Fish Heads, Eat them up Yum".
Doctor Demento

"Trying not to exaggerate too much".
Casper

Attached Images

  • RedHorseBlack.JPG
  • Gar18.JPG


#2 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 07 September 2007 - 10:26 PM

Notice that the RedHorse is located on the appropiate page of the evening paper.
:)

#3 Guest_mzokan_*

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Posted 07 September 2007 - 11:21 PM

Another great way to prepare them is to take a whole fish and gut it. Cut slits in the sides and add lemon juice, marinade or seasonings, and stuff the body cavity if you want. Then place it on aluminum foil and toss the whole thing on the grill. The skin pulls right off and the meat falls right off the bone, plus you can eat the heads too!

#4 Guest_vasiliy_*

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Posted 08 September 2007 - 06:12 PM

We ate the eyes, cheeks, lips near everything but the sandy gills and the thinking part.

The thinking part doesn't taste that bad.

I really enjoy soup from fish heads also!!

#5 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 08 September 2007 - 07:57 PM

Wyizzit that on the Iron Chef and other shows of that ilk, they always eat the innards of whatever animal they are cooking?

#6 Guest_bullhead_*

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Posted 10 September 2007 - 09:50 PM

I remember my father eating boiled walleye heads.

#7 Guest_Brooklamprey_*

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Posted 10 September 2007 - 10:20 PM

Fish head is not all that bad at all but that roasted gar in that pic is making me really hungry...
Thats some good stuff....

#8 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 14 September 2007 - 05:29 PM

I was able to visit with Ed during the last couple days of snorkeling the Emory and French Broad. We were able to observe Tangerine Darters, Spotfin Chubs and Snail Darters along with a bunch of other cool fish. But that's another story punctuated by the darkened train tunnel and rocket launch out of the Obed and Emory Turn Hole probably now known as the "Turn Hole Flats". or 2WD Hell. or Pucker Hill. or Hissing Hill. Whew. It took a prayer to Jesus to make it out. I take my van places i should not and will not again there!
Anyway sitting on his desk one evening was a specimen jar of "Lucky Stones" along with some other items of interest. I was able to take this photo; on the left is one of the molar plates from a drum. To the lower left are the "pearls" from a Drum's brain case. I'm not sure how they get the name "pearls" because they are certainly not round but are pearlescent so i reckon that works out namewise. And to the upper right is the pharyngeal teeth from a River Redhorse. Very interesting in appearance they are used to crush clams and must exert an incredible amount of pressure. Anyway i wanted to share this pic because if you decide to eat any fish heads you might run into these unique oddities.

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  • MolarPlate.JPG


#9 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 14 September 2007 - 06:28 PM

Cool, skeletal elements! The "pearls" are more specifically known as otoliths, "ear bones", used by fish for balance and orientation.

#10 Guest_vasiliy_*

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Posted 18 September 2007 - 07:40 PM

I couldn't find any on native cyprinids (which keywords do I enter on Google Images?) but these are teeth located in the throat. Here are a few examples:
Posted Image Bream
Posted Image Carp
Posted Image Rudd

Are there any pictures of those from natives?

#11 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 18 September 2007 - 08:00 PM

Search for "pharyngeal teeth" or "pharyngeal jaws".

#12 Guest_Scenicrivers_*

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Posted 19 September 2007 - 06:31 AM

"Rolly Polly Fish Heads, Eat them up Yum".
Doctor Demento


Wow Doctor Demento, what a flash back. I remember when this song came out. As soon as I saw the post I thought of the song.

I have actually heard of a few people who target the "sucker" runs. and love to eat them.

#13 Guest_vasiliy_*

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Posted 19 September 2007 - 12:07 PM

Search for "pharyngeal teeth" or "pharyngeal jaws".

Yes, that's what I needed. Thank you.

#14 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 25 September 2007 - 04:04 PM

Wow Doctor Demento, what a flash back. I remember when this song came out. As soon as I saw the post I thought of the song.

I have actually heard of a few people who target the "sucker" runs. and love to eat them.



a fun little compilation to the song.
i love you tube!



casper

#15 Guest_Scenicrivers_*

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Posted 25 September 2007 - 05:15 PM

a fun little compilation to the song.
i love you tube!



casper



That is Great =D>

#16 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 25 September 2007 - 05:53 PM

a fun little compilation to the song.
i love you tube!


Casper, Kay wants to know if your wife thinks you're as crazy as Kay thinks "you guys" are!

#17 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 09 October 2007 - 03:16 PM

Most folks are crazy, they just don't know it.
Dr. Demento

Every once in awhile they let me out of the institution and i was able to do some snorkeling in the cement pond out front. I found 2 new critters getting plump. The long summer heat had pushed the Redhorse and River Chubs deep but the recent cooling rain and lower temps found them frolicking back into the shallows... but so was a Dixie Chub, pet raised from just a tiny dudlet after a trip to Tishamingo and a Redbreast Sunnie dropped from above. These 2 fellas had gotten quite plump in the depths and i considered them top predators. I want to see Darters and Shiners and Dace in the cement pond not fat Bass and other fish eaters. Being the biggest top predator around these parts i pulled the trigger 3 times and took these 2 to the frig. The next day i gutted, scrapped, rinsed and cornmealed them into a hot skillet with olive oil. Pretty dang good for pet fare.

I think the Dixie Chub was getting plump on tadpoles as that was what his stomach had inside. I had been missing some of my favorite minners and juvi loggies and was blaming him. Ooops.

Casper

#18 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 30 November 2007 - 03:37 PM

I just made another pot of Fish Head Stew last weekend. Not enough fish heads ( only 2 Redhorse ) and too many collard greens. I just can't get past those greens be them mustard, potato, turnip, spinach or collard.
A nasty vegetable.

I shoulda saved those heads for our next May outing. Great faire for streamside dining. Dont toss em, freeze em.

#19 Guest_MScooter_*

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Posted 01 December 2007 - 03:13 PM

"I just can't get past those greens be them mustard, potato, turnip, spinach or collard. A nasty vegetable."

Use more pork fat. Cook the greens, throw 'em out, and eat the fat back or hocks.

#20 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 01 December 2007 - 03:31 PM

People still eat pork fat? And I thought the average life-expectancy in this country was going up.....



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