Smoked walu and tuna bellies...

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welshrarebit

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Feb 20, 2014
1,708
106
Kona, Hawaii
I was given a walu today and I'll be putting some of it in the smoker tonite...

I also got a belly from a yellowfin tuna that was 126 lbs that'll be along for the ride.

So I'm working at the fish market today and I'm in the back weighing up some mon chongs and this guy walks up holding this ugly fish and asks for me by name. I've never seen this dude before and I say I'm me. He say that he has something for me from Del... I use to work with Del a few years back and now he's a commercial fisherman! The guy gives me a 28 lb walu!!!!

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I was also given a 10 lb kavakava by a different fisherman that I made some into poke. Here's all the fish cleaned and at home:

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The two ziplock on the left are walu fillets. The back right Ziplock is two walu fillets in a brown sugar and kosher salt bribe (rub?), the middle right bag is the tuna bellies and the front right are three kavakava (Bonita) fillets.

I'm gonna vacuum pack and freeze the rest of the walu for making lau laus at a future date...

I'm gonna use my WSM 22.5 and amnts with pitmasters blend pellets.

I'm gonna be eating smoked walu and bagels tomorrow morning...




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This is officially a cold smoke!


Mauna Loa covered in snow... It took four months but winter has finally arrived in Hawaii...

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The rest of the walu ready for the freezer...

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The ahi bellies and walu taking a smoke bath...

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Im hoping for an incredible breakfast of smoked walu on bagels with onions, capers and cream cheese!


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Two and a half hours in I fire up my weber gasser for a kinda reverse sear for the tuna bellies.

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The walu is going to be a cold smoke straight thru...

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64* outside temp and 73* in the WSM!

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Amnts doing its thing!!!


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Don't know that walu by name but it's a good looking fillet!
Looks like some of our deep water cod type fish ,warm or cold water.
Does it have a bit of oil,in a good way?

Walu is what we call it here it's better known as escolar. There is a lot of oil in it and you can't eat to much at once or your stomach will get upset. But the flavor is very good!!!! I have smoked some before at a previous job and I hope it comes out as good as that I'm gonna be eating good! The price for all the fish was right: free! ;)
 
Welshrarebit That Tuna Belly looks great, I like the reverse sear at the finish. Going to remember that when I get some Belly. Thanks for sharing 
points.gif
 
Looking good Woody! I saw that Hawaii was the only state with a blizzard warning yesterday!

Enjoy your Walu loxs and bagel breakfast!
 
Looking good Woody! I saw that Hawaii was the only state with a blizzard warning yesterday!

Enjoy your Walu loxs and bagel breakfast!

Our civil defense has been busy the past six months! Between the two hurricane near misses and the lava flow and the blizzard on our main summits... We had a small wind storm here yesterday and a coupe of big ohias fell, luckily none over a road or fence line. I bought a brand new chain for my chain saw; I'll need another new one tomorrow! Cutting up ohia is like cutting thru cement (as you know). The good news is ohia wood is magical with beef!!!!


Looking good!! 

Mahalo!

Everything looks so good, the tuna bellies look outstanding.  Hope you enjoy all.

Tom

Thanks Tom!

Welshrarebit That Tuna Belly looks great, I like the reverse sear at the finish. Going to remember that when I get some Belly. Thanks for sharing :points:

Mahalo nui loa... I had one small piece break off last night so I sampled it right off the grill and it was AMAZING!!! Thanks for the point!


Looks good so far Welsh!! Can't wait to see the bagel pics!

Walu Lox and bagel pic on its way... ;)
 
Here's the walu lox and bagel...

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The only thing I would do different next time is to try and get a better pellicle on the walu. I had it in the sugar/salt mixture for about seven hours, then two hours under a fan at high speed and then about three and a half hours of smoke.

The tuna came out perfect...


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Here's the walu lox and bagel...

8a42c4c30c884a6939cc1c76973adcc3.jpg


The only thing I would do different next time is to try and get a better pellicle on the walu. I had it in the sugar/salt mixture for about seven hours, then two hours under a fan at high speed and then about three and a half hours of smoke.

The tuna came out perfect...


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Hmmmm looks great! I love a bagel with lox,onion and cream cheese!! Great job Thanks for sharing
 
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