How to Dry Age a Fish
Why?
Before we talk about how, let’s visit the reason why we would want to do this. Did you know that some steaks are aged for months before they’re sold to be thrown on the grill? This is for the purpose of giving time for chemical reactions to happen in order for the natural flavor and texture of the delicious meat develop. Most species of fish are the same, with added benefits. It’s common to assume that “fresh caught” fish, straight out of the water offer the highest quality meat, but eating fish the day it was caught does not actually equate to a better eating experience.
Similar to beef at the butchers, aging fish requires careful knife technique, a controlled environment, and a few steps to ensure the fish remains clean. Aged fish not only tastes better, but the texture changes as well. As water leaves the meat, it becomes more dense and better for cooking or eating raw which in turn offers richer flavor and a more pleasant mouthfeel.
“By day 3, the meat takes on a denser but firmer texture from water loss. The enzymes in the meat's muscle cells begin to break down the meat's proteins, fats, and glycogen—a carbohydrate into amino acids, fatty acids, and sugars. There's also a dramatic increase in glutamate - the key ingredient that produces umami flavor.” - Michelin Guide
Here at Fin + Forage, we LOVE umami!
How?
Step 1: Proper Handling.
Before you can age the fish, you have to catch the fish, or in our case, spear it. Make sure to only age fish that you have a true stone shot (spear through the brain or spine that does not pierce the stomach cavity or fillets as that will introduce bacteria. Once you have possession of the fish you may be hunting on the water for a few more hours, so if you’re interested in reading the best way to dispatch a fish and keep it in the best quality while diving CLICK HERE. Now that you have bled and brained your fish and packed it in ice in your cooler for the drive home, it’s time to prep it.
Step 2: Preparation.
Important note: When you’re processing the fish it is imperative that you know how to carefully fillet it. You certainly want to avoid puncturing the belly cavity and organs which will expose the meat to bacteria. Carefully remove the guts and discard of any offal you don’t intend to use (you can use the discarded bits to make fertilizer for your garden - HERE’S HOW). Do not at any point let fresh/tap water touch the fish meat as it causes rapid destruction of the cells and causes it to spoil quickly. Use heavily salted water to clean the gut cavity then remove the gills and any bloody bloody bits. Keeping the fish in tact - skin, head and fins on - pat the entire fish dry with a paper towel, wrap it in a clean paper towel, stuff the belly cavity with paper towels, then place in a tightly wrapped plastic bag. Bury the fish back in ice in a good cooler. Depending on the size of the fish, I usually let it stay buried for 48-60 hours. Be sure to rinse the fish in salted water every day, pat it dry, check for foul odor (discard if unpleasant aroma forms), change out the towels, put back in the bag and bury it again.
Step 3: Knife Work.
Depending on how you intend to prepare the fish for your meal, you can scale it (if you’re cooking with skin on, like in THIS RECIPE) or remove the skin as called for by your recipe. This could be where you stop your process, or you could do one additional step which really seals the deal on a wonderfully flavorful fillet.
To really enjoy the flavor of the meat, let’s saw we want to make some sushi* (please read the note at the end on CDC recommendations): When you bring the fish out of the bag and before you place it on the clean cutting board, pat it dry again. Make sure your fillet knife is utterly clean.
Fillet one side of the fish, trying your best not to let the fillet touch the outside of the fish or the cutting board. Remove the fillet and pat it dry before placing it exposed on a small baking rack with a plate or towel beneath it. Clean the knife, and fillet the other side. Do not rinse the fillets in tap water as it will spoil the meat faster. At this point, you can keep the bones and head to make fish stock/fumet/dashi (RECIPE HERE) or you can send it back down to the depths of Davey Jones’ locker for other animals to enjoy.
Both fillets have been patted dry and placed on the cooking rack now. Do your initial candle light test by holding up the fillets toward the sun and looking for any dark spots that might be parasites. They are typically visible and appear like very thin coiled worms. If you see one, you should plan on cooking the fillet and not eating it raw.
Assuming you don’t have a large commercial fridge, the next best option is to place the rack uncovered in your fridge. There should be air flow to both the top and bottom of the fish. From here it’s a matter of preference how long you keep it refrigerated. For thicker fillets, you might consider leaving it in there for up to 24 hours. For thinner fillets, 5-10 hours should work well.
Step 4: Inspect.
Now that it’s out of the fridge, its time to slice it up. If there are any hard thin pieces around the outer edges from the drying process, you can trim it up. Once I trim my pieces and slice them to the desired size and width, I do another candle light test on each piece to inspect for parasites. Please know this is NOT a guarantee that you won’t get a food borne illness—the risk can still be present, we are just mitigating that risk by keeping everything clean and inspected.
Step 5: Get Weird!
The meat is ready to eat. Play with your food! I recently dry aged a CA sheephead where I tried multiple flavor combinations with the meat. It was a blast. I highly recommend using a culinary torch to burn some lemon and rub it on top of the fish. The flavor is amazing. Other flavors I played with were jalapeno, yuzu, cilantro, ponzu, gochujang, sriracha and miso paste. Learn some really fun sauces and flavors in this recipe!
*It is very important to note that the Center for Disease Control recommends freezing all meat at -4 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 days before consuming it raw. Most household freezers do not get this cold so you will need to put it in a commercial or household deep freezer.