BajaNomad - How to cook a Jack Crevalle?

How to cook a Jack Crevalle?

basautter - 10-31-2015 at 11:06 PM

I caught a nice Jack Crevalle north of BoLA a couple of weeks ago. Great fish to catch, but not to eat? I tried deep frying and making fish jerky, but both were not that great. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! :light:

mtgoat666 - 10-31-2015 at 11:18 PM

They are not meant for eating. Best way to eat them is to throw them back in the ocean and catch something else to eat!

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 10-31-2015 at 11:58 PM

i tried to give one away to our gardener and other folks at the rv park in the east cape i was staying at and everyone turned me down.

i was told that folks that are hard up will fillet them and hang strips out in the sun and make machaca ?

they do put up a good fight !

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

bajabuddha - 11-1-2015 at 01:11 AM

If all the meat was black/red like a liver it's cat food; catch and release 'em. Same goes for big roosters; the little ones are delicious, but when they reach biggie-size, turn 'em a-loose. The one big rooster I brought home was inedible to me, but a Mexican friend in Mulegé was tickled pink to get the whole shebang; had a barbeque for his whole family. What he did with it I don't know.

El Toro

captkw - 11-1-2015 at 04:28 AM

good fighter,,bad eater

woody with a view - 11-1-2015 at 07:18 AM

gringos..... always hesitant to eat anything which isn't tuna or better. since you didn't bleed it, it will have black meat when you cook it. i brought some skipjack back for my Viet neighbors. they thanked us by preparing a soup that you can't find on the street! to say tuna would have tasted better would be ignorant!

there are 6+ billion people breathing your air. get off your pedestal and learn to boil up some lesser fish and, at a minimum, make the equivilant of tuna fish samwiches!

chippy - 11-1-2015 at 07:40 AM

I`ve had smaller ones done "zarandeado" style that were tastey.

Pescador - 11-1-2015 at 08:20 AM

Clean and wrap the fish in Aluminum Foil. Put in a large pan and set the oven for around 400 degrees. Add Potatoes, Chili peppers, Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Chunks of bacon or ham, season to taste, Cook for 1 hr and 10 minutes, take the fish out and throw it away and have the vegetables.

BigBearRider - 11-1-2015 at 08:34 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Pescador

Clean and wrap the fish in Aluminum Foil. Put in a large pan and set the oven for around 400 degrees. Add Potatoes, Chili peppers, Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Chunks of bacon or ham, season to taste, Cook for 1 hr and 10 minutes, take the fish out and throw it away and have the vegetables.

Funny. Reminded me of this:

http://ronsays.tumblr.com/post/6026853352/ron-swanson-says-f...

dtbushpilot - 11-1-2015 at 08:39 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Pescador

I prepare Jacks in a similar fashion but using the "cedar plank" method.
Tip: when picking out cedar planks pick the thinnest ones you can find, they are more tender than the thick ones.. :lol:

mtgoat666 - 11-1-2015 at 09:03 AM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view

gringos..... always hesitant to eat anything which isn't tuna or better. since you didn't bleed it, it will have black meat when you cook it. i brought some skipjack back for my Viet neighbors. they thanked us by preparing a soup that you can't find on the street! to say tuna would have tasted better would be ignorant!

there are 6+ billion people breathing your air. get off your pedestal and learn to boil up some lesser fish and, at a minimum, make the equivilant of tuna fish samwiches!

woody,
the food is better up on my pedestal. i think i prefer the high life.

woody with a view - 11-1-2015 at 09:25 AM

not saying i prefer bonito and skippy's. but once all of the good fish are gone and WHO puts the kibosch on 4 legged meat it'll behoove (no pun) all ya alls to develop yer palates...... almost everything is edible unless yer a vegan.

fishbuck - 11-1-2015 at 11:32 AM

Nice looking fish. Can't remember if I've ever caught 1 but maybe...

Skipjack Joe - 11-1-2015 at 11:59 AM

Well I'll give you credit for one thing. At least you didn't offer the excuse that you " kept it for the Mexicans ".

Pescador - 11-1-2015 at 01:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Well I'll give you credit for one thing. At least you didn't offer the excuse that you " kept it for the Mexicans ".

Spot on Igor, I have seen days when the guys at San Lucas cove are coming in and someone unloads a Jack and the usual guys who are begging fish at the cleaning table suddenly go invisible. Kinda reminded me of when my neighbor was growing Zucchini, and everyone kept their windows shades pulled down and never answered the door during harvest season.

basautter - 11-1-2015 at 01:17 PM

Thanks for all the great feedback! I have a cedar plank in the oven :bounce:

bajabuddha - 11-1-2015 at 06:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Well I'll give you credit for one thing. At least you didn't offer the excuse that you " kept it for the Mexicans ".

I hope your quip wasn't in reference to my post. My Mulegé amigo is a beach vendor i'd known for over 15 years, and he showed up ("ALMOST FREE! ... PAY NOW, BUY LATER!"... "BUT TWO, GET ONE !! ... a known character of La Bahia) pulled into camp as I was filleting. I asked him if he'd like some, and his eyes lit up like candles, so I gave him a couple of kilos (of fish, that is).

I didn't know the inside of a rooster was like my least-favorite food; LIVER. I tried 4 different ways to prepare, and all were just non-palatable. Hindsight is always 20/20, que no? It took about 2 hours to determine it was a loss, so I packaged up all the wrapped and prepared fish, and found him just getting ready to leave Santispac to go back to town at the end of the afternoon. I asked him if he'd like the rest of the fish, apologizing for being a 'dummy gringo' for not knowing what to do with it, and he again lit up and said "you betcha !!! "

I checked with him a few days later at his shop in Mulegé next to Alba's grocery store (locals know who i'm talking about) and he told me he had his whole extended family over for a fiesta. He's dark'skinned, originally from the mainland (everyone has their own cuisines as you know) and was shickled tit-less for the treat. It didn't go to waste, nor has any since.

A few years before that was in Loreto for Semana Santa hiding out in an RV park. Met a fellow angler who saw a big boil out just above the malecon, and dozens of locals were hand-lining into it catching BIG fish close to the rocks. He grabbed his sea kayak and went out, coming home with what we believed was a large Jack Crevalle. We thought, "FEAST !!".... however, when filleting the 'vein' was the whole fish. Ya live and learn. I will say there was a large populace of Loretoans who were more than happy to go home with several.

And, to those who pooh-pooh culinary tastes and accuse 'nose-in-the-air-ism' I say go to the Philippines and eat some Balút. That'll bring your little pinky down in a hurry. I won't even do Uni any more, and catch and release all sea urchins, regardless of size or fight.

redhilltown - 11-2-2015 at 01:24 AM

I think a dark dirty secret in fishing is that soooo many fishermen are total and complete princesses when it comes to eating them. Bones? EWWWWWWWWWW.... Dark meat? EWWWWWWWW.....not Yellowtail/Dorodo/You Name It fillet? EWWWWWWWWWW.

And they are lazy as to working a bit on the fish and coming up with ideas to make it tasty...if you kill it, you better freakin eat it. Marinate it and put it in the smoker... caldo...bbq the collar...

I realize that space (and bones) is a problem in coolers when bringing back fish from Baja but let's fact it, the absolute best part of any fish caught slides off the back of the boat into the sea after the "safe" fillets are cut off and put in plastic. Not a judgement in that I am just as guilty as anyone... though I try...oh how I try to save those collars.

bajabuddha - 11-2-2015 at 03:28 AM

mmmmmmmmm !!!!!

FISH CHITTLIN'S !!!!!

... stuffed with canned sardines in tomato sauce! :lol:

...I need some sleep... :no:

[Edited on 11-2-2015 by bajabuddha]

chuckie - 11-2-2015 at 07:14 AM

There are so many good fish to eat in the SOC, why bother trying to make Jacks edible...???? Put em back...

Skipjack Joe - 11-2-2015 at 08:11 AM

My feeling on the matter is that you should know what's going to happen to the meat before you kill the fish. Otherwise just release it. Having the Mexicans bail you out after your 'glorious' battle becomes a justification.

chuckie - 11-2-2015 at 08:25 AM

YES

Bubba - 11-2-2015 at 05:29 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

My feeling on the matter is that you should know what's going to happen to the meat before you kill the fish. Otherwise just release it. Having the Mexicans bail you out after your 'glorious' battle becomes a justification.

Boom!

Bob53 - 11-2-2015 at 05:47 PM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view

not saying i prefer bonito and skippy's. but once all of the good fish are gone and WHO puts the kibosch on 4 legged meat it'll behoove (no pun) all ya alls to develop yer palates...... almost everything is edible unless yer a vegan.

When all the good fish are gone, that's when I'll deal with developing my palate. Until then, I'll eat the good stuff.

woody with a view - 11-2-2015 at 05:56 PM

yeah, i'll be dead by then.....