FowlersFreeTime
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- 9 Jun 2021
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For the first time ever in print/text format, I present to you FFFD: Fowler's Famous [smoked] Fish Dip
A staple here in Florida, many people have their own variation on the recipe. This is mine:
Ingredients:
For your amusement, my first attempt on video 5 years ago on my old youtube channel:
View: https://youtu.be/JBNX1Q-yKRc
Please don't subscribe to that channel, there will be no new content there.
Also, as you can tell from my instructions above, my method has evolved over time.
A staple here in Florida, many people have their own variation on the recipe. This is mine:
Ingredients:
- 2-3lbs Fish. It can be a white fleshed fish like snapper, but an oily fish like mackerel works best.
- I have used Almaco Jack, Amberjack, Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, Mahi, and Cod.
- I highly recommend Mackerel in any form, and advise against Cod (it had zero flavor!).
- Wood for smoking: I suggest apple wood as it is a nice mild flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Lemon pepper
- Cajun seasoning
- 2 large jalapeños (de-seeded & finely diced)
- 4-6 cloved of garlic (pressed)
- 1 large or 2 small shallots (finely diced)
- Worcestershire sauce
- Light Mayonnaise
- Whipped Cream Cheese
- Chives or scallions, whichever you prefer (thinly sliced)
- Slice the fish into palm sized pieces so you can expose more surface area.
- Brine the fish. You can either use a wet brine as I did in the video below, or use a dry brine as I do nowadays.
- For a dry brine, cover the fish in 1 part salt, 1 part brown sugar, place on a rack in the fridge for a few hours.
- Rinse brine off fish, pat dry, then sprinkle with Cajun seasoning.
- Smoke the fish at 200 degrees.
- I want to give you times, but the truth is, everyone's smoker is different. Thinner fillets will take less time, like an hour, thicker pieces of fish will take up to 2 hours. Flesh should be firm, dry, and darkened from the smoking process.
- Set aside fish to cool.
- Shred fish. I do this by hand to ensure there are no bones. It also preserved some of the nice flakey fish pieces so people recognize what it is they are eating!
- You can cheat and use a food processor if you want, I won't tell ;-) I did it in the video below but didn't like the "fine crumb" texture.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your fish, finely diced shallots, jalapeños, and scallions (reserving some of the greens for garnish later).
- In a one-to-one ratio, add a cup of whipped cream cheese and a cup of lite mayonnaise.
- Season with black pepper and lemon pepper.
- Add pressed garlic
- Add 2-3 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
- Mix by hand, or if using a machine, just don't over mix it.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as you see fit. Maybe sprinkle some more Cajun seasoning on it and garnish with scallion greens.
- Cover and refrigerate until party time!
- Seems like a lot of work, but this makes a ton of dip, great for a party of a dozen people.
- I like it on pita chips, or crackers, but its also nice on little toast slices.
For your amusement, my first attempt on video 5 years ago on my old youtube channel:
Please don't subscribe to that channel, there will be no new content there.
Also, as you can tell from my instructions above, my method has evolved over time.
