Good Lamprey Catch On the Yukon (Tanana: eat, steaks, hot)

[Marty Van Diest]

Heard they caught a lot of eels in Grayliing.

Alaska Newspapers Inc. (http://www.alaskanewspapers.com/article.php?article=1046yukon_river_lampreys_expec ted_this_weekend - broken link)

[akpls]

I think I'll stick with my turkey today!

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by akpls

I think I'll stick with my turkey today!

heh...I've tried them. I'll stick with turkey as well. But for some folks they are the best.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

heh...I've tried them. I'll stick with turkey as well. But for some folks they are the best.

People use the small ones for catching burbot at the Chena and Tanana.

[blueflames50]

eels...yes!!! slice 'm gut 'em...skin 'em, slice them into 1" thick steaks and pan fry in butter and herbs!!! yum!

[tigre79]

Just one note: lampreys are very different from eels. Eels are just long fish. Lampreys are very primitive, jawless, cartilaginous "fish" that are probably very similar to the ancestor of all other vertebrates.

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by tigre79

Just one note: lampreys are very different from eels. Eels are just long fish. Lampreys are very primitive, jawless, cartilaginous "fish" that are probably very similar to the ancestor of all other vertebrates.

we are talking about the same creature here...we call them Lamprey eels here and this is what they are...and we eat them!
Lamprey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Grannysroost]

OK girl, the link goes to something about the founder of Wiki....I was anticipating some recipes

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by blueflames50

we are talking about the same creature here...we call them Lamprey eels here and this is what they are...and we eat them!
Lamprey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes, I know some people call them that, but they aren't actually eels. Just like some people say "koala bear" when koalas and bears aren't even closely related.

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by Grannysroost

OK girl, the link goes to something about the founder of Wiki....I was anticipating some recipes

well....you asked! I do like to just clean them, skin 'em (slit down underside use piece of newspaper in your hand, wrap around lamprey (eel) and slide skin off) rinse, lemon juice, salt pepper and fry in pan with butter...but this recipe is really good just takes longer to make sorry I have never done it out in a traditional recipe format as it depends on the amount of eel used:

EELS:

Skin, empty, and wash as clean as possible, two or three fine eels, cut them into short lengths, and just cover them with cold water;
add sufficient salt and cayenne to season them, and stew them very softly indeed from fifteen to twenty minutes, or longer should they require it.
When they are nearly done, strew over them a teaspoonful of minced parsley, thicken the sauce with a teaspoonful of flour mixed with a slice of butter, and add a quarter of a pint or more of clotted cream.
Give the whole a boil, lift the fish into a hot dish, and stir briskly the juice of half a lemon into the sauce; pour it upon the eels, and serve them immediately.
Very sweet thick cream is, we think, preferable to clotted cream for this dish. The sauce should be of a good consistence, and a dessertspoonful of flour will be needed for a large dish of the stew, and from one and a half to two ounces of butter. The size of the fish must determine the precise quantity of liquid and of seasoning which they will require.