If you’ve ever been to the Florida Keys, you know one appetizer that is usually on the menu is Smoked Fish Dip. When our former tenant left some Wahoo in our freezer in Key Largo, Zeke decided to smoke it so I could make some Smoked Fish Dip. You need an oily fish, like Mackerel or Kingfish, to smoke. I remember one summer, our family took a trip to Bimini and my Mom landed a huge Marlin. My Dad sent it somewhere to get smoked and we ate chunks of smoked fish on saltines for weeks.
I prefer my smoked fish in a dip. I’ve made it before with a recipe I found on the internet, one that most restaurants use, but I prefer this one I found on Food and Wine, as it’s a little fresher. It did make kind of a dry dip (think I added more fish than it called for), so you could always add more mayo, but I feel like a lot of the smoked fish dips out there are TOO mayonaissey.
Smoked Fish Dip by Food and Wine
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese, room temp
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoon horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay
- 8 ounces (1 cup) smoked oily fish
- Whisk together mayo, cream cheese, lemon juice, Dijon, parsley, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and Old Bay in a medium bowl.
- Pulse fish in a food processor until finely chopped (about 10 pulses). Add to mayo mixture and fold to combine. Cover and chill at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Season with additional hot sauce, lemon juice or Old Bay, as desired.
To serve: Take an ice cream scoop and put a couple scoops on a plate. You can top this with capers and chopped red onion, if you like. Options to serve with smoked fish dip: Saltines and pickled jalapeños are standard, with hot sauce (like Texas Pete’s or Crystal) on the side. Club crackers, tortilla chips or sliced veggies (like celery) are another option, as are lemon slices or pepperocini on the side. Add a little flair to your fish dip!
Enjoy these last days of Summer with some Smoked Fish Dip. If you really want to go all out (and eat one of my guilty pleasure dinners) eat it with an ice cold beer and some Hot Chicken Wings!
