Dry Aged Fish

[jrodda]

Dry aged fish popped up on my instagram. I saw it and I was like what??? No way. So I googled it.

https://www.foodandwine.com/cooking-techniques/dry-aged-fish-joint-sherman-oaks

Serious artisanal stuff going on there.

Now I wanna try it, but it does seem like something that's gonna take some trial and error. I like the idea of the meat firming up a bit and somehow getting less fishy and getting more complex flavor. Just hope that complex flavor isn't gonna make me deathly sick for days.

I won't be socking my sanddabs away for a week, or eating them raw, but this made me wanna keep them in paper towels in the fridge for a few days and see the effects on the texture and fishiness.


Anybody heard of this before or have experience with it?

[Latimeria]

Woooo.....  Not sure about the dry aging thing.  I think there's more to it than just hanging  it and the repercussions sound far worse than the pay out.

Let me know how it goes, but butter, garlic, basil in a frying pan with some fillets sound much more appealing to me.  (I'm just very cautious with some of the out of the box ways people store/prep/eat fish)

[jrodda]

So far so good. They're resting in the fridge in between paper towels, with paper towels stuffed in the gut cavity, and I switch out any towel that's absorbed moisture. The only fishy smell has come from the moisture collected from the paper towels, and the fish itself smells mildly sweet as of today, 72 hours in. Might try them tomorrow, or wait another 2 days.

[vdisney]

Might try them tomorrow, or wait another 2 days.

If we don't hear from you again, that probably means it didn't go well   

[Tim524]

Hope it turns out 

[jrodda]

As of yesterday they seemed to have dried out to optimum levels, with paper towels not soaking up anything anymore, and the fish maintaining a mildly sweet smell. I'd imagine the meat would plateau in that state for at least several days to a week or more.

Ate it tonight for dinner with my dad. 375º for 10 minutes in a cast-iron skillet with lemon butter and some garlic salt.

Tasted great, seemed like it did firm up a little bit. I should have gone with a milder recipe, as the lemon butter was a little overpowering for the circumstance. Maybe next time I'd go with something like just a touch of garlic salt and pepper. Though, next time I'm doing it with a bigger fish, at least a rockfish, but preferably YT/WSB/YFT/bonito. Sanddabs are more of an activity than a meal.

And I feel okay right now!