More efficient way to cook fresh caught fish while camping

Question

I am camping over the weekend in Idaho. Plan on catching primarily trout. Will keep the fish fresh and alive until dinner time. A camp fire will be maintained through out the day to ensure hot embers to cook on.

Ingredients and utensils I will have: • box of kosher salt • an abundant amount of tin foil • tongs • a half sheet pan • clean towels • lemons • fresh herbs from garden; thyme and sage. • butter • garlic

I plan on cooking the fish wrapped in foil after cleaned, salted and stuffed with condiments stated above.

What else should I bring? Other techniques on camp fire cooking? Will be out there for two days, so a salt cure?

My time spent is fishing and cooking so plenty of time to play around and get technically with my preparation.

Answer 1

As you will have the freshest fish possible and only limited equipment and ingredients in your camp, why not choose a preparation that is in its simplicity highlighting the fish, needs almost no equipment and creates no trash:

Plank cooking, also known as Loimulohi.

The cleaned fish, filleted or butterflied, is nailed on a wooden plank, either with ordinary nails or wooden pegs. Then the whole board is either stood up vertically around a (blazing) fire, leaned forward towards the fire or placed over the embers, depending on your preferences.

You can use basically every untreated, non-poisonous wood, in the Pacific North West, cedar is traditionally used because of the aroma it imparts.

Answer 2

If you are driving to your campsite or canoeing to it then I would suggest a cast iron frying pan because you can set it directly on the coals and cook. Simple pan-fried trout with a bit of salt and pepper is extremely easy and tasty too. If you have to haul all your equipment then your foil cooking is a great idea, you can also weave your (flat) fish through a hefty stick and then put the stick into the ground so the fish is near the coals.

I don't know that much about salt curing on a campsite, but you could make a ceviche with the raw fish, all you need is some acid like lime juice. If you do campsite salt curing or acid curing like ceviche you need to be aware that there is a risk of parasites as the fish has not been frozen to get rid of foodborne illnesses, and you won't have temperature control during the curing process. You'll need to go into that with your eyes open.