Smoked Yellowtail and Curry Fried Sheepshead/yellowtail

[Zfish03]

Recently bought a traeger smoker off craigslist...Its been treating me well!
Here is a smoker recipe that works great with YT or salmon.
The curry fry works great with rockfish and sheepshead.

Smoked Yellowtail:
I love the collars and belly meat. When I fillet it, I cut the entire belly/ribs out with everything else. Then i make yellowtail "lamb chops" to smoked. It works great. Skin is crispy and pulled off easily, meat just falls off the bone.
Making the brine:
Brown Sugar
Garlic
salt
lemon
water

(You can adjust the ingredients to how much fish you have, you want the mix to coat everything)

In a large bowl,
-combine about a 1-2 cups of brown sugar.
-1/4-1/3 cup salt
-Table spoon chopped garlic
-half fresh squeezed lemon
- 4-5 cups water.
stir and mix
load the fillets in, cover, place in fridge for 2-6 hours or even overnight. Then place on a rack to dry for an hour. Should form a nice glaze.

Preheat smoker on smoke setting, place fillets skin side down. keep on smoke for 30 min than up it to 225 F. Cook for 2-3 hours.

End result




Curry Fry:
-Curry powder
-sea salt
-butter
-olive oil

Fillet fish into 2'' width and 4-6'' long strips.
On a large cutting board place a few tablespoons of curry powder and a few pinches of sea salt. Coat all layers of the fillet.

Preheat a medium/large pan on medium/high
wait till its hot and place butter and a few dabs of olive oil.
Cook two sides for about 2-3 min, place on paper towel and plate.


This goes great with greek yogurt or sour cream. Try mixing it with a handful of chopped cilantro, squeeze of lemon, and sea salt.




Enjoy!