Here's a column I wrote for Michigan Outdoor News some time ago about eating lake trout.
ARE LAKE TROUT EDIBLE?
By Mike Schoonveld
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. Lake trout don’t much taste like salmon! Ducks don’t taste like geese. Pheasant don’t taste like turkey. One of the biggest complaints I hear about the flavor of lake trout is, “they don’t taste like salmon” or “I like salmon better than lake trout.” Yeah, well, I like northern pike better than walleye. So what? That doesn’t make walleye horrible.
Fry up some beer battered walleye and some beer battered northern (or some beer battered catfish or bluegills) and you will have plenty of good tasting fish, but none of them will taste exactly like the others. I’m sure if you fed some of each to a group of people and asked opinions, some would like the walleye, some the cats or the other fish in the test.
So yes, lake trout are edible and in my mind (or on my taste buds) they are quite good - and quite good most any way I’ve had them. I like them better than beer battered catfish.
So why not try them beer battered and deep fried! What? You can’t do that to salmon or trout? Don’t tell that to my kids who still come home at Christmas and ask for some fried cohos as one of their childhood favorite meals.
It doesn’t have to be beer batter - in fact, I normally just use a store-bought seasoned coating mix like Drake’s, but Zatarain’s Fish Fri is better and Fryin’ Magic is better yet. Cut the trout into fingers or chunky cubes, shake it with the mix and drop in 375 degree veggy oil for three or four minutes. With trout, I go for deep golden brown.
My favorite lake trout recipe (better than salmon) is grilled. It’s probably the most simple way to cook it, as well. I have a gas grill with a lid and a thermostat in the lid. Fire up the grill, wait for the grill’s thermostat to get past 400 degrees. While waiting, I sprinkle Lawry’s Seasoned Salt on the fish. That’s all for the piece of fish for my wife. I apply fresh cracked black pepper to my portion. The skin is left on the fish when it’s cleaned. Lay the fish on the hot grill, skin side down, shut the lid, and let it go for approximately 10 minutes.
The “approximate” comes from the thickness of the fish. A little more time on thicker portions, a bit less on thinner, a little more in the winter, a little less on a hot summer day. If I want to “fancy” it up, I marinate the portions in orange juice for a half hour or so. I sometimes marinate my portion in lime juice - but that’s not my wife’s favorite.
When the time is up, turn off the heat and use a metal spatula to lift the meat off the skin. When the grill cools the skin will easily peel off the grilling grate.
For a totally different and fun way to make a great meal from lake trout is the “fish boil.” Google Wisconsin fish boil and you’ll get over a million hits. Traditionally, it’s done on an open fire. I’ve done it in a propane outdoor “fish fryer” and indoors on a stove. The wood fired method is fun when guests are over and we want the show as much as the meal. The “boil-over” is the fun part. In the winter, on a cold, snowy night evening, eliminating the boil over and just doing enough for my wife and me is pure comfort food right off the gas range.
The ingredients are simple: heavily salted water, then equal amounts of small potatoes (or cut them to golf ball size), small onions and chunks of skinless trout- plus some butter. Get the large pot with salted water boiling nicely, add the potatoes. After 10 minutes, add the onions in with the potatoes. After another 10 minutes add the fish in with the onions and potatoes. After another 10 minutes, it’s time for the boil over - or just dump the water down the drain. Serve equal portions of each ingredient on a platter and drizzle with melted butter.
Try that with a salmon, salmon lovers! Actually, it’s probably pretty good, but it won’t taste like lake trout and who would want all fish to taste alike, anyway?
THE END
