Smoked Sablefish Chowder

Recipe by Chef John Wahlke

Smoked Sablefish Chowder

1/3 cup whole unsalted butter

1 ½ cups diced yellow onion

1 cup diced celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/3 cup flour

1 ½ cup vegetable stock

1 pint fish stock or clam juice

½ cup heavy cream

2cups whole milk

1 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper

½ cup chopped kale

¼ cup chopped bull kelp (ribbons or blades) *optional

1 pound diced Yukon gold potatoes

1 pound applewood smoked Sablefish (reserve some for garnish), recipe below

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

2 teaspoons thinly sliced chives

½ lemon (about 1 ½ tablespoons), squeezed

½ teaspoon hot sauce

In a large sauce pot over medium- high heat, add the butter. When melted, add the onions and the celery. Sweat the vegetables until soft, but do not brown. Add garlic and stir continuously to not burn the garlic.  Add the flour and continue to stir, forming a roux. Reduce the heat to low and continue to thoroughly mix.  Add the vegetable stock and fish stock and return the heat to med high. Stir to incorporate the roux into the liquid. Add the heavy cream and milk. Bring to a boil, then return to low heat and simmer while stirring to prevent scorching. At this point the soup should be thickened. Add your salt, pepper, kale, kelp, and potatoes. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes, stirring often.  Add the fish, thyme, chives, lemon juice and hot sauce. Check seasoning and add additional salt, lemon juice or hot sauce as necessary. Note: In my opinion, chowder is best over the next couple days as it allows flavors to grow.  Serve hot with sourdough bread and garnish with chunks of smoked Sablefish.  The chowder will last in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

Smoked Sablefish

Begin by making by salting the Sablefish fillet generously and transferring uncovered to the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.  This will pull out some moisture and allow it to absorb whatever you want to add. In this case a brine.  I use a simple brine of water, salt, brown sugar, curing salt and spices.  Let that sit overnight.  Remove from the brine, rinse with water and dry. Allow it to dry completely. I prefer to allow it to sit uncovered in the refrigerator again for a few hours to get a tacky dryness to the flesh.  It is now ready for the smoker.

I use Oregon applewood pellets in my smoking process to give it a slightly sweeter yet still nice smokey flavor to the fish. At approximately 150 degrees it should take about 3-4 hours to smoke, depending on the thickness of the fillet. You are looking for a nice deep golden brown on the outside and it will have a beautiful pearl white interior color as it flakes.