Shack Snacks: Delicious Burbot Tacos
Burbot are one of the weirdest/coolest fish we have had the pleasure of hooking into. Burbot are distributed in fresh waters throughout North America, Europe and Asia with their range extending southward to about 40 degrees north latitude. Locally they occupy many of our prairie lakes and rivers.
Although Burbot may come easy to some, we had never targeting burbot until this year’s ice fishing season. We spent more than 72 hours on the ice, including an overnight trip looking to find an abundance of Burbs.
At around 7:00pm we hooked into a heavy fish that was fighting different than anything we had previously experienced that day with pike and walleye. The bite came just after the sun set but our excitement was short lived as we lost the fish at the hole. Our research had led us to this spot, conditions were right, and we were confident the fish we had lost was a burbot. Although we were becoming a little discouraged after potentially loosing the only burbot of the night, the feeling didn’t last long, It wasn’t 10 mins later, we had our first burbot through the ice and could barley contain our excitement. Our time and effort had finally payed off and as a bonus we were going home with some meat for our families and loved ones.
With a handful of nicknames such as a mud shark, Lincoln lawyer, spineless catfish, mud lawyer and many more the burbot is a fan favorite in the kitchen due to its reputation of being delicious if cooked the right way. We decided that fish tacos would be a wonderful way to introduce our pallets to this weird species.
Below is our step by step process for burbot tacos!
Ingredients:
- Burbot Meat
- ½ Cup Ketchup
- ½ Cup Mustard
- 3 Cups Flour
- Corn Tortillas
- Sour Cream
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Tomato’s (Diced or halfed)
- Cilantro (Chopped)
- Goat Feta
- Two Limes
Step one: Remove the Skin
Step Two: Fillet the Burbot and remove belly meat
Step Three: Slice Burbot Into Small Pieces
Step Four: Marinade in Ketchup and Mustard
*We used about half a cup of mustard and Ketchup
Step Five: Coat Pieces in Flour
Step Six: Melt Cisco in Cast iron Pan
*Wait 5 minutes after cisco has melted to ensure it has becomes hot enough to fry.
Step Seven: Place Pieces In Pan
*We chose to cook over a fire to enjoy the nice spring weather. This process can be done over a fire or over a stove.
*Be sure to only fry the pieces for 45 second to a minute a side, flip regularly and be careful you don’t burn any of the pieces.
Step Nine: Prepare Toppings
Step 10: Serve and Enjoy!
