Leatherjackets

[sleepygreg]

A thread posted in another section prompted me to address this much maligned fish.
Many see them as the scourge of the sea when they appear in plague proportions...and to an extent I agree. Especially when targetting other fish. They have one....and it is only one...redeeming feature. They are great on the chew. To the extent that I rate right up there with pearlies, trout, reds, pigs etc.

Here is a simple way to cook them, along with a couple of tips to aid in presentation, preparation and ease of cooking.

I have been catching, cooking and eating these tasty critters for the last 40 years....though have rarely had a fishing trip spoiled by a plague of them (i try to take a positive out of every fishing trip).

Firstly Cleaning them.
They are easy to clean.

1. make an incision with a sharp strong bladed knife behind the 'spike' until you have cut through the backbone and just hit the soft flesh (do not cut through into the gut cavity).

2. Hold the head in one hand and the body in the other and rip downwards with the head. This will seperate the head and gut from the body of the fish.

3. With a sharp knife make a small cut in the skin at the top of the fish (where you made your first incision) so you can grab the skin.

4. Peel the skin towards the tail of the fish...this should peel off like a glove.

5. In the case of the larger fish (as the chinaman jackets usuall are) take a fillet off either side. Note that they usually have calcified nodes along the backbone...this is normal in leatherjackets ( cant actually recal one that didnt have them). Smaller fish can be cooked whole (after cleaning of course)...this is usually done with the esturine and fan bellied jackets.

You should now have two thick fillets for each fish. They will have the rough flesh on one side and a skin like smooth look on the other. Take note of this..its important.

Cooking.

Simple is best with these.

1. Prepare some flour, with a pinch or two of Keens traditional curry powder (dont use too much), or cumin powder, or chinese five spice. Some ground rock salt and ground black pepper to taste. Mix or sieve to combine.

2. Dust fillets in the seasoned flour and set aside on a plate.

3. Heat about 1cm of oil in a frypan (I prefer peanut oil...but canola or vegetable oil is ok...DONT use olive oil....too strong a flavour) to medium/high (dont go too high...you dont want it to smoking point).

4. Before you place each fillet in the oil....dust again with the seasoned flour.

5. Place each fillet flesh side down (this is important...if you place it smooth side down it will immediately curl up and it wont cook properly) in the hot oil, and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes. Turn over once golden colour has started to appear on flesh side and cook for another couple of minutes until that side colours up.

6. Remove from pan and put on absorbant brown paper to drain. I usually have the oven on low and put the cooked fillets in a tray on the brown paper...in the oven to keep warm while i do the rest of the fish.....i only cook a couple of fillets at a time so i can keep the temperature constant.

To Serve.

To my simplistic tastes with this fish....there is only one side dish to serve with it....home made chunky cut chips.

Sebago spuds (russet burbanks if you can get em....but good luck with that). I usually put a pot of them on before i start cooking the fish....that way the chips are ready at about the same time the last of the fish comes out of the pan.

A wedge of lemon and some tartare sauce on the side...and you have a great feed of fish and chips.


Enjoy


PS: I dont recommend leatherjackets for deep frying as fillets as they curl up into a ball and tend to get mushy in the middle...left whole they are ok to deep fry or shallow fry.

PS PS: DONT try and skin the fish in the normal way .....you will ruin your knives and the fillets...follow my directions when cleaning.

Cheers
Greg

[Noelm]

they are indeed easy to clean and skin, as far as starting the skin process I tend to start kind of where the gut cavity is near the bottom of the fish, it will peel away easy, now for the bad bit, I HATE THEM! I used to eat them all the time, and indeed they do taste great, but I have seen so many with bad festering sores and strange alien bugs (like those "doctors" you get in fishes moths) and they have gotten under their skin and eaten the flesh untill the fish is just a skin and a skeleton, eeyeew hate them now, but my kids still love them.

[Seamus]

Good on ya Greg - I was only on the way home today with a couple of them wondering about how best to go at them. Will give it a run.

Cheers
Seamus

[onerabbit]

Just thought that I should add to this thread,
once the skin has been removed,
this is the best way that I have found to fillet the rotten, tasty, suckers.

Unlike most leatherjackets,
Chinamen have a line of loose bones that run down the middle of the fillet, but the central skeleton will stay togeather.

Muzz

[Knotpretty]

Great tips Greg Thanks. I like the flesh in the cheeks for fish cocktails not many fishos keeps this part but I love it. mojo

[onerabbit]

True, nearly half the meat is in the head,

a bit hard to be bothered when it only takes 2 hrs for 2 blokes to catch at least 40, averaging 1.5kg or so.

Muzz

[stonecold]

still pushing mine round the bottom of the freezer muzz

[onerabbit]

Gee, we finished our 45 in about 3 weeks,

ready to go again as soon as weather,deckies and commitments can all allow.

Muzz