Fish Pinchos
Walleye Pinchos (Kabobs)
*Courtesy of David Bradley
My fishing friends really need to try this fish kabob recipe. We were fortunate to spend time in Puerto Rico last January and it seemed that there were pincho vendors on every street corner. They had chicken and pork pinchos everywhere and many of the bars and eating establishments also had fresh tuna and mahi-mahi pinchos. They were wonderful! The Puerto Rican pinchos only have meat and no veggies.
I found this recipe online and we’ve used it 4 times and everyone loved them including our 6 and 3-year-old grandsons. Since most fish including walleyes tend to flake easily when they’re done, I use the big thick back pieces of our large Lake Erie walleyes. These meaty pieces stayed on the bamboo skewers without flaking off. I’m guessing that thinner pieces from smaller fish would tend to fall off the skewers when they were done. I’m confident, however, that this seasoning mix would also be great on fish fillets that were grilled on foil rather than skewers. We had these as appetizers as well as our main dish. We all agreed they would also be great for fish tacos. If I was making for tacos, I would add a little cayenne pepper.
-
1½ lb fresh tuna, cut into cubes (I used walleye)
-
2 tablespoons olive oil
-
1 teaspoon ground cumin (A must have ingredient, IMO)
-
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (I used non-smoked.)
-
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
-
1 teaspoon garlic powder (We’re not big on garlic, and this wasn’t too much.)
-
2 teaspoon dried oregano flakes
-
1 teaspoon salt (I used Seasoned Salt)
(I had a quart ZipLock bag fairly full of fish and needed to double the recipe to have the amount of seasoning I thought was appropriate.)
Soak the bamboo skewers in water
Slice the fish into pieces approx. 1/2 inch thick
Mix dry ingredients together
Place fish on skewers
Brush fish with olive oil (works best if pieces are fairly dry)
Sprinkle seasoning mix on all sides of the fish
Spray grill with Pam
Start with hot grill to get those nice grill marks
Reduce heat and turn fillets to get more grill marks
The fish is done when a fork inserts easily and/or the fish flakes.
Enjoy!
