What can I cook with long-frozen halibut?

July 26, 2017 11:32 AM

I've got about ten pounds of halibut that's been sitting in the freezer for quite a while--nearly two years! It's been frozen solid the whole time, so I'm not worried about safety, but I'm sure it's freezer-burned and well past it's peak. Looking for recipes that will make good use of it.

I went on a fishing trip to Alaska a while ago and caught a huge halibut. I came home with a suitcase full of frozen fish. I gave a bunch away and ate delicious pan-fried halibut until I got sick of it. Then I forgot about the rest of it.

Recently I re-discovered it and tried to pan fry some, but the results weren't great, so I'm looking for ways to use it that don't rely on the flavor and texture of the fish as much. Probably something like a highly spiced stew.

I've got an oven, gas range, dutch oven, crockpot, rice cooker and all the standard kitchen gear (pots and pans, etc). I have no food allergies, or even food dislikes really. Strong preference for easy recipes with low prep time.

Thank you!

posted by dadaclonefly to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

its not highly-spiced, but on a recent trip to Iceland we tried Plokkfiskur which is basically an old timey Icelandic way of using up leftover fish and potatoes. Its basically just a mixture of cooked fish and potatoes and a white sauce.

Seems like Cod or Haddock are common but that link and many others suggest you'd be just fine with your halibut. I think the one we had came served with a side of barley and some roasted veg.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:13 PM on July 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

How about fish chowder? that should help, since the soup will mask a lot of the flavor.
posted by cosmicbandito at 12:17 PM on July 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

My friend who's a commercial fisherman gave me some long-frozen halibut and told me to thaw it immersed in water.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:23 PM on July 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

I make this fish stew regularly. Very thinly sliced jalapeños or crushed red pepper could be added.

This ginger, garlic and tomato version also sounds good.
posted by shoesietart at 12:30 PM on July 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

If steaks got freezer burned you could make ground chuck and burgers, right?

So I'd make a bunch of fish cakes. In my experience there are lots of variants but they are all good. Here's a simple recipe I used for guidance recently.

This African cabbage/fish stew looks like it would work great. I can't personally vouch for it but I plan to try it soon.
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:50 PM on July 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Fish curries! Malaysian or goan or Sri Lankan maybe?
posted by kadia_a at 12:50 PM on July 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

In Denmark, plukfisk (same as plokkfiskur) is sometimes made with a lot of whole grain mustard/mustard sauce. It's delicious. When I make it, I skip the white sauce, I poach the fish in salt water with laurel, a dash of vinegar and whole black pepper, and then when the fish is ready, I whip some of the poaching water together with a lot of butter and mustard till it has a nice rich texture and taste for sauce.
There is also brandade
posted by mumimor at 1:04 PM on July 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

I like Italian fish stew... sautéed lots of garlic in olive oil, add fish and brown, remove fish and simmer canned tomato and white wine for a bit. Add fish for final 5 minutes. Simple and tasty
posted by Valancy Rachel at 1:46 PM on July 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'd do some sort of fish curry. Tod Mun Pla would probably work too.
posted by pompomtom at 3:43 PM on July 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

I don't know from halibut, but our go-to "spicy stew featuring uninspiring fish" is the Senegalese seafood stew from Sundays at Moosewood.. (You can also search for it on Google Books and probably find a scan of the actual page.) It's very similar to the African fish and cabbage stew linked above.

With that much halibut to use up, I'd probably skip the shrimp and just use more fish. We make it with chicken broth because we're not vegetarians and vegetable broth is gross. Use lots of salt.
posted by spamloaf at 4:57 PM on July 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

All these suggestions sound great, just to add that I'd bread and fry pieces of it, either for fish tacos or on its own with lemon and mayo, in a heartbeat.
posted by STFUDonnie at 5:41 PM on July 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you all for the great suggestions! Made the simple Italian fish stew recommended by Valancy Rachel tonight because I had everything on hand, and it came out great
posted by dadaclonefly at 7:41 PM on July 26, 2017 [2 favorites]