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Please pardon Pat Scouten, for he has only praise for Utah's petite yellow perch.
An avid fisherman, author and cooking instructor, Scouten puts the spiny-finned freshwater species at the top of his fish list for its mild, sweet taste that surpasses (do we dare say it?) the ever-popular trout.
Other Utahns are discovering what the Taylorsville resident has known for some 40 years: Once you try perch, you like perch.
Scouten traces his love of perch back to his childhood in the Great Lakes area where fishing for perch is not only a popular pastime but a significant business with numerous commercial fishing operations.
Perch from Lake Champlain and dozens of other nearby waters is sold in grocery stores, specialty markets as well as served in restaurants throughout the Midwest and along the East Coast. Today, the yellow perch - a different species from ocean perch - also is fished in the lakes of the Pacific Northwest.
So imagine Scouten's surprise when he started fishing in Utah and found that most people considered the striped yellow perch a trash fish, thrown on the banks to use as bait or to rot.
"Perch were plentiful, but unpopular," remembers Scouten, who helped rectify the problem by teaching classes at recreation stores and through the Department of Natural Resources on how easy it is to catch, fillet and cook perch.
What his students learned was that this firm, mild fish can be used in virtually any dish calling for fish.
Frying in butter or oil is the most common method of preparation. But perch can be sautéed, baked or broiled. The cooked fillets are perfect inside sandwiches or as filling for tacos. Perch also makes a tender addition to fish chowder.
Perch may be the perfect introduction for those who don't like fish, especially those who have been less than enamored with trout.
"Trout is bland compared with perch," said Dan Smith of South Jordan, after a successful day of perch fishing at Utah's Fish Lake in Sevier County.
In addition to those traditional methods, there are several recipes on the Internet and in cookbooks that call for boiling the perch in salted water and then when flaky, immediately submerging it in cold water. The boneless fillets naturally curl up during cooking and when served with a cocktail sauce are reminiscent - both in taste and appearance - of shrimp or lobster.
Most of the yellow perch caught by anglers in Utah average between 8 and 12 inches, making them too small to stuff or grill.
For those who do not fish, purchasing farm-raised perch is a possibility, but will take some searching and forethought as many grocery stores do not carry perch on a regular basis. Yellow perch can be special ordered from seafood purveyors such as Salt Lake City's Ocean Beauty Seafood.
Tim O'Connor, a buyer with Ocean Beauty, said customers can order frozen perch, which comes from Lake Victoria in the Great Lakes area, or fresh, boneless skinless fillets that originate in the Pacific Northwest. The price varies between $3.95 and $4.95. Customers must order a minimum of 10 pounds.
While that may seem like a lot, cooks might be surprised at how fast the perch is consumed.
Consider what happened to Pat Scouten. Several years ago, he gave a trout-loving neighbor a large bag of fresh yellow perch fillets to try.
The next day, the neighbor yelled over the fence to Scouten that there was just one problem with the catch.
"We cooked them all up," he said, "and we couldn't stop eating them."
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Filleting, skinning perch
Unlike trout, which has a line of pin bones, perch have a simple bone structure that makes it easy to fillet and skin. Here is how to do it:
1. Lay the fish on a hard, flat surface.
2. Place knife behind the gill and cut down to the spine.
3. Then cut horizontally along the length of the spine until the flesh is severed near the tail.
4. Lift the fillet away from the spine.
5. Repeat with other side of fish.
6. To skin, lay the the fillet skin-side down.
7. Slice some of the skin on the tail end away from flesh.
8. Steady the skin with the thumb of your free hand while pushing the knife forward between the skin and flesh.
- Source: The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Web site, http://www.wildlife.utah.gov
Perch chowder
2 cups water
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
1 medium carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 teaspoon pepper
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups whole milk or half-and-half
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1 pound fresh perch, cleaned, skinned and filleted
In a large saucepan bring water to a boil. Add diced potatoes and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Drain bacon and reserve 2 tablespoons of drippings in skillet. Let bacon cool and then crumble. Cook onions in the drippings until tender. Add bacon, onion and thyme to vegetables in pan. (Recipes can be done to this point one day ahead. Just reheat before proceeding with remainder of recipe).
In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the milk with the flour until smooth. Pour into hot vegetable mixture along with remaining 1 1/2 cups milk. Stir in perch. Simmer and stir until mixture just begins to bubble around the edges and the fish is white and flaky. Do not boil.
Makes 6 servings.
- Adapted from "Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook"
Perch scampi
1 pound fresh perch, cleaned, skinned and filleted
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
Rice, cooked according to package directions
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Drop in perch fillets a few at at time. When perch is white, about 1 to 2 minutes, remove from pan and drain. Repeat until all perch fillets are cooked.
In a skillet, melt butter. Add fish and bread crumbs. Gently stir until butter is absorbed into fish and bread crumbs. Serve over cooked rice.
- Mickey Anderson, Fish Tech Outfitters
Pan-fried yellow perch
6 small yellow perch, about 7 to 9 inches long
Salt and pepper
Cornmeal (or a mixture of flour and cornmeal)
4 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 lemon, cut into wedges optional
Scale and wash fish. Pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Dredge in cornmeal or flour. In a skillet heat oil and butter over high heat, do not let butter burn. Lay fish in pan and turn heat to medium. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until side is crispy and brown, loosening fish with a thin metal spatula during cooking. Turn and cook fish on second side another 8 to 10 minutes, or until inside flesh is opaque and outside is crispy. Do not over cook.
Serve with lemon wedges.
Makes 2 to 3 servings.
- "The L.L.Bean Game & Fish Cookbook," by Angus Cameron and Judith Jones
Lake George 'shrimp'
Boiling boneless perch fillets makes them naturally curl up and, when served with a cocktail sauce, are reminiscent - in taste and appearance - of shrimp or lobster.
4 quarts water
1/4 cup salt
2 dozen perch fillets cut in 1/2 -inch by 3-inch strips
Ice water
Cocktail sauce
Bring water and salt to a boil. Put perch strips into a sieve or colander and immerse in boiling water. Boil about 3 minutes or until the fish becomes white, flaky and curled.
Lift fish out of water and place immediately in an ice water bath.
When fish is completely cooled, remove from water and arrange on a serving platter with cocktail sauce.
Fish can also be served warm with tartar sauce.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
- "Food Editors' Favorites Cookbook"