Fresh Fish Recipes You Can Make Almost Anywhere

By: Devlin Roussel

Before I became a charter boat captain in Venice, Louisiana, I spent time running some well-known restaurants in New Orleans. During my time in the restaurant business, I was fortunate enough to earn some accolades from the likes of the James Beard Foundation and Esquire magazine, but in my heart, I just wanted to be in a boat in blue water. In 2001, I decided I was going to go fishing, and for the next 10 years, I did exactly that—in the world-class fishery of Venice. During that time, I frequently mixed my two loves of food and fishing, sometimes in a mundane fashion, but at other times, I pushed the envelope. Here are some of the more successful and exciting recipes that I developed while fishing out of Venice.

When I first decided to go fishing, I was lucky enough to land a deckhand job for Captain Scott Avanzino on his 32 Albemarle, Balancing Act. Scott was an outstanding marlin and wahoo fisherman and he along with Peace Marvel, Kevin Beach, and Billy Wells were developing reputations for pushing the boundaries of their boats to chase yellowfin tuna. Avenzino worked hard to differentiate us from Peace's crew by marketing to a crowd that wanted a different experience, and part of that experience involved the food that we could provide on the boat. That seems like a small thing, but the Balancing Act was only equipped with a small refrigerator and a microwave—not exactly a luxury galley. We brought a grill with us on overnight trips but had to improvise on day trips.

Exhaust Manifold Wahoo Recipe

Manifold wahoo in compound butter. (Phoebe Roussel/)

During my first winter season, we stowed the 80W chair rods and broke out the 50W stand-up tackle to fish for big yellowfins on the Midnight Lump and to troll for wahoo around the shelf rigs. After a long day of wahoo fishing, we busted a shaft on one of the Caterpillar 3108s. We limped in, cleaned the client’s 11 wahoo, and went about making overnight repairs.

We were up at 5 a.m., fueled the boat, took on ice, and loaded up the clients; and off we went to fish for tuna on the Midnight Lump. By the time we arrived and set the anchor, Scott and I were starving. Scott asked me what we had to eat, and I reminded him of the wahoo.

“I’ve got the angler, go see what you can do with the fish,” he said.

I just couldn’t bring myself to microwave wahoo—that would just be plain disrespectful to such an amazing fish. I looked in the fridge, grabbed some butter and lemon and decided to double wrap the wahoo in foil with just those two simple ingredients and a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce. From there, I opened the hatch to the engine room and put the sealed packets on the exhaust manifolds. After 20 minutes, I pulled them off, and we all feasted while one of our clients finished up a battle with his 180-class yellowfin. Everyone was excited about the fishing and the food. From there a tradition was born, and, if it was calm enough to cook on the manifold, we provided hot lunch on The Balancing Act.

After experimenting a bit, I discovered that day-old wahoo worked best for this dish. Either way, I would cut ½-inch thick slices of wahoo or mahi. If I could, I’d sear the fish the night before after seasoning it with salt, pepper and a few dashes of paprika and garlic powder. To sear it, I’d get a heavy sauté pan white-hot, add a bit of canola oil, and cook both sides for a minute or so each. I’d then cool it in the refrigerator, and mix a compound butter the night before as well.

Wahoo fresh off the manifold. (Phoebe Roussel/)

Ingredients:

• Wahoo fillets - Compound Butter

• 1 pound of butter softened

• Juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

• A few liberal dashes of Tabasco

Directions

1. Mix butter with other ingredients well to make your compound butter and store in an airtight Ziplock bag on ice.

2. When you are ready for lunch, put each piece of fish on a piece of heavy-duty foil and add 2 tsp of the compound butter. Wrap and crimp all edges multiple times. Turn the packet over and wrap a second sheet of foil around it, making sure to crimp the edges. Lay the packages on the manifolds (or marine grill) and cook for 30-40 minutes.

3. The butter becomes your sauce, so don't waste any!

4. Anyone that has spent any time as a scout will recognize this recipe as an adaptation of the ubiquitous hobo stew. In a pinch, you can certainly make this with any other firm white fish like cod, cobia, or snapper, and as much as I hate to admit it, this can be made in a standard home oven set at 350-degrees and cooked for about 15-20 minutes. It, however, seems to taste much better on a boat.

5. If there is an exhaust leak, don't do this!

Fire and Ice Tuna Ceviche Recipe

Fire-and-ice ceviche is best served with crackers and a squeeze of lime. (Phoebe Roussel/)

By the next summer, I had earned my Captain’s license and went to work with Peace Marvel and his crew on a Glacier Bay catamaran. The twin outboards put a crimp in my manifold cooking, so I had to find a Plan B. Several years prior, while in New York to cook at the James Beard House, I had a late dinner at Patria which was run by a brilliant chef named Douglas Rodriguez. Douglas was known for his ceviche creativity, and I sampled all of the ones that he had on the menu that night. At the end of our meal, Rodriguez came out to the table and chatted. He then brought us into the kitchen to try some ceviches that he was working on.

I was amazed and surprised by the flavors that he was pairing, but they all worked beautifully. While I was running the Reel Job, my 26-foot Glacier Bay, I decided that it was time to adapt the ceviches that I had tasted in New York to work with fresh Gulf seafood. Here are a couple of my favorites. (Note, in some states it is not legal to clean and consume freshly caught fish on a boat, so be sure to check the current regulations.)

Fire-and-ice ceviche marinating (Phoebe Roussel/)

Ingredients

• 2lbs of fresh tuna diced

• 1 small can coconut milk

Mix in a Ziplock and allow to sit overnight:

• Juice of 4 limes

• 1/4 cup sweet rice wine vinegar

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 -2 Thai or Serrano pepper minced

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 1 tbsp minced fresh Ginger

• 1/2 finely diced red onion

• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Hold in a separate Ziplock bag:

• Peel, seed and dice 1 cucumber

• Mince 1 tbsp fresh mint

• ½ red bell pepper

• 2 green onions sliced

• 2 tsp cilantro

• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Dice 2 pounds of fresh tuna in to ½-inch cubes. Place the tuna in the first bag and allow to sit on ice for 1 hour. Add the remaining bag and coconut milk and mix well. It’s ready to eat at this point.

Easy Ceviche Marinade to Make Ahead of Time

Ingredients

• Juice of 4 limes

• Juice of 2 lemons

• Zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon finely grated(optional) 1 medium tomato diced

• 1/2 white or yellow onion finely diced

• 2 roma tomatoes finely diced

• 1 jalapeño finely diced

• 1 red bell pepper finely diced

• 1/4 cup cilantro rough cut

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

Directions

1. Mix in a 1-gallon Ziplock the night before your trip and put in your cooler on ice.

2. When you catch your first firm-fleshed white fish (snapper, mahi, northern flounder, etc.) clean and cut it into 1/2-inch cubes and mix in the bag. 1-1 ½ pounds of fish is plenty. Seal the bag and bury it in the ice. Mix it around once an hour or so, and in three to four hours when the fish has turned opaque and firmed up, you are ready to dig in.

Blackened Tuna Sashimi Recipe

Tuna sashimi with a hard drizzle of wasabi. (Phoebe Roussel/)

One night while fishing with some buddies on a 54 Bertram, we had some blackfin tuna come up around the boat, and we caught a bunch of them on spinning rods and Yo Zuri poppers. Around midnight, I was tired of catching blackfins—and starving. I cleaned a tuna and lit the grill. I knew exactly what I was in the mood for and had all of the ingredients to make it. With tuna this fresh, I was going for some blackened tuna sashimi which is a great way to give your tuna some texture and a bit of a spicy kick.

Prep work for blackened tuna sashimi. (Phoebe Roussel/)

Ingredients

• 1 chunk of top tuna loin 6"x 2"x 4"

• 2 tbsp Creole seasoning

• 2 tbsp paprika

• 2 tbsp canola oil

Make ahead of time:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1 tbsp wasabi powder or 1½ tbsp prepared wasabi. Mix together and store cold

Heat until it boils and cool. Store separately:

• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

• Juice of 1 lime and 1 orange

• 1 tsp minced ginger

• 2 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Get your grill as hot as it will get

2. Mix the creole seasoning and paprika

3. Lightly oil the tuna so the seasoning will stick, and coat the fish with the creole seasoning and paprika.

4. Lay your fish on the grill for 30 seconds per side. (Note, you will have four sides. Don't sear the narrow ends.)

5. Take off and slice 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Dip in the citrus soy, and add a dollop of the wasabi mayo. This is great on tortillas, pita, or wonton chips for texture. If you have some, give it a shot.

My uncle, Herbie, served this dish served at his restaurant in Hilo Hawaii, Roussel’s, in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He and his chef were early fans of Hawaiian-Cajun fusion and may have invented this dish.

Tobiko On The Fly Recipe

Last but not least is one of my favorite snacks while offshore. It’s not so much of a dish, in fact, there’s only one ingredient to speak of.

Chances are, if you have ever eaten sushi, you have eaten Tobiko, or flying fish roe. The first time I ever made this, I was drifting on the edge of the continental shelf south of Venice trying to catch a swordfish. I remember the night well as it was a tournament weekend and there were boats tied up to the standby buoys at Cognac and BP109. Our sword fishery was in it’s infancy, so I was trying to be sneaky and not give away my presence as we drifted by them, blacked out with just our green light in the water, fighting a couple of good fish.

On the boat were three of my closest friends, Marc Amos and Mark and Charlotte Hardy. While they were busy fighting what were at that time considered big swords at 178 and 211, we had flying fish gathering at the edge of the boat in the glow of the green light. Now and then one would shoot into the light to try to grab a quick bite to eat, and occasionally, I was lucky enough to net one of them for the live well. While Amos was fighting one of the swords, I snatched a flyer, and it got out of the net onto the deck of the boat. I grabbed it and squeezed a bit to keep the fish in my hands, and, low and behold, she started giving up some of her eggs.

As I held the fish, the eggs dropped around the salty edge of the live well. I knew what Tobiko was and I thought I’d give it a try. The Tobiko took on a bit of salt and seemed to “cure” pretty quickly. Over the next few years, every flying fish that came into my boat was squeezed gently to check for eggs, and if they were present, the eggs were removed prior to it going back out on a live bait rig. There is absolutely no reason to let the tuna or mahi have all of the fun. I find that five minutes of sitting on a salty gunnel or cutting board is all that it takes to cure the roe. Give it a shot, and you won’t be disappointed. It sure beats a soggy bologna sandwich.

This post was original published in Field and Stream.