Smoked Sablefish or Black Cod
User Reviews
4.8
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Prep Time
15 mins
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Cook Time
3 hrs
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Total Time
3 hrs 15 mins
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Servings
12
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Calories
156 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
American
Smoked Sablefish or Black Cod
Description
This recipe for Smoked Sablefish or Black Cod involves a salt-sugar-garlic powder cure applied generously to the fish fillets, which are refrigerated for several hours depending on weight. The curing step firms the flesh and imparts seasoning. After curing, the fish is rinsed, dried, and rested uncovered overnight in the fridge to form a pellicle, improving smoke adherence. Smoking is done using mild woods such as alder, oak, or fruit woods at about 160ºF for 2 to 3 hours, ensuring the fish is tender and just cooked through.
Partway through smoking, honey is brushed on to add a glossy sweetness, and paprika dusted later provides color and a mild smoky flavor. The final fish combines the natural rich oils of sablefish with gentle smoke and a shiny, flavorful exterior. Ideal as a centerpiece for meals or in dishes highlighting smoked fish.
The recipe notes that curing time is not included in prep and finished fish can be refrigerated about a week or vacuum-sealed and frozen for months. This approach ensures reliable quality and flavor with homemade smoked fish.
Ingredients
- 2 sablefish fillets skin on, up to 3 pounds
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- honey for glazing the fish
- paprika sweet, for dusting the fish afterwards
Instructions
- Mix the salt, sugar and garlic powder in a bowl. Pour on a healthy layer of the mix into a lidded plastic tub that will hold the fish. I cut the fillets into pieces I imagine I will want to serve, so about 2 to 3 per side of a large sablefish, probably just two pieces per side with a typically sized black cod. Set the fish skin side down on the salt. Now use the remaining salt mix to massage into the meat of the fish. You want it covered with as much salt as the fish can hold. Cover the container and set in the fridge for however many hours as the fish weighs.
- Remove the sablefish and rinse it briefly under cool water. Pat it dry. Set it back in the fridge, this time uncovered, overnight.
- The next day, get your smoker ready. I prefer alder wood for fish, but any mild wood will do. Oak is nice, as is beech or maple or a fruit wood. Smoke the sablefish at about 160ºF for 2 to 3 hours. You want the fish cooked through, but just barely.
- After the first hour of smoking, paint the fish with honey. Repeat this every hour.
- When the sablefish is ready, move it to a cooling rack and paint it with the honey one last time. Let it cool at room temperature for about an hour. When it has cooled, use tweezers to pull out all the pin bones running down the center of the fish. They should slide out easily. Now dust the top of the sablefish with the paprika. Let this sink in for about 30 minutes, then put the fish in the fridge. You can serve it now, or when chilled. If you want to package it up to store it long-term, wait a day before vacuum sealing it -- this will let the paprika set on the fish.
Notes
- Prep time excludes curing; curing time depends on fish weight.
- Smoked fish keeps about a week refrigerated and up to six months vacuum sealed frozen.
- This recipe yields about 3 pounds of smoked sablefish.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 12Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 156 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 156kcal | 8% |
| Protein | 35g | 70% |
| Fat | 1g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 107mg | 36% |
| Sodium | 687mg | 29% |
| Potassium | 533mg | 11% |
| Vitamin A | 14IU | 0% |
| Calcium | 18mg | 2% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.8
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