By: Captain Troy Frady
You don't need deer meat or expensive cuts of beef to enjoy some good ole fish jerky. Below is a favorite of mine that is as flexible as the wind. It's origin comes from Hawaii but has been given a little southern hospitiality. We use Gulf Red Snapper because it is the most abundant of all the fish we have in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama. Remember, this is a standard recipe that I like to use. Feel free to substitute Red Snapper with other non-oily fish like Yellowfin Tuna, Bluefin Tuna and Halibut. I do like fresh salmon. You are also welcome to use freshwater fish like bass, catfish and crappie. Note: Salmon and catfish are fatty and should be dried a little longer. It's all a matter of preference.
3 to 4 pounds of Red Snapper Filets (scaled, skin on) cut into 1/4 inch thick strips, 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Strips can be 4 to 6 inches in length. (just cut it where it's 1/4 thick so it will dry right)
1/2 cup Soy Sauce (lite if you prefer)
1/2 cup Pineapple Juice
4 Tbs Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (adjust up or down depending on the heat you want)
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbs fresh ginger minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
hard-round toothpicks (for oven cooking) (place toothpicks in a bowl of water to keep moist)
Combine above ingredients in a large bowl. Stir and mix well. Brown sugar will dissolve. Add fish strips to mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour into a gallon zip lock bag and mash all of the extra air out of it. Place bag of marinating fish into refrigerator. For best results, let fish marinate overnight. If you want to hurry it, only marinate for 6 hours.
If you own a dehydrator or have a smoker, please use them for consistency and flavor. You may also put toothpicks through the end of the pieces of fish and hang from the top shelf oven rack.
Place fish on paper towels to dry excess fluid off of each piece. Place a toothpick in the end of the fish and lay across the oven rack and let the piece of fish hang down below the rack. Be gentle not to shake rack. You will drop them off the rack into the bottom of pit or oven.
Place a pan or aluminum foil underneath the fish to catch the drippings.
Cook the fish at 145 degrees for two hours. If your oven only goes down to 170 like mine does, leave the door cracked on the oven. The whole idea is to dry the fish out, not cook it. If after two hours additional drying is needed, lower the oven down to 130 degrees and open the door a little wider. Drying time differs depending on altitude, type of fish and thickness of the cut.
How You Know When Its Done
Your fish will be cool. It should bend and not break when tested.
Storing Fish Jerky
Fish Jerky does not have any preservatives or msg to keep it from deteriorating. I recommend you place it in the refrigerator in a sealed container or zip loc bag until ready to eat.
Bon appejerky!