Spring offers many bites, but one of the most fun is running into schools of batch-spawning white bass on waters like Devils Lake, ND, the Mississippi River, the St. Croix River, and many other waters throughout the country.
While many of us prefer “eater” size walleyes and panfish for table fare—typically fried—there’s a vast “catch & cook” world out there to explore. Like white bass —if cared for correctly, it can be firm, white, and great-tasting, despite what some anglers have been led to believe.
The key? Removing the red meat to eliminate any “fishy” taste, which is actually quite simple, especially if you’re using an electric knife, which is recommended if you go on a meat run, given many waters either have liberal limits, like 20 per day with a 40 fish possession limit on Devils Lake, North Dakota.
Yes, you can offset the expenses of truck and boat gas pretty quickly by bringing home a cooler of white bass. Not to mention we live in the world of $2.50 Snickers bars… and the price of everyday groceries has gone through the roof.
Back to the red meat—simply angle your knife blade away from the fish’s head behind the pectoral fin, cut down, and stop at 1/16- to 1/8–inch from the skin, running the motorized blade parallel to the backbone, slicing back toward the tail just like you’d fillet any other fish.
Voila! The red meat is left on the skin and you can pull away a very nice, white fillet. If you’re really particular, you can remove all the belly meat and lateral line (which can also lend a fishy tast), leaving only the “backstraps,” which are perfect for frying – or in this case, turning into whitefish curry.
For this recipe, we recommend using a large electric frying pan, which not only works well for browning the ingredients, but will also allow you to steam the ingredients when you use a lid.
Cheap Beer White Bass Curry
Ingredients
Instructions
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When you catch a white bass, take a screwdriver or awl and jab it in the brain, killing the fish instantly. Then make a slit on the underside of the gill plate and throw in a cold-water live well. The fish will bleed out, leaving perfect, white meat. Repeat the process as necessary when fishing. After you’ve bled the fish, put them in an ice-filled cooler. This will firm up the flesh, keep them fresh, and make them easier to fillet.
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Fillet white bass as mentioned above, throwing the fillets in a bucket of water and ice to further rinse and keep the fillets in top condition.
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Discard the lateral line/belly meat or keep for pickling. Any fishy taste will disappear when jarred in a vinegar-based brine with pickling spices.
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For smaller white bass, keep the fillets fully intact. For larger fish (and the purpose of this recipe) cut the fillets into halves. Place in a bowl with cold water; add salt (or Old Bay Seasoning) and stir around.
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Turn on your electric frying pan, ¼ to ½ stick of butter, add chopped garlic & ginger, stir and saute for 5 minutes between 250 and 300 degrees on frying pan thermostat.
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Add chopped onion or shallots.
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Add cabbage and already parboiled or baked and sectioned potato; stir.
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Add peppers and any other vegetables you’d like; stir.
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Place any leafy vegetables on top of mix (greens/spinach/bok choy/basil).
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Pour one can of beer over all vegetables and place on pan lid and let fry/steam at 250 degrees for 15 minutes
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Add two jars of curry (we like to combine Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken Curry Sauce) and two cans of coconut milk – any brands will do just fine; stir thoroughly
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Place white bass meat on top of vegetable sauce mixture and replace the pan lid; cook for 20 minutes at 250 degrees; Do not stir to prevent breaking up the white bass meat into smaller pieces; at the same time prepare white rice (2 cups of rice per 1 cup of water)
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Plate curry and top with more basil, chopped chives, and lots of cilantro
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Serve with lime wedges to squeeze juice over the curry – adds a great taste!
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Enjoy with the cold beverage of your choice; supplement with Siracha hot sauce if you want some heat.
