Ingredients
Fish
- 4whole rainbow trout
- or 4 trout fillets
- 2 teaspoonssalt
- black pepper
- juice of 2 lemons
To season
- 60 gbutter, softened
- 3garlic cloves, crushed
- a handful of parsley, chopped
- a few sprigs of thyme
- 1lemon, sliced
- olive oil, for the grill
For smoking instead
- 3 tablespoonscoarse salt
- 2 tablespoonsbrown sugar
- wood chips, alder or oak
To serve
- boiled potatoes
- a green salad
- lemon wedges
- papa, maize porridge
Directions
- Salt, lemon, butter and herbs are enough. Preparing the fish takes a few minutes. Scale the fish if it is not already done. Gut it and rinse the cavity thoroughly. Pull out the dark line along the backbone. Trim the fins with kitchen scissors. Pat the whole fish completely dry.
- Cut two or three shallow slashes in each side. Do not cut deep, since it is a small fish. Rub the fish with salt and black pepper. Squeeze lemon juice all over it. Add the thyme sprigs in with them.
- Mash the butter with garlic and parsley. Wait until the coals are covered in grey ash. Spread the coals into an even bed. Oil the grill bars well before the fish goes on. Fish skin sticks to a dry grill immediately.
- Lay the fish on the hot grill. Give it about five minutes on that side. Turn it once with a wide slice. Give it another four minutes on there. Take it off the moment it is done. Trout overcooks within a minute or two. Heat butter and oil in a heavy pan. Fry the fish for about four minutes a side.
- Baste it with the butter as it cooks. Mix the salt and brown sugar together. Rub that cure all over the fillets. Leave them in the refrigerator for two hours. Rinse the cure off thoroughly. Pat every fillet completely dry. Let the fillets dry uncovered for an hour.
- Smoke adheres to it far better. Smoking it takes steady attention. Set up a smoker with alder or oak chips. Keep the temperature low and steady. Give it about two hours at eighty degrees.
- Serve grilled trout straight from the fire. Serve boiled potatoes alongside. Smoked trout is always served cold.
Technique
- Katse Dam was built for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which dams highland rivers and sells the water to South Africa; the project displaced a considerable number of people and flooded villages and farmland, with compensation and resettlement disputed in documented and ongoing arguments, and the fish farming came afterwards as a use for the water.
- Rainbow trout needs cold clean water, and the high-altitude reservoir stays cold year round and is deep and well oxygenated, which suits it very well; much of the fish is exported, with Japan a major destination, so less of it stays in Lesotho.
- Trout is delicate and oily, cooks very quickly and dries out fast, so take it off the moment it is done, since it overcooks within a minute or two.
Substitutions
- Any trout or small oily fish grills and smokes the same way.
- A heavy pan with butter works in place of a charcoal grill.
Variations
- It is grilled fresh or cured and cold smoked.
- Papa, the maize porridge, is the local accompaniment.
- A garlic and parsley butter is the usual seasoning either way.
History
Cage farms on Katse Dam, built for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, raise trout in the cold highland water and export much of it to Japan.
Frequently asked questions
What is Katse trout?
Katse trout is a main from Lesotho: rainbow trout raised in cold dam water, grilled or smoked. Cage farms on Katse Dam, built for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, raise trout in the cold highland water and export much of it to Japan.
How long does Katse trout take to make?
Katse trout takes 20 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Katse trout?
Yes, within limits. Any trout or small oily fish grills and smokes the same way. A heavy pan with butter works in place of a charcoal grill.
What is the most important thing to get right in Katse trout?
Salt, lemon, butter and herbs are enough. Preparing the fish takes a few minutes. Scale the fish if it is not already done. Gut it and rinse the cavity thoroughly. Pull out the dark line along the backbone. Trim the fins with kitchen scissors. Pat the whole fish completely dry.
