Food: Meat Rub for Fish

Hello. I'm from Charleston, South Carolina...and I don't like fish. ::GASP:: For yyeeeaaarrrsss my family has always joked that my dislike for "anything that comes from the water" means more food for them. And for the most part, they are right. There are a few times that it has to be good enough for me to eat it. 1. It's covered in some kind of sauce, vinegar, or whatever so much that you can barely taste the fish or 2. It's being thrown at me by some Japanese Steakhouse chef. 

Until recently. 

I know that it's good for you, and I don't want my tastes to deter my children from something they may actually enjoy. So every once in a while I try out a recipe. SEE BELOW for the other fish recipes I have tried. My goal is to serve some fish something once every two weeks for my family.

So, during my last BOGO shopping trip, I took a gander at the fresh fish section. You know, just to see what they had. And lo' and behold, they had SHARK!!! And for only about 4 bucks. I was like, "Sure! I'll try that." And then I was stuck with about a pound of shark steaks, and wasn't sure what to do with it. 

Now, I love a good meat rub {I promise one day I'm going to do a "Meat Rub" post}. My pantry is FULL of homemade meat rubs, but nothing that is specific for fish. So I did a little research and found a site that may be my new reference page for meat rubs. Check out Rubs.com. This is where I got the Basic Fish Cure {BBQ Rub} recipe. I needed to adapt it just a bit. So see below my version of this recipe. 

Sweet BBQ Fish Meat Rub {Please remember I only changed it slightly}

 Ingredients: 

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 1 Tbps black pepper
• 1.5 Tbsp dried dill
• 1.5 Tbsp mustard powder

Directions: 

1. In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients. 
2. TASTE the mixture. I tried this with the recipe and thought immediately it was WAY TOO SALTY. I should have trusted my instincts. Adjust as you need it. 
3. With a spoon, sprinkle the rub over the fish. With the other hand, rub the mixture in. Don't put the hand, or spoon if it touches the meat, back into the rub. You don't want to contaminate it. 
4. LET SIT for a minimum of 30 minutes in a cool place. 
5. Cook as desired. {I put a little olive oil on a griddle and grilled them}

My sons, who are super honest about their food, and my BEST food critics, told me it was just waaaay too salty. And I agree. I made some adjustments to the rest of the rub, tried it, and it's much better. I honestly think I could use this for chicken, pork, or even grilled corn, zucchini, or eggplant, and it would be real good.


I would LOVE to hear your recipes, for fish or for what you put on fish. Again, I am trying out new stuff all the time. I'll take any suggestions you have {although I try to keep it as healthy as I can...fried fish generally is going to be a no for us} 

Here's a picture of our dinner. The sugar made a nice crunchy crust, and it went well with steamed carrots and steamed garlic cauliflower. And I must say....I actually kind of liked this fish. Maybe my palette is turning a corner. 

OTHER FISH RECIPES: 

1. Starkist Bolder Burger This honestly is one of the few fish meals I will eat over and over again. 
2. Pesto Fish A very easy crockpot recipe for fish.
3. Lemon and Dill Fish and Spinach A recipe where I got to use one of my hard ciders. YUM