How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

Porgy.... my favorite fish...here's how to do it.

To begin with, fileting a porgy is a crime.... now, on to the recipe.

Only way to prepare Porgy is grilled....

Bleed as soon as you catch it. Better yet, take the gills and guts out ASAP and put on ice. Scale, dry, and keep out of fridge or cooler for about 1.5 hours.

Then, get a really hot olive-oil rubbed grill going. oil on both sides of the fish, put a sprig of rosemary, crushed garlic clove, and piece of lemon in the cavity.

Grill on one side on a very hot grill (425 or so), for about 5-8 minutes or until it comes off the grill easily (the key is get the fish at room temperature ahead of time- this prevents steam and sticking). Use a fork/tong in each hand method (a nice long-handled fork really helps to get the porgy off the grill with the skin on). You want a nice char (of course). Then, turn and do the other side for another 3-4 minutes or so.

Take off the grill and let fish rest (like a steak) for several minutes. Then, enjoy. Once you figure out the bone pattern, bones are not an issue. The dark meat around the collar is the best...

If this is not close to the top of your fish-eating list, you're not doing it right. :)

Best,

Joe

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

I do something similar with my porgies. Three things I do differently:

1.) After cleaning/gutting/scaling, I'll let them chill on ice in a cooler in the fridge in a ziploc for at least 24 hours.

2.) I score the skin on both sides and brine in salted ice water (bottled), fresh lemon juice, herbs and some white wine for about 10 to 15 minutes.

3.) Before grilling in a fish basket, i pat dry inside and out, rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper inside and out, lemon and herbs into the body cavity.

No one in my house will touch it which means more for me lol...

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

Great recipes guys. I love porgy, both grilled and fried.
For fried, I follow the same principles as in the grilled recipes.
Scale and gut the fish. Leave the head on. Gills out. Score the skin on both sides.
Prepare a mixture of flour and corn meal. Add kosher salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, a pinch of cayenne.
Get the veggie oil super hot. Fry ‘em up…and enjoy.

The worst part of the whole thing is scaling a porgy. Freaking scales everywhere.

Anyone with suggestions for an easy, cleaner scaling option? It would be much appreciated.

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

Porgylber,

Try Big Norm's Magic Fish Scaler. It looks like a toy, and I was skeptical at first. Around $10.00 on amazon/ebay.

You won't regret it. It is excellent for scaling porgies, and the scales do not fly around.

Joe

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

I walk over to my neighbors front lawn and scale them over there using a big metal spoon. They fly all over the place but, hey, its not my lawn LOL... jk... but a metal tablespoon does work pretty well for larger scaled fish.

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

fillet, skin on and smoke.

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

There are some guys that love them, some that won't go near them, and guys like me that are kind of "meh"... The really small sand porgies [before size limits] were less strong and I liked them more than the larger ones we catch on head boats... I dunno, they have a LOT of dark meat, and are just much stronger and "fishier" than most other species that live in the same places, and eat the same food as the Porgy... Given a choice between a 1 pound Blue, and a 1 pound Scup, I would rather eat the Blue.
Porgies are actually pretty firm, but I dunno to a lot of us they are just strong tasting, and get stronger each day when refrigerated for a few days...
I keep them and eat some, but often give some away on the boat, and certainly give some away at home... They are ok, but not close to Tog, Sea Bass, Ling, Flatties, etc etc... About the same "edibility"level as a sea robin[meh]. bob

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

They really are made for the grill.

I like to salt them down overnight, packed in plenty of paper towels - the meat will be well seasoned and firm up nicely.

https://youtu.be/bnHA5OQtHQc

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

How do you get the immortal ones to hold still long enough to scale/grill them??? :p

Re: How to properly prepare the immortal porgy....
 

Now thats funny!!