General Purpose Soup

Make up 1 litre of good quality stock

Add 1 desert spoon of each

• sesame oil
• fish sauce
• soy sauce
• plum sauce

Add whatever else you have

• fish
• chicken
• pork
• kale
• spring onion
• carrot
• exotic mixed mushrooms
• ...

Nature provides

Just like you find dock leaves growing near nettles, so river mint grows near to where trout swim. Put a sprig of mint in the cavity to offset any muddy taste.

• Gut the trout as soon as possible
• Keep them cool until you're ready to smoke them
• Rub them lightly with salt and brown sugar
• After about 2 hours rinse them off and pat them dry
• Rub them with olive oil
• Put a sprig of river mint in the cavity
• Smoke them for about 10 minutes depending on size.

Eat them slowly, savouring the taste, and picking the flesh from the bones.

Smoking Bluenose

Got two fillets of Bluenose from the fish shop at the wharf. Thought I'd try smoking them.

Brine:

• 3 litres of water
• 1/4 cup of rock salt 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• crushed garlic
• 2 desert spoons soy sauce
• juice of a lemon
• 6 hours in the fridge

Smoking:

• patted dry
• put some turmeric oil on for colour
• 3/4 dish of meths
• 3 handfuls of manuka chips

Eating:

• with salad and boiled potatoes
• nice colour, nice smell, slightly dry
• saltiness about right, could have been sweeter
• judged very nice, could have been better

Next time:

• brine just the same
• smoke for less time
• try 1/3 dish of meths
• try one handful of manuka chips
• doesn't need the Turmeric oil