# Kingfish recipes?



## STxFisherman (Jan 15, 2006)

I would venture to guess that this topic has been beaten to death in the past, but.... I currently feel that kingfish is not on the top of my list as far as table fare of fish goes. 

I have heard that there are some great recipes for king mackerel that might change my opinion on the taste. What are the best preps and cooking methods for the king mackerel?


----------



## Bellyup (May 22, 2004)

Richard, believe it or not, they are pretty good fried in a good beer batter. Use only the light colored meat. 

If you kabob them with other fish, you might be surprised that you can't easily tell which one is the kingfish.


----------



## texasair (May 22, 2004)

Marinate kingfish fillets in cheap Italian dressing and throw them on a hot grill.
You will get nothing but compliments on the fine fish that you served.


----------



## Kenner21 (Aug 25, 2005)

x2 

Keep some of the smaller kings you catch and filet them out removing any blood lines and take the skin off. Marinate in I-talian dressing for about 30-40 mins and throw on a hot grill. I did this for the first time about a month ago and was very impressed, I think the secret is to keep the smaller ones for eating and keep them iced down realllllly good. 

nate


----------



## Dorado-Mahi (May 23, 2004)

Been eating grilled kingfish since the early 80's with this recipe. Have had people who swore they couldn't eat kingfish asking for second and third helpings. Be sure the fish is fresh before cooking. I filet each king into steak sized chunks. Then (like Kenner 21 stated) cut out the centerline of blood and bone. Trim all blood remnants from steaks. Get the grill hot, brush marinate on kingfish, (do soak in marinate), then grill.

Grilled Kingfish

1/8 cup of soy sauce
1/16 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup of lemon or limejuice
1/2 stick of melted butter
1 Tbs of "Tony Chachere's" Creole Seasoning
1 Tsp of "Cavender's" All Purpose Greek Seasoning
Dash of salt and pepper

Optional: 1/4 to 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion

Mix all ingredients together and brush on fish fillets right before grilling. Don't overcook. Do not soak fillets in marinate! *This marinate only works for kingfish!*


----------



## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

Dont forget the soak in buttermilk over nite and then fry em. Also wrap in bacon and grill em they are ok too. Yeah eat the bacon and throw the kingfish away.

Charlie


----------



## Crossroads (May 21, 2004)

Make small slices in the filets, then chop crossways. Put on plate and feed the cat.


----------



## Rum Runner (Oct 27, 2005)

Oriental marinade - works great on anything from the sea

1 cup soy sauce
5 peppercorns or two good pinches of ground balck pepper
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger root (more may be added if you like)
2 cloves garlic (more may be added if you like)
1 tsp sesame oil

* Put all this into a food processor until chunks are gone. Brush filets and allow to sit 15 minutes before grilling. The extra marinade may be reapplied during grilling, and/or stored in the fridge (1 week) or freezer (1 month) in a container w/ a tight-fitting lid for later use.


----------



## SpecklFinAddict (Dec 19, 2004)

Ok good thread... 

I'm currently, at this moment, making a kingfish salad(like tuna salad). Anybody got any suggestions about what to put in it?

Thanks


----------



## drfishalot (Sep 9, 2004)

Jamie on the dolphin used to make the kingfish salad. just put the regular stuff that you put in tuna salad in there, he put tomato, brocolli, and pasta also it seeems like


----------



## STxFisherman (Jan 15, 2006)

I forget who mentioned some way of scooping out the best part, (whatever that is), of the Kingfish steak into balls, marinating them and grilling. Whoever told me about this mentioned that they end up tasting a lot like scallops. I forgot all of the details of the marinade....


----------



## SpecklFinAddict (Dec 19, 2004)

Well I also made some fish taco's out of ling/dorado. I made a jalapeno/cilantro sauce for them and also put some in the king salad along with the normal tuna stuff. Tastes da*n good! Wish I'd had it yesterday about 12 o'clock.


----------



## SpecklFinAddict (Dec 19, 2004)

STxFisherman said:


> I forget who mentioned some way of scooping out the best part, (whatever that is), of the Kingfish steak into balls, marinating them and grilling. Whoever told me about this mentioned that they end up tasting a lot like scallops. I forgot all of the details of the marinade....


I took out the 4 tenderloins of the king that had been steaked out and boiled them in garlic seasoned water then made the king salad. They looked just like chicken when I took them out. My dog ate 4 of them with no problems...so they must be good!


----------



## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

boil king balls in zatarain's boxed type crab boil. let cool make fake tuna salad
or use like crabmeat in other recipes.


----------



## ReefDonkey (Jul 1, 2004)

Remove all the bloodlines and cut into small strips.

Marinate in a large sauce bowl with your favorite cabernet / merlot.

Let sit in fridge overnight.

When its time to eat...pour your cabernet / merlot into wine glasses...throw away the king filets...and enjoy your grilled dolphin or snapper!


----------



## luckycharms (Apr 19, 2006)

Instead of making fillets, clean the kingfish into kingfish balls, soak in milk overnight then bread with Zatarains seasoned fish fry lemon flavor, add red pepper and fry. Another recipe: make shrimp scampi without the shrimp (simmer butter, fresh basil, garlic, white wine, white pepper and salt) pour over kingfish and broil.


----------



## STxFisherman (Jan 15, 2006)

I'll certainly try that one luckycharms....sounds pretty good! If it doesn't make the kingfish taste good....I'll try that on grouper.


----------



## Crossroads (May 21, 2004)

Richard, I smoke 4 to 5 Kings every Fall for the Holiday season. I use a brine solution to marinade overnite then smoke slowly for 6-8 hours.


----------



## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

They taste like Marlboro?

Charlie


----------



## Bluewater Dawg (Apr 25, 2006)

Now thats funny I don't care who you are!


CHARLIE said:


> They taste like Marlboro?
> 
> Charlie


----------



## Bluewater Dawg (Apr 25, 2006)

Now that's funny I don't care who you are!


CHARLIE said:


> They taste like Marlboro?
> 
> Charlie


----------



## myprozac (Feb 7, 2006)

HERES the *best* recipe. Dont eat kingfish. TOOO much time and work into marinating and cooking, and even after they are cooked they still dont taste mouth watering. I tried to give a piece to my dog once and she wouldn't touch it! SMART DOG.


----------



## Seahuntress (May 1, 2006)

I think there OK...I eat just about anything that comes out of the BlueWater. But, I would only eat them if there fresh thou, and not frozen...

My favorite table fare is Cubera Snapper, Grouper, Pompano, A.J & Tuna


----------



## SeaOx 230C (Aug 12, 2005)

drfishalot said:


> Jamie on the dolphin used to make the kingfish salad. just put the regular stuff that you put in tuna salad in there, he put tomato, brocolli, and pasta also it seeems like


Steam filets with your favorite herbs and spices till flaky, let it cool completly. Prepare as would canned tuna for tuna salad.

Even better(also learned from Jamie) is to steam the filets and prepare as you would canned salmon for salmon patties. My family likes "Kingfish Patties" better than the traditional salmon patties.


----------



## berto (Oct 14, 2004)

i ate some king fish last weekend and it was GOOD. I dont know what they used to fry it with though


----------



## tommy261 (May 3, 2006)

*kingfish*

I don't know if this helps or not but when we boat a kingfish to keep I usually gut it and throw it on ice. There seems to be a pretty good bloodline in them that a try to get out as much as possible when first caught. This may sound crazy, but I scale a kingfish with a pressure washer. I keep the fish in place by standing on his tail, and running the freshwater up scales. Once I finish scaling I take a serrated brisket knife and cut 1 to 1-1/2 inch steaks out( similar to shark steaks) This way I can individually wrap them and grill when needed. I grill my king steaks seasoned with louisianna crawfish boil( the orange powder). I put in a salt shaker. During the grilling I brush a mixture of butter, worcestershire,lemon and a few drops of zatarans liquid crab boil on it to keep the moisture on it.


----------



## manintheboat (Jun 1, 2004)

Kingfish can be pretty good. True there are better fish out there, but if eaten fresh, it can be very good. I prefer the smaller ones. I like to filet and remove the blood line, season with fiesta brand bbq crab seasoning, grill on a very hot grill and baste with a butter/worchestershire/cajun majic sauce being careful not to over-cook. If you freeze the fish, the best way to cook is to marinade in buttermilk and fry. I do like to make king salad out of my leftover grilled kingfish. I use miracle whip,lemon juice, fine chopped celery, fine chopped green onion, and chopped taragon. It is awesome.


----------



## elkarcher (Jun 5, 2006)

I like to ball out the kingfish and soak the meat in milk for at least 30 minutes (longer the soaking the better). Then make a mix of mayo, lemon juice and Tonys but anything you like will work-Grey Poupon or spicy mustard etc- and dip the balls in the mixture.. Then roll the balls in cornmeal and fry. They look like hushpuppies and taste as good as kingfish can taste.


----------



## Gulfcoast Rob (Aug 15, 2005)

How do you cut the fish to pop out the balls of meat ?????


----------



## Instigator (Jul 6, 2004)

Given that kings don't compete for the top table spot, they're not that bad. At least not as bad as some on here would make out. If you like sashimi try this, you'll find that at least one king will find its way into your box if you do. This is an adaptation of the classic sushi bar Tuna Tatake so the same procedure works very well with blackfin. I have found that squeamish folks afraid of sashimi gobble this down without a second thought. Go figure.

King Tatake

Bleed fish as soon as caught, then gut and ice well. Slush is better than cubes

Filet and remove the top loin from the head back to just over the fish's vent. Use the rest of the fish for the salad recipes posted above.

Cut the loin into 6-8 inch sections, they're easier to handle

Outside, get the grill HOT

or

Inside, heat a dry skillet to HOT

Sear the loin sections for 30 seconds all around and get them off the heat, fish should be seared on all surfaces and still be raw in most of the center

Slice the fish at 45 degree angles to length and thickness (on the bias) as thin or thick as you like your sashimi

Dip in sauce, greedily devour accompanied by appropriate beverage (cold sake works)

Dipping sauce

Equal parts soy sauce, fresh lemon juice, mirin and sake
Mince garlic and scallions into the liquid mixture

The sauce is good right away, better after a couple hours


----------



## elkarcher (Jun 5, 2006)

To answer Gulfcoast Rob,
You make vertical slices about 1"-1 1/2" apart on each side the length of the fish <+) l l l l l l < 
and then push the balls out with your fingers. It only gets the middle of the meat and leaves the blood line in the fish. There will be 2 balls per slice. When you are done you have the fish balls and can throw away the whole carcass.You can make the slices as thick as you want.


----------



## txjoker (Jun 21, 2005)

I tried this recipe with some kings that we caught. Great stuff! Thanks!



Dorado-Mahi said:


> Been eating grilled kingfish since the early 80's with this recipe. Have had people who swore they couldn't eat kingfish asking for second and third helpings. Be sure the fish is fresh before cooking. I filet each king into steak sized chunks. Then (like Kenner 21 stated) cut out the centerline of blood and bone. Trim all blood remnants from steaks. Get the grill hot, brush marinate on kingfish, (do soak in marinate), then grill.
> 
> Grilled Kingfish
> 
> ...


----------



## Gulfcoast Rob (Aug 15, 2005)

elkarcher said:


> To answer Gulfcoast Rob,
> You make vertical slices about 1"-1 1/2" apart on each side the length of the fish <+) l l l l l l <
> and then push the balls out with your fingers. It only gets the middle of the meat and leaves the blood line in the fish. There will be 2 balls per slice. When you are done you have the fish balls and can throw away the whole carcass.You can make the slices as thick as you want.


I caught 3 more yesterday and tired it. Worked out great. Wish I had more but the MS: and my son got sick as soon as we hit the 10 mile rig out of POC ?????
I thought it was kind of nice myself. 5MPH wind but 2 ft rollers coming in. She started chumming as soon as I put lines out. Came right back in. Usually they hang but they were competing for back of the boat spaces yesterday.

Thanks
GulfCoast Rob


----------



## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

To tommy261:

Where on the king is its scales? I didn't know they had scales....maybe I am misinterpreting the word "scales".......


----------



## Argo (May 21, 2004)

I have a good recipe, throw them back and catch a wahoo.


----------



## dallasrick (Jan 5, 2005)

Fillet, cut out the bloodline and any other bloody pieces, butterfly the pieces, put in a slice of jack cheese, a slice of jalapeno pepper, season with Tony C's seasoning, wrap in bacon and grill. Taint too bad that way


----------



## James Howell (May 21, 2004)

In case you didn't notice, the key word being used is "FRESH", not frozen. Kings under 15 lbs are excellent table fare, but ice them properly, clean them quickly, and keep the fillets cool to cold at all times. All recipes listed above are excellent, another good one is pretty darn simple. Take your kingfish filets, cut into 1" cubes (or use the kingfish balls you made) roll in tabasco, roll in cornmeal, flash fry it in 375 degree grease, and serve immediately. Excellent. Another is to boil or steam the kingfish filets as previously stated with crab boil seasoning, remove, and substitute it for crab in a crab au gratin casserole recipe, it is actually better (AND CHEAPER) than using lump crab meat because there are no bits of shell in the casserole.


----------



## gigemags (Mar 29, 2006)

The other day I made some fresh fried kingfish that was pretty dang good. It was a smaller king that I cut the tail off right away (making sure he's still legal) and let him bleed out for a minute. Then I balled him out when I got home and soaked the meat in milk for 2 hours. That soaks out alot of blood and game flavor. Then I soak in hot sauce (louisiana or tobasco) for half an hour and deep fried in corn meal. 

I was surprised at how good it was, but I would never keep more than 1 or 2 as they don't taste nearly as good when frozen.


----------



## bigwahoo (May 25, 2005)

I'm suprised no one has metioned Blackened King. The oily fishes blacken best. Real butter in cast iron skillet OUTSIDE! Well cleaned (no skin, red meat, bone) fillets sprinkled with MAGIC seasoning (Paul Prudhomme). 3-5 minutes each side. YUM-YUM


----------



## badfish (Jun 25, 2004)

*AWESOME CUTBAIT!!!*


----------



## sea isle john (Jun 23, 2004)

Fresh is best. I do the balls, use Zatterains breading, fry and they are great. If they go in the freezer, I give them away.


----------



## bone (May 28, 2004)

*King Fish Ball Recipe*

Here's a great recipe for King Fish: King Fish Balls

King Fish
Chopped onions
Progresso Plain Bread Crumbs (or any other fine bread crumb brand)
Milk or butter milk

Soak King Fish meat in milk for at least two hours. Grab enough king fish for a palm sized ball or alittle bigger. Sqeeze off excess milk and make into a ball. Stuff onions in fish ball. Roll ball in bread crumbs until well coated. Deep fry for approximately 5 minutes. Serve with tartar sauce. Very Good!

Kim


----------

