By Lynn Burkhead, For The Herald Democrat
By most accounts, this summer’s striped bass fishing on Lake Texoma has been pretty good.
Meaning that if you’ve ventured out onto the two-state reservoir with a topwater bait, a slab, or some live bait, you’ve probably come home with a few striper filets to sample.
Frying them up is one option, as is putting a few filets on the grill. But there’s also a third option I wrote about several years ago, and one that is worthy of being resurrected since the original story isn’t on the Internet any longer.
Want to try and turn the bounty of Lake Texoma’s striped bass into another tasty and popular dish, one that many will enjoy if they like the taste of seafood? Then prepare a batch of striped bass filets as the main ingredient for a regional recipe called Texoma Shrimp, one that is reminiscent of a Gulf Coast shrimp boil.
From the story that ran a few years back, here’s how you prepare this recipe, one that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries biologist Dan Bennett and others have shared with yours truly down through the years. It’s a good one and is perfect for a summertime lakeside gathering or back-deck cookout:
* Striper fillets with the red meat portion cut out
* Old Bay or Zatarain’s Crab Boil Mix
* Onions and other desired spices
To start the preparation for this dish, begin by cutting the striped bass fillets up into medium bite-sized cubes.
Next, bring a couple of quarts of water to a full boil along with a spice packet from a box of Old Bay Crab Boil Mix. If desired, then add onion slices and/or other desired spices to the water before cooking the fish.
The next step is to bring the pot of water to a full, roiling boil for a good 15 minutes or so before turning off the heat.
When the water has stopped boiling, drop the striped bass cubes into the hot water (not into the boiling water) and stir them around until they begin to turn white and flake apart.
At that point, remove the striper cubes, drain them well and chill for up to an hour in the refrigerator, allowing the cubes to get good and cold.
When the striper meat has thoroughly chilled, serve it with cocktail sauce as an appetizer.
And as good as this can be, something tells me that it won’t last long!