Skillet Char with Wild Mushrooms and Juniper
Whole trout in a hot iron pan over coals, with mushrooms and a juniper branch.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 12 oz
- cal / oz
- 35
- protein
- 40 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Whole char or trout, gutted and cleaned | 2 fish | about 3/4 lb each |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 2 tbsp | for the pan |
| Wild mushrooms | a small handful | only ones you can identify with certainty; store mushrooms work fine |
| Juniper berries | 6-8 | or a young juniper sprig if you have one |
| Salt | to taste |
Method
- Burn the fire down to a flat bed of coals. Flames scorch the skin before the inside is done.
- Set a cast iron pan over the coals and let it heat until butter hisses on contact.
- Pat the fish dry inside and out. Wet skin steams instead of browning. Salt lightly.
- Melt the butter and lay both fish in. Cook about 5 minutes a side.
- Do not move the fish. When the skin has crisped it will release on its own. Push it early and it tears.
- Tear the mushrooms into rough pieces and add them alongside the fish for the last few minutes.
- Crush the juniper berries and scatter them in, or lay a juniper sprig in the pan and let it smoke under the heat.
- Pull the pan off the coals. The fish is done when the flesh at the spine gives up easily.
Two things decide whether this works, and neither is the ingredient list. The first is the fire: a settled coal bed holds even heat, while open flame torches thin fish skin in under a minute. The second is patience. Fish welds itself to hot iron and then lets go once a crust forms, so the pan tells you when to flip. Prodding it early is how you end up serving scrambled trout.
Juniper is the whole seasoning plan. Crushed berries release resin into the butter, and a green sprig laid in the pan smolders and smokes the fish from underneath. Mushrooms go in late because they cook fast in fat and would otherwise turn to leather while the fish finishes. This is a cooler meal, not a pack meal: fresh fish and butter both need ice, so it belongs at a car site or a boat landing where the catch is close to the pan.
Packing
Fish rides on ice, gutted at home or at the water. Butter in a small screw-top tub. Juniper berries and salt in one tiny bag. The pan is the heaviest thing here, which is why this is a car or boat meal.
Variations
- No wild mushrooms: dried porcini rehydrated in a splash of water work and keep indefinitely.
- A crushed bay leaf substitutes for juniper if you cannot source berries.
- Cook the fish in foil on the grate instead if your pan is small; you lose the crisp skin but gain moisture.
https://petromax.de/blogs/its-all-about-food-1/seesaibling-und-alles-aus-dem-umkreis-von-500-metern