I got a flashback on my phone about a memory from 2013 during the Dakota Walleye Classic week.
I met a guy who was passing around some kippered pike and let me say, the stuff was AMAZING.
I like pickled fish recipes, but this one was literally in a class of its own. It kind of tasted like poor man’s smoked salmon. I ate it plain and on a cracker, both were amazing.
He was nice enough to share it with me, and since pike often gets a bad rap for their Y-bones…this recipe will change your mind.
So with that being said, here is the Kippered Pike Recipe:
Kippered Northern Pike Ingredients
- 1 cup salt
- 2/3 cup tenderquik
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 decent-sized pike fillets, cut into pieces
- Olive Oil
Directions
Dissolve the above ingredients in 18 cups of water.
Mix enough brine to cover fish.
Soak for 10 hours, stirring occasionally, rinse and smoke.
Smoke with about 2 quarts of hickory sawdust. Smoke just long enough to start to dry fish.
Bust fish apart (the Y-bones can be removed now), and place in pint jars.
Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil into each jar seal and process.
In a pressure cooker – 90 minutes @ 10# PSI. In a hot water bath, 3 hours with water boiling.
Kippered Pike Recipe Recap
I love pickled northern pike of all kinds. Not just because of the texture and flavor, but because it has a good shelf life too. But this kippered northern pike recipe is so good, you’ll probably find the time worth it.
I imagine you could serve this northern pike with anything, but some crackers, in my opinion, are all you need (if at all).
Good fishing and good eatin’…
