They are also exceedingly slimy and under the chin is a single long, fleshy feeler called a barbel, giving the impression of a goatee beard. These characteristics are important. They are all adaptations to the cold, dark world at the bottom of northern lakes and rivers.
These were ice-age fish that once swam unhindered in a glacial world, until the ice retreated 10, years ago leaving some remnant populations throughout the northern hemisphere, including eastern England.
The burbot is the only member of the cod family that lives in fresh water. For several months a year burbot can be trapped under ice - they need cold temperatures to spawn but all that slime and flabbiness provide excellent protection. Their teeth are essential for catching a huge variety of food. Because their world is dark, they don't need big eyes. They use their barbels to detect vibrations and catch their prey.
They may not be beautiful but they are perfectly adapted to their gloomy, chilly world. Although still present throughout the rest of Europe and North America, the only burbot in England today can be found in the vaults of the Natural History Museum in London, preserved in pickling jars.
They were common enough until the 20th Century but slowly faded away - probably a combination of the draining of wetlands, river engineering and warmer winters saw them off. It is a pity. Burbot make good eating. Many medieval recipes use them in pies and soups and their livers, which are the richest in vitamins of any fish, were once highly prized by French chefs and the tsars of Russia.
They were so admired as a table fish that Anton Chekhov wrote a story called The Burbot about a group of men trying to catch one it got away and burbot soup was a dish for royalty in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. With the walleye bite being so slow the excitement of catching a larger fish of any species made it even more fun.
Anyway, I had it in my mind that I was going to eat pout and see what all the hoopla was about. I stripped that sucker of every last inch of backstrap and tossed it into a ziploc for the trip back home.
Tonight was the night. I did what everyone has been saying they do with pout. I boiled that sucker in 7up, drained and rinsed the chunks, they double boiled and dipped in melted butter. They are very good! I hope, if people don't want them, they release them unharmed, and don't pitch them on the ice to rot, like I have seen in the past! I sure tried to catch an eater sized pout this year but no luck. I did catch my first though, but only about 14 inches. Now, I've never had pout myself, so I must ask, why the heck would you boil a fish like cod in 7Up?
Never understood that one either. That trick should be saved for the warm water shallow caught largies Have boiled fish though, but most often to make cakes or for the novelty of that trash can gig. But, yeah, the pout can be cooked like any other fish I have heard Ron Schara say multiple times that side by side with a fried walleye fillet, people will pick the pout every time as better. I have never even caught one but i really want to.
Not quite sure I agree with Schara but I've had pout boiled with garlic butter and deep fried and both are good. We boil cheap sweet white wine and water 50 50 with some onions, salt, lemon wedges, and peeper corns called poor mans lobster in most cook books.
Simmer this for about 20 min. Then throw in the pout chunks bite size simmer for about five min. Dip in butter and eat. Then a few years back we cleaned one and boiled it. It was great and to think people use to throw them out on the ice. Now we look forward to catching one.
Caught one last weekend, tried to release him but he wouldn't go down. Ended up cleaning him and needless to say, I wish he would have went back. Fried him alongside walleye and wished I had cooked more walleye Not bad but not as good as walleye IMO. You don't get a lot from a pout once cleaned.
Depends on who you talk to. Some people say they are great. Poor mans lobster. I have had it a couple of time and i didn't think it was bad. Does anyone know if pouts have a prominent "mud line" in the meat? I was wondering if it does, I know at times with other species that have mud lines can have a fish oil type of taste.
The world record is a pound, 2-ounce Canadian cusk caught in The name eelpout is widely believed to come from its elongated, eel-like appearance and especially from its eel-like behavior.
DNR researchers say that when they catch them in nets or when electro-fishing in the summer, the fish are at their leanest and the eel resemblance is stronger. Burbot comes from the Latin word barba, meaning beard and also why fish whiskers are called barbells. Burbot mostly eat fish, and anglers who target them there are some say live minnows are superior to dead ones. Some folks fish for them with shrimp. However, in parts of Idaho and Wyoming, burbots are invading as a non-native species, wreaking havoc on some native suckers, as well as smallmouth bass.
Crush roughly in a mortar or in a spice grinder. Season the fish with salt and pepper and then sprinkle with the peppercorn mixture. Flip and add the butter and parsley to the pan. Cook, basting the fish with a large spoon, until the fish tests tender when poked with a fork or a toothpick. Great article; thanks for the ideas. They are trickier to clean than most, same goes for northern and bullheads.
Any heehaw can fillet a crappie it takes a little more skill to pick a pikes bones. If so, please accept my thanks for Abundantly Wild, which I use all the time. Northerns are trickier yet, for me. Some Michelin-starred restaurant in southern France has it on the menu, I read recently.
Bottom dweller, perhaps? This video from Alaska shows the best way to clean burbot aka eelpout. If you skin them first and then remove the fins, you can get a LOT of meat off of the fish. Look at the size of the belly fillet that he takes. Cool stuff.
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