Caviar has always had a hold on me. It is a mysterious ingredient, almost otherworldy; the individual eggs look like jewels from an alien planet. Caviar tastes briny and vaguely floral, and the textural surprise of the pop in your mouth has led more than one writer to liken it to Pop Rocks for adults.
I’ve eaten all sorts of caviar, from spendy Osetra sturgeon caviar to our own California white sturgeon eggs, to Paddlefish roe to salmon roe ikura, to the wonderful little eggs from flying fish (tobiko), capelin and whitefish, which is a golden yellow. I’ve also eaten caviar from trout and char.
Steelhead roe is a particular favorite, as is king salmon roe.
I’d read about a general method of making caviar in a book called The Philosopher Fish, which involves gently removing the eggs from the skein — the membrane holding them together — rinsing them, salting them and drying them. It seemed pretty easy, which alarmed me: How could something so mysterious be so easy to create? It didn’t seem fair.
I delved into some more research, and it is indeed that easy. The art comes in the details: How do you get the eggs out of the skein? How much salt? How long to brine or rub the eggs? What temperature do you store them at?
So I use an amalgam of the methods I’d read about. I brine the salmon roe for a half hour in the fridge. Then I run the skein under hot tap water, which shrinks the membrane and lets the eggs drop into a colander. I then return the eggs to the brine for another 30 minutes. I rinse them off and let them drain in the colander for 15 minutes. Then I package them into a clean glass jar in the fridge. Done!
And there is an easier way: Run them over a cooling rack, membrane side up. Either method results in some egg loss, and the hot water trick can sometimes cook the eggs, which is no bueno.
Aren’t they the coolest things ever? I have a hard time not taking them out of the fridge just to look at them. homemade caviar keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge, but I think it gets fishy after about a week.
I prefer my caviar straight, served in a special spoon, so you can linger over the qualities of this caviar versus that one; this is what the Russians do when they serve the three classic sturgeon caviars: Beluga, Sevruga and Osetra. In case anyone cares, I am particularly fond of Osetra, which is pretty close to our caviar made from California white sturgeon.
Remove from your mind the notion that the only good caviar comes from sturgeon.
The tobiko and masago you see in sushi restaurants is caviar from the flying fish and the capelin, a kind of herring. It really is like pop rocks. Whitefish caviar is even better, and is a beautiful canary color. Lumpfish is like a larger sturgeon caviar, but trout and salmon caviar is its own thing: large, luxurious, and slightly fatty — I saw thousands of minute fat droplets floating on the top of the brine when I made it.
When combined with a larger dish, caviar can become an accent that makes a good dish great.
I make a pasta dish with flaked salmon, mixed with toasted pine nuts, parsley, shallots, olive oil, Meyer lemon juice — and a spoonful of salmon roe caviar. The color and pop really makes the dish.
Homemade caviar also works well as a garnish for a simple Japanese dish of salmon or trout wrapped in buttered foil with some matsutake (or other) mushrooms, sake and lemon slices, then baked it for 20 minutes. Damn good.
Will this method work for other fish roes? Yep. I imagine the salting times and care you will need to dislodge the eggs will change, but the basic technique shouldn’t change.
How to Make Caviar
Ingredients
- 1 full skein of steelhead, trout or salmon roe
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
Instructions
- Mix the salt and 1 quart ice-cold water until the salt is all dissolved.
- Make sure the roe skeins are split, so you have an opening that the eggs can come out. Set up a cooling rack or something else with a wide mesh (chicken wire works, too) over a bowl. Take a roe skein and, with the membrane facing up work the eggs out through the rack. Perfectly ripe eggs will come off easily, unripe ones will require some force. Either way, you will pop some eggs in the process.
- ALTERNATE METHOD: Get the faucet running with warm water roughly 105°F to 115°F, or heat cool tap water to this temperature -- some people fear that hot tap water can add harsh minerals to their food. Either way works. Fill a metal or glass bowl with the warm water. Dunk a few skeins of roe at a time in the warm water. Gently massage the eggs out of the skeins with your fingers under the surface of the warm water. They will float away and sink. Discard the skeins.
- Have a fine-meshed sieve ready. Pour the strained eggs into the strainer to rinse them well with cold water. Pick out clumps or stray bits of membrane.
- Dunk the eggs in the brine for 5 minutes. Taste them and if they are salty enough for you, drain them again. You can brine for up to 30 minutes, but they will be very salty. My preferred brine time is 10 minutes. Spoon carefully into a clean glass jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, but try to eat them within a week or they will start to get fishy.
Hank~off topic but couldn’t think of another way to get an answer. I’m on day 9 with your bottarga process using shad roe. It’s been in the basement, salted daily changing towels. It’s pretty hard and won’t take anymore salt. It doesn’t smell fishy at all, more like the ocean. Should I move it to the fridge now or can I leave it sit out longer? Thanks!
I just made this last night with some steelhead roe from a fish I caught yesterday. It turned out great. I bought some salmon roe caviar from the store to compare my home made stuff to and I preferred the batch I made following this recipe.
I have made many of Hank Shaw’s recipes. As a hunter and angler I appreciate his creativity.
I’ve made this numerous times with all kinds of salmon and a few varieties of trout. The instructions are clear and the recipe is flexible. Hard to mess these up!
I like how you stated that when combined with a larger dish, caviar can become an accent that makes a good dish great. My husband absolutely loves Caviar, so I want to attempt to make it for our anniversary next month. I will definitely keep all of your great tips and information in mind when trying to make Caviar.
I just made a batch of caviar from red salmon Roe using your recipe. It is fantastic! I used a steel veggie steamer screen to push the eggs through. It was easy. Thanks for your method! I will be using it from now on.
Actually, Lumpfish is it’s own critter. It’s not Paddlefish. Paddlefish caviar makers are very proud of their products .. and call it that. Very close to the fine Russian caviars and easier to find (and cheaper). Whole Foods carries it. Lumpfish is actually a salt water fish and not a very pretty one. The eggs are real black when I have seen it. Though I don’t know if it is a natural color or not. For those folks that catch and bring home Paddlefish (Spoonbills), would this recipe work just as well or do you think changes should be made?
Sea Wolf: Interesting, I didn’t know that! And yes, I have actually used this very recipe for spoonbills.
I thought I had my salmon caviar recipe down pat — brine in one part salt and four parts water for 10-20 minutes depending on how salty you like it, wash off the brine in cold water and jar — but the last time I made a batch of coho caviar it turned out to be somewhat dry. The taste was OK but some of the eggs stuck together and seemed to be less oily than they should have been. Did i wash them too much or did I make some other mistake?
I thought I had my caviar recipe down pat: Chum best, then coho, chinook, steelhead, sockeye and pinks in that order; mix one part salt to 4 parts cold water, brine for 10-15 minutes depending on taste, wash off the brine in a colander and jar the caviar. But the last time I made some coho caviar the taste was fine but the eggs seemed too dry, a lot stuck together and there didn’t seem to be enough oil in the mix. Did I wash the eggs too much or what else did I do wrong?
Holger: Could just be the eggs themselves. I’ve had tacky eggs like that before.
Theon Greyjoy,
Yes, you can do this with almost any fresh water fish roe. Most of the commercial “caviar” has been frozen before canning anyhow. You just have to thaw it with care, and you will see very little difference.
The recipe for fresh water roe: empty the roe bag in to a bowl by making a small incision to one end of the egg sack, and push out the roe using the back of your knife or a spoon. Use a fork or a hand whisk to remove any veins and pieces of membrane by gently (I mean very gently) whisking the eggs.
Once the roe is clean, you must freeze the roe at least 24 hrs at least -18 C / 0 F.
Once this has taken care of all the nasties that might be in the fresh water fish eggs, you are ready to slowly de-freeze the roe in the fridge, and proceed with the salting or any other method you like. Thaw the roe in a mesh colander over a bowl, and you get nice loose eggs.
Are you able to do this with freshwater fish? I fish the great lakes and am always sad to see the salmon roe being discarded at the fishing station.
A great recipe ! We tried it today with Shad roe. Delightful.
Great recipe. Thanks, Hank. Made it last night with eggs from a 23-inch hen Missouri River rainbow. Note: Do not make caviar from any gar species. The green eggs are poisonous. But everything else? Have at it. The only way to know is to try.
Tom: Very true about gar eggs! I think there might be one or two other North American fish with toxic or at least foul-tasting roe.
Does this recipe work with mudfish or “Bowfin”?
Will: I’ve never used it on bowfin, but it works on paddlefish.
I have been smoking salmon roe for years and have had great success. Only recently I have tried making trout caviar and it has been delicious. I live near Lake Tahoe and occasionally have access to lake trout roe. Have you made caviar with this, and how was it?
Steven: Not lakers, but most other trout yes.
Thanks Hank. What steps do you suggest to minimize that risk? And how serious is the risk, in your opinion. I read an FDA warning that said it is rare for parasites to be in eggs in salmon. Most often any parasites associated with eggs are contained within the skein membrane. That was for oceangoing fish though. I’m sure steelhead would have a similar issue once they hit fresh water. I would really like to try this and I have access to copious amounts of Kokanee. , I’ve just done my bouts with parasites from time overseas and not excited about reliving my younger days.
Are there any concerns with using freshwater fish for caviar? Parasite issues or the like?
Rob: I’ve not read about any, but I bet there is a risk.
Hello Hank, I will be returning to Sitka AK this coming August to do some fishing for silver salmon. These are bright ocean run fish that are fat and often full of roe. The lodge I stay at will clean, vacuum seal, and pack our fish for transport (frozen) back to our home in Georgia. On past trips the roe was either discarded or our captain would use the skeins for halibut bait when bottom fishing. I would love to bring some of this roe home and try your technique for making caviar but was wondering if the freezing would ruin it. Can it be frozen prior to processing?
George: It can be frozen, but I have never liked it thawed out. There is a trick to it, apparently, that I have yet to learn.
Has anyone tried ling cod roe? It’s salting in my brine right now. Small white eggs.
Ellen: I have not. Let me know how it turns out!
Thanks for the recipe!! What if you cannot prepare the roe right away? Does it work to freeze the roe and then defrost when you’re ready to prepare it? I am getting some roe from my fisher/father-in-law, and so I won’t have access to it immediately. Thanks!
Denise: Nope. You need to make it straight away. It does not keep well.
Salting can kill those parasites but it needs lot of salt to the level that too salty.
Will the salting of the roe kill parasites? as in, would you be safe from tape worms and other little critters?
I found your article after I read one that said that the fish should not die before the roe is removed. Upon death, the fish excretes something into the eggs to make them bitter. Do you find this to be true?
Trina: No, never. I’ve done this scores of times and never had a problem.
can frozen roe be used after its thawed?
Riochard: I have not had good success with it, sorry.
I live near a fish hatchery that always seems to have a lot of extra trout eggs, I’ll take a trip down there next spring to see if I can pry a couple pounds off them.
Thanks for a really interesting article!
In my opinion nothing beats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalix_L%C3%B6jrom
but I’m also a big fan of burbot roe.
I made caviar for the first time this year, just a few weeks ago. I caught a couple of Pink Salmon in the Skykomish River in Washington and kept one. It was about a 7-pound fish and when I cleaned it, there were these beautiful eggs inside. Decided I had to make caviar out of it so I gave them a quick rinse; put them in a bowl; and set them aside while I filleted the fish. After filleting and putting the fish in the fridge, I hopped on the computer to find out how to turn these eggs into caviar.
I found a number of methods most saying to use the cake/pastry cooler with 1/4″ mesh to separate the eggs. Didn’t have one and the stores close by didn’t carry them. Found one method using hot water, so I did that. Ran hot tap water into a bowl, submerged and started to massage the eggs. They came loose pretty easily but changed to a milky color in the hot water. Instructions said, don’t worry, they will change back and they did.
Once they were all in the bowl, I drained the bowl and filled with cold water (the small pieces of skein will float to the top). Then kept filling with cold water and dumping the top layer off until there were almost no little bits floating at all. Picked out the last few floaters and drained through a strainer again. Not hard to do at all, just takes about 7 to 10 minutes to get there. The eggs start losing that milky color when you use the cold water but really look good at the end of it all.
I then mixed a brine of 3-cups of COLD water and enough salt stirred into it to saturate the water leaving just a little undissolved salt in the bottom of the dish. Then I added 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. After mixing well, I added the eggs to the brine and let them sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you’ll want to take a few eggs out, rinse them well in cold water to get the salt covering off the outside, and taste them. If they are not salty enough, put them back in the brine tasting them every 5 minutes until you like the taste. If they are too salty, fear not, it is easy to fix. Pull them out of the brine solution, rinse in cold water, and put into a bowl of clean fresh cold water for 5 to 10-minutes, tasting them every 5-minutes. Because the eggs surface is still permeable, this will leach the salt out of it.
Once you get the taste where you want it, rinse the eggs well and leave the eggs in a strainer over a bowl. Then fill a ziplock bag with cold water, set it on top of the eggs in the strainer and set the whole assembly in the refrigerator for 12 hours (overnight). The water-filled zip-lock bag compresses the eggs and the remaining water pools in the bottom of the bowl.
When I took them out of the fridge 12-hours later I was rewarded with delicious, beautiful, translucent orange pearls of salmon caviar. I ate them on crackers with cream cheese that evening and made some ikura sushi the next day so we could eat a fair amount of them before we had to leave town for two-weeks.
I put the rest in the freezer, and just now pulled them out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to slowly thaw. Supposed to take 8 to 12 hours to thaw out. We’ll see how that goes. Hope it goes well because I had to freeze about 1/2 of the batch and I’d sure like to eat some more of these!
Thanks for this recipe, it is very similar to mine expect I learned how to do this in Japan so I used soy sauce mixed with mirin and water as my brine. The flavour of the eggs isn’t hidden at all and you get a nice fermented back taste from the soy sauce. Use about the same ratios you already use, I would just use the soy sauce until the water turns a light brown.
I just tried this method and the caviar was very tasty. I was wondering if you have found a way to preserve for later use since last year…either by canning or freezing methods. I have over 3 gallons of roe and when I have just frozen the eggs, they don’t look good. Was hoping freezing or canning processed caviar would have a different outcome. If not, will just have to enjoy now and leave it at that.
Hank I will be on Lake Michigan fishing King Salmon this weekend. I’ve heard that there could be parasites in fresh water fish? Any thoughts on this or can I use the roe from these kings to make caviar?
Brad: I’ve done it with freshwater trout before. I think there is a risk, but that it’s smaller because a) parasites tend to not be in the eggs, and b) you are salting the eggs, which gives you some protection.
I am going sturgeon fishing later this month and hope to catch one in the keeper range of the slot. How long from taking the fish to making the caviar? How do I transport the roe from where we catch the fish and spend the night and make the 5 hour trip home? The fish we’ll pack with ice in a large plastic bag, hopefully in a large enough cooler to hold it. Just wondering how much we’ll get from a 4ft sturgeon…..
Keith: Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is a 98% chance you won’t catch a sturgeon with roe: That’s why they set the slot limit the way they do. My friend who is a sturgeon guide gets maybe 2 a year. Very, very rare.
Tried this last weekend with some fresh steelhead row from the Rogue River in Oregon. OMG! So, so surprisingly good. Thanks for this. Love your site, even more so, since I lived in Woodland for 5 years and often recognize the places you write about. Loved your episode of Bourdain’s show. Keep up the great writing. You’re on a righteous mission.
Do you feel this process will work well with paddlefish roe? We do catch some females who are laden with roe later in the season here in Missouri. I would like to at least try it and have my family try this. I have eaten sturgeon caviar in the past and enjoyed it.
Tom: Yep. Should work just fine!
Dear friends
How could I prepare snail caviar? Can I use this guide and apply to snail eggs to make caviar?
Anh: You’re on your own with this one, sorry!
Thank you for sharing. The one thing I would caution about is that using anything metal (bowl, strainer, spoon, storage container) will transfer some metallic taste to the roe. Best to stick with plastic strainer, plastic or glass bowl/tub for cleaning; plastic or wooden spoon for stirring.
Bluegills,Redears,and all types of Perch Roe make good Caviar with the best coming from Black Crappie & Sac-a-Lait. Catfish Roe is plentiful and easy to work with from Blue Channel,Channel,and Flathead (“Opps”) Catfish.Here in Louisiana we are still allowed to Catch Two Spoonbills per person and you know that is good. Never tried it Bowfin (“Choupique”)but I don’t see why not! All of this Roe can be battered and deep fried if you want to try it. Catfish Roe can be lightly smoked before salting,but don’t dry it out! My Grandfather,born on a houseboat on the Atchafalaya River,told me that the Roe of ALL Garfish was poisionus and he would not mess with it.So I don’t either.
I have cought a lot of ripe hen steelhead in my day, and I hate seeing a hen spit her eggs out as I try to get the fly out of her mouth. Would those eggs works and taste the same as the eggs in skein?
As for the question as to whether caviar can be frozen, yes it can. I have eaten whitefish caviar (easy to get here in NE Wisconsin) after it was frozen and then thawed. It was excellent. You might need to rinse it and drain it before use, otherwise it’s a little slimy.
I would be interested to hear if others have frozen other kinds of homemade caviar and what were the results.
Thank you for your simple recipe. We sometimes go one step simpler by eating the roe straight from the landlocked salmon, the Maine state fish…..but it is a little more civilized your way.
I use the hot water method to get the eggs free of the skeins…and think it works the best.
I have “canned” some of my excess product. I hot water bath the small jars (8-10 oz) with a temp probe in the middle. When temp hits 140 I put the lids on and screw them down lightly. I then put a cover over the pan and simmmer them an additional 5 minutes, and then using a towel for heat protection screw the lids down firmly/tight. I leave them on the counter to check for a vaccum/tight seal, and then keep them in the frig in the coldest part till opening and using them.
It does give them a lighter orange color if using salmon roe, and it isn’t as good as fresh, but it does give me caviar year round.
Jars that don’t “seal” I use up within a few weeks.
Is it just salt used to preserve? Does anyone use Borax?
If the eggs are frozen to store does the glucose affect the flavour
when thawed?
Thanks
how about, processing fresh first. once its finished then freeze.
other method im interested in testing, is similar to how human or other animal reproductive eggs are harvested and stored. to combat freeze damage, they are stored in glucose i believe. but that might interfere with what ever kills any parasites. any thoughts?
Stephen: I’d like to know, too! I’ve never had any success working with either frozen eggs, or when I freeze the caviar. It always comes out mushy.
would like to know if it is damaging or even possible to freeze the eggs sometime in the process. more in the interest to deal with parasites than anything else.
my interest is mainly smelt/whitefish/salmon from inland lakes.
also is it possible to store frozen eggs? it seems i have seen some in the grocery store.
Is there anyone who has tried fresh water perch roe. I used to cure and devour herring roe while commercial fishing Alaska in a former life. I am going to try the curing/smoking recipe just to experiment. After filleting a nice catch of fresh water perch the roe just looked way to good to discard
To the gentleman inquiring about bowfin. This is my coonass caviar method: to remove the roe use a grease splatter screen over a bowl. Rub the skein gently around in a circular motion, until they fall through. Wash the roe in water, using your finger to stir the mass. Skim off the water and repeat until clean. Now for the brine, 1/2 cup of salt, 1 cup water, 1 dash of cayenne pepper, a spritz of lemon. Let the roe soak for and hour, strain off the water, I use a coffee filter in a colander. Taste, if too salty rinse with a little cold water. Once it’s to your liking, use multiple layers of paper towels to dry and place in a suitable container and refrigerate.
We caught some Lake Superior whitefish that are full of eggs. Do you have any other suggestions on how to make caviar out of them? Norm
Just pulled a large Mountain Whitefish from a river while visiting/fishing Wyoming. It was loaded with eggs. Anyone see a reason why this wouldn’t work for a Mountain Whitefish. Thanks!
Ha – two Yukoners stumble upon this independently within a day of each other. I just tried this for the first time with a lake whitefish I caught this evening in Little Atlin Lake (I’d have liked more than one, but they’re no longer as findable as they were through the summer); golden caviar, with lovely delicate lake and cucumber essence, delivered in salty little pops. I suspect I’ll make this again (and try it out with some larger eggs from different species, too).
Jennifer, your silver caviar looks amazing!
Thanks for the recipe! I shared it with the listeners of My Yukon Life podcast radio.
Has anyone tried making “caviar” with lionfish eggs? I’m organizing an invasive species cook-off and would love to include “caviar”. Please let me know.
I live in Cordova, Alaska, and eat Coho – Silver Salmon eggs as caviar all the time and love the little jewels,…I do mine a bit differently however and to a way I think that many of you will love. I start off with fresh skeins of roe, smoke them for 6 – 7 hrs in Alder (cold smoking only), then with warm water, 105 – 115F, separate the eggs from the skeins in the sink gently into a fine screen sieve. Then I place the eggs into a bowl and fill with cold water several times until I have all of the shells and membrane washed out of the eggs. I have also made a 100% brine solution with ice that I place the separated eggs into and stir gently until the eggs fall to the bottom. Then I drain them off and rinse with cold water which will find more shells that got by earlier. Keep tasting through this process until you get the saltiness you are after. The caviar will still last 2 – 3 weeks in the refrigerator. You will also have a product that folks will rave about,…Even those that thought they would never try them. Unsmoked is also great!
I just tried this recipe with silver (coho) salmon that I caught this morning. Wow. Absolutely delicious. And I love it that you can adjust the saltiness to taste. Now I really can’t wait to get out fishing again because I definitely want to make more caviar. Thank you for posting this recipe.
I’ve made this twice now using Pink Salmon roe over the last two weeks. Absolutely fabulous!! English Muffin spread with mashed avocado and caviar on top. Yum and nice looking too!!!
Hmmm…my King salmon eggs didn’t clear up; they stayed very orange. They still tasted amazing, but I was hoping for the pretty clear look. Any suggestions? Also, I love this recipe, so simple! Thank you!
Scott, the trout you caught had egg’s in her from last year’s spawning. They didn’t get ejected. Any one know of a roe recipe that will last a long time?? Thanks, Jim
Just did this with the king I caught and it turned out great. I’d say my yield was rather low (perhaps) as a lot of the eggs popped when I was separating them, but the finished product tastes amazing. I let them soak just shy of 5 minutes for the second brining–any longer would’ve been too salty for me. I’ll certainly be saving the skeins from now on.
I am in Alaska and caught my first salmon (reds) this week. I didn’t have a good recipe, but I did the brine overnight then warm water to finish getting the membrane off. It really worked. they are clear with the dark yoke showing through the translucent egg sack. What fun.
Having never eaten caviar before, I think it will make a good accent to a dish. (it’s a bit salty maybe because I brined overnight
Larry: While I’ve never done it with bowfin, I think it would be perfect, given the size of bowfin eggs. Lemme know how it goes, OK?
Will this process work with bowfin as well?
I just got back from a week in the Eastern Sierras, did a lot of hiking and fishing, was lucky enough to catch 4 wild rainbow trout full of roe. I didn’t have an internet connection so worked mostly from memory of this post in making caviar…didn’t bother removing the membranes so it was a very simple procedure…wasn’t too worried about parasites but brined the fish overnight in salt water with a pinch of sugar and a dash of soy sauce, then diluted the brine shortly before draining and serving the caviar to get rid of excess saltiness. With boiled potatoes, sour cream enlivened with chopped wild onions, and a drop of lemon juice, it was our most memorable camping meal! And it looked as beautiful as it tasted.
I caught a trout today and when I opened it up there were orange eggs but not like in the pic above, all bunched together held in the membrane, just a few…maybe a small spoon full but they were “floating” loose inside. Whats up with that? I was fishing the lake not a river. Could it be she had gone up stream laid most of the eggs and some how got back down in the lake? Im still gonna try to cure the eggs 🙂
great article – wondering if same process holds true for freshwater – out of tributaries as well as from Lake Michigan. The brown trout roe looks wonderful, but I have yet to prepare it…
Thanks for the tips, I’m gonna make some sturgeon Caviar tonight. Again, Thanks
Made a nice jarful from King Salmon roe fished out of Lake Michigan. What a rousing success this process was! To be honest, I’m not generally a caviar fan, but these little jewels were mild and spectacularly delicious! Thanks, Hank!
Fabulous!
Living Alaska: Nope, I have not tried to preserve the caviar past the fridge time. It’s tricky, from what I can gather. You need a place to store the caviar at around 27 degrees — colder than a fridge but warmer than a freezer.
Making salmon caviar is something that we have always talked about doing and have not done. You saved us some research and we will be giving your method a try once the salmon start showing up in a month. Have you ever tried to preserve them beyond the fridge time? Thanks.
Thank you for having this recipe online. I fish for trout and bass and have wanted to make my own caviar and this looks like a very good recipe. I look forward to trying it out!
Hank,
I’m counting down the days until trout season opens and wanting to try this out when I get some trout eggs.
I have also read an older post from you about making bottarga – it looks like the egg sacs you would use for that are quite large, but have you ever made a ‘bottarga’ with trout, salmon or steelhead roe or heard of someone doing so?
Thanks!
I thought you’d enjoy the post I just put up. I’m having fun playing with fish eggs this winter 🙂
http://borninthewrongcentury.com/2012/02/21/how-to-use-fish-eggs/
Finally! This is the first place I found real and useful information about caviar. I have never before tried making my own ‘cos I always buy caviar online from the same shop. I realized beluga caviar tasted best to me, so I stuck to it. I will have to try making my own once, though. It sounds like a special, new experience! Thanks for this post!
When in season, I used to buy sacks of salmon roe and I’d gently wash them inside a bowl of Sake and then move them to a tupperware and cure them with soy sauce. Washing with sake makes the eggs slip out of the skin and the eggs will also absorb the Sake as well. Other types of alcohol should work, but Sake compliments seafood very nicely.
Hi Hank, I wanted to post a reply to Yeoman’s post even though its 2 years later. Most caviar is harvested from salt water fish. Sturgeon and salmon and some breeds of trout are anadromous. This means that they spend part or most of their life in salt water and migrate to fresh water to spawn. The Caspian Sea where the world renowned caviar comes from is salty. Your steelhead is a breed of rainbow trout that spends most of its life in salt water and spawns once a year in fresh water, Flying fish, herring are salt water fish. White fish can be both. There are some exceptions such as those salmon and sturgeon either planted or landlocked by dams in rivers and lakes. Paddlefish are mostly fresh water. With parents born in Ukraine I have been eating caviar for most of my life(66). To me commercial freshwater caviar is made way to salty. Why I don’t know. Perhaps because salt as a preservative can kill those parasites mentioned by another poster. Good saltwater caviar is only lightly salted (thus its very short shelf life) which allows that fresh, wonderful saltwater raised flavor to shine thru. Sorry if I was long winded. Taras
Caviar is a delicate and perishable substance. Therefore, it can only retain its ideal quality in cold storage, ideally at –2 C, or 28 F. The high oil content of caviar prevents it from freezing at these levels.
Only realizing now that I made caviar last time i went fishing (http://ow.ly/3wH6P) – I just salted the trout roe for about an 45 minutes/1 hour. Then I took some of it and blended it with a little oil to make a sort of mayo and garnished with the rest. soo tasty. Great pictures again!
I have a 2-1/2 bag of frozen salmon eggs from my brother’s recent trip to Alaska.
Can I make them into caviar, or are they only good as bait?
Thank you. Penny, TX.
Hi, I caught some nice brook trout that were full of eggs, and decided to try your recipe. ive never had caviar before so i wanted to try it, very interesting, rich and buttery, thanks for the recipe
Dinara: I’ve never worked with paddlefish roe, but there is no reason I see why it should be much different from steelhead roe. If I had some, I’d do exactly the same thing as with the steelhead. Give it a go, and let us know how it turns out!
Can anybody share their experiences converting paddle fish eggs into caviar, please?
i use catfish it is good. emerill used shad i believe.a combonation of cavier and fried roe is awesome.make a portabella sauce over a grilled fillet ohhhhh so good
This article was HUGELY helpful to me. I love trout caviar but have never actually prepared it myself until now. The utilization of these eggs is paramount to an angler. Now I just need to tie more flies!
Dockside Fish Market in Grand Marais, MN make caviar from Lake Superior herring roe. Delicious! Thanks for sharing the process. I love your blog. Naughty mushroom soup here I come!
i was told my japanese people that i worked with that since the fish was in fresh water you shouldn’t eat it raw for fear of parasites. i KNOW this is true of the flesh. and it seems it could hold true of the roe as well.
when i made ikura from salmon, i wasted a lot of eggs – but i had a lot to start with!! i just rubbed the skein in a stack of paper towels. some eggs break but the rest break loose from the skein.
then cure is shoyu (soy sauce) and sake. the sake will make sure to kill any bugs. i left them brine for 12-24 hours before eating. so sweet and crisp!
By way of cultural exchange, Here’s my recipe for venison (or beef) pasties. Just started hunting for the first time this year and shot my first deer this past November!
I’ve done this! I’ve made caviar with the brook trout egg pouch with the trout that we caught!!! It was amazing. Can’t wait for the season to open again.
I am from Azerbaijan, so I naturally grew up with caviar. Back home we ate it spread thinly on a slice of buttered bread – cream cheese will work too. Butter back in the Old country was eaten cold and sliced, never room temp and melted.
Bodega: Minimum time? Uh, like an hour… Being so small, caviar doesn’t need to age much to get its cure on. I’d start eating them now and try to have them all eaten within two weeks.
I have not found a way to keep them more than three weeks without them getting really fishy. Maybe steam canning?
Hank – I made a batch this evening using Russian River steelhead we caught two days ago. Is there a minimum time you would want the eggs to sit in the fridge before eating? Can’t wait to try them!!
Wow! I never thought about making this, we get loads of fish in everyday, maybe I´ll tell my fishmonger to bring them whole (not cleaned), maybe he has been keeping a huge stash of eggs from me!
Happy New Year Hank!
Yeoman: No idea why caviar is mostly a freshwater thing. My only guess is that the caviar-making tradition originated far from the sea. But that’s just a guess.
Let me know how caviar from snapper and kingfish tastes! I’ve never done it with saltwater fish, although I’ve fried up flounder, mackerel, herring and sardine roe and it was good.
Hi
tell me is there a reason that caviar seems to be made only from freshwater fish?
I wll try it with Snapper and perhaps Kingfish (Yellowtail) and hope that it tastes as good
RR: I swear by the warm water technique — note “warm,” not hot, which would indeed denature the proteins in the eggs. As for bringing time, I am not about to brine for just three minutes, but I could go a little shorter. My issue is I’d rather have these eggs available to me for two-three weeks than to be brighter and fresher — but spoil too quickly. I suppose it’d depend on whether I could serve it all in a short time.
Trout Caviar: Nice name! Warm water is definitely the way to go, IMHO. I will have to check out your site, too. Cheers!
Wonderful post, exquisite photos. After throwing away–for many years, with much regret–the roe of autumn brown and brook trout, I decided a couple of years ago to figure out how to make trout caviar. The results impressed me so much, when I started a blog, that’s what I called it! In the past I’ve painstakingly separated the eggs from the skein with the back of a paring knife, so I’m happy to learn the hot water trick.
As another hunter, angler, gardener, and cook (and forager, and baker) I’m happy to have found your blog, too. I’m going to add it to my links list and look forward to checking in often.
All best~ Brett
Fun article and beautiful photos. I did cringe at the thought of brining the eggs for so long, since steelhead eggs only require three minutes of brining. I also winced at the thought of running the skein under hot water, because that toughens up the membrane and can denature the protiens in the eggs.
Here’s a recipe I was taught in Russia: http://oregonflyfishingblog.com/2009/02/25/winter-steelhead-feast-caviar-and-cutlets/
Stunning! I’m not a huge caviar fan but my husband is. I’d love to surprise him with some homemade caviar.
I’m bookmarking this page!
Josh: I’ve not YET done it with shad, but I am betting that it would come out like tobiko.
Chris: I don’t specifically target femal lobsters, but when I get the coral I add it to sauces, too — and crab coral is vital to make she-crab soup!
Tamar: Yep, they fall right off.
So do the eggs just come off the membrane when you run the roe under hot water? I wish I’d had that tip before I tackled my trout.
I separated the eggs by hand, brined them for 25 minutes, and drained them. Done. I made the simplest possible sauce for smoked trout cakes: Warm a couple tablespoons of roe in a little sour cream. Break a few of the eggs with the back of a spoon (to flavor the sour cream), and leave the rest whole.
Whenever I buy lobsters, I only buy females, so that I can take the roe and add it to whatever sauce I am making to give a real nice depth of lobster flavor. I”m not sure if this counts as making caviar, but it’s putting the lobster eggs to good use!
How about shad? Anybody do this to shad?
Hank – thanks very much for the tips, I’ll be sure to check on that one.
Best is probably chinook, but I like ’em all–even pinks!
David: Thanks for stopping by! What did you do with all that caviar, in Paris, no less?
Dawn: Kids’ food foibles are funny, aren’t they? I would eat scores of raw clams as a boy, but hated olives until I was in college.
Lang: Which salmonid makes the best, in your opinion?
Garrett: Thanks! If you come over this weekend, I can give you some.
Lance: What does the cognac do to the eggs?
Thanks everyone, re the photos! I was captivated by the fatty little yolks in these eggs. Had to get so close I was surprised I didn’t smoosh an egg on my lens…
I can recommend a bit of good cognac in the brine. Maybe blasphemy to some, but still amazing.
I’ve never made caviar…Tho’ I have had it. I love your pics…And it looks delicious : )
Hank, I think this might be one of the coolest things you’ve ever done.
Nice pics. I make caviar from all my salmonids. So easy it almost seems criminal!
I have never made caviar, but now have the inkling to give it a go. And yes, I reckon these might be the coolest thing ever. Love the color, the perfect roundness. They really have that look like they are just ready to burst.
Holly, the caviar photos are just gorgeous. Hank, I’ve never made caviar, but you make it look so easy. I have tried a few different kinds. They are all really different, aren’t they? I always think it’s odd when people tell me, “I don’t like caviar” – and then I find out they have only tried one variety. My 8 year-old son loves the tobiko and masago varieties you get at sushi bars. Funny, kid will eat raw fish eggs, but won’t eat grapes. 🙂
I made this caviar once and it was great & a lot of fun…but it was a lot of caviar! (which, really, wasn’t that much of a problem..)