The King is Back

December 15, 2019 in Products, Seasonal Wild Catch

The best ingredients require only the simplest recipes

King Salmon $35.99/lb

Harvested in from the waters of Petersburg and surrounds in Southeast Alaska, Otolith’s King Salmon is as delicious as its name suggests.  Coming Soon! Wild Alaskan King salmon is available from Otolith at Headhouse Farm Market from September 13-May 31 and year round for Home Delivery.

Because of its savory flavor and moist texture, King salmon is a perfect ingredient to compliment fall’s leafy greens and savory root vegetables.
Serving Suggestions:
  • Simple dressed salad greens and sauteed thicker seasonal greens compliment this rich and savory fish abundant with omega-3 fatty acids.  It is best to roast, grill or sear king salmon at 400 degrees.  Allow 10 minutes per inch of thickness to cook king salmon.  Once the king salmon is cooked, rest the salmon for 2-3 minutes before serving.  Serving suggestion: drizzle pomegranate syrup lightly over the king salmon or greens.
  • Cleaned, peeled and cut to 1 inch cubes, root vegetables coated lightly with oil will take approximately 45 minutes to roast in a 400 degree oven.  While vegetables are roasting, there is time to thaw the season’s best king salmon and wash and sautee any leafy greens with garlic and olive oil.  Swiss chard is done when the stalks are tender and easy to chew, but some greens such as collard require the addition of a little water from time to time to prevent scorching while cooking to a tender doneness in a stove-top deep dish skillet.  The portions of thawed king salmon can be added directly to the roasting root vegetables after the vegetables have been cooking at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Recommended root vegetables include butternut squash, turnips, beets, or potatoes with an optional  quartered small onion or fennel bulb for contrast and additional flavor.

True North Pacific Rockfish, $16/lb

July 11, 2014 in Recipe, Seasonal Wild Catch

With more flavor than halibut, this firm textured flakey white fish adds a fresh seafood taste to any saute, soup, or fried fish sandwich.  Rockfish is available through Otolith at various stores and farm markets for $15/lb.

Wild Alaskan Seafood, Caught by Wild Alaskans; Cooked by You!

Serving Suggestions:

  • Thai Curry Rockfish with Jasmine Rice – Ingredients:1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste,   1 cup water,
    2 1/2 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk, 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, 2 pounds of rockfish, 1 1/2 cups purchased broccoli slaw, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 2 cups hot cooked jasmine rice or medium-grain rice (2/3 cup raw), 2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla; optional), and 2 cups cooked jasmine rice
    Using a deep hot skillet, sear portioned rockfish in butter, seasame seed oil, or coconut oil,  until golden on both sides then remove the rockfish from the skillet and set it aside.  Place curry paste in he large skillet. Whisk in 1/2 cup coconut milk. Bring to boil; boil 1 minute. Stir in remaining 2 cups coconut milk and 1 cup water. Add broccoli slaw, rockfish, and tomato. Return to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until rockfish is cooked, about 3 minutes. Add basil, lime juice, and fish sauce, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.Press hot rice into four 2/3-cup custard cups, dividing equally. Invert cups to unmold rice into 4 bowls. Spoon stew around rice and serve.

What Constitutes a Sustainable Wild Fishery?

June 1, 2012 in Seafood For Thought

Not All Fishing Gear is Sustainable

The following opinion is in response to the recent New York Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/opinion/eat-your-hake-and-have-it-too.html.

Sustainable wild fisheries are the result of healthful fish, responsible exploitation, self-sustaining cycles of new harvesters replacing the oldest harvesters,  and a consistent range of abundant biomass within the fishery food-chain.  In the minds of wild seafood aficionados like myself, sustainable fisheries are the dream that contrasts our present reality.  Fisheries continue to buckle under the consolidation of more efficient gear and larger scale harvesters, the average age of fisherman continues to rise as less men and women find economic security in serving their fellow fish consumers by catching wild fish, governments continue to subsidize factory fishing operations inspite of its consequences, fishery managers remain unable to effectively protect the biomass of fish on the lowest rungs of our fishery food-chain assuring the inevitable collapse of more valuable species that exist higher up the food-chain, and  many people remain uncertain about the healthfulness and presence of heavy metals in their wild fish and shellfish.

Now that there is no misunderstanding about what constitutes a sustainable fishery, we can discuss how to encourage behaviors that will take us closer to our goal, if in fact sustainability is the goal.  To that point, all states that have a commercially exploited fishery within their jurisdiction either have a constitutional amendment that includes the protection of its fisheries for the benefit of long term sustainable yield or not.  Therefore, the most “apparent conservation benefits from the refusal of consumers to buy [those] over-fished species” is the continued focus on wild fisheries, furthermore perhaps opportunities may increase for new educated minds to become involved in the ongoing effort to make the dream of sustainable fisheries come true.

Additionally, otter trawl fishing gear produces the majority of haddock [in Maine], while the remainder of the catch is taken with [less efficient] longlines or gillnets.  Assuming that since fisheries had never before experienced the current threat of overfishing until the use of trawl fishing gear became widespread, it could be that consumers refusal to to buy fish that is almost exclusively harvested by trawlers or that is not traceable to its harvesters is an act of protest against trawling.

To conclude, a better goal for NOAA might be to rebuild over-fished species back to levels that had existed prior to overfishing.  Using inconcise language such as ‘healthy’ to describe populations of over-fished species is no less useful than labeling an entire species as “Red Listed”.   Otolith applauds the state of Alaska for constitutionally protecting its fisheries.  After establishing a brand that identifies fish harvested against all odds and in consideration of the greatest efforts to date toward the goal of achieving sustainable fisheries, I would welcome the opportunity to do more for our fisheries.    Someday there can be far fewer trawlers and more skilled fishermen, much less plastic in our oceans and more fish surviving to maturity, more laws to protect our renewable fishery resources and the healthfulness of our fish, and less regulations that serve only to increase the challenges to sustainable harvesters.

“I have a Dream”, Dr. Martin Luther King; me too.

 

Alaskan King Crab

April 26, 2012 in Seasonal Wild Catch

Otolith sells Blue King Crab and Golden King Crab too!

Alaskan Red King Crab is the Largest and The Sweetest King Crab Available

#1  Red King Crab $28/LB [1/2 crab cluster approx. 2-3 lbs packs]

#1  Blue King Crab $26/LB [1/2 crab cluster approx. 1-2 lb packs]

#1 Golden King Crab $22.25/LB [1/2 crab cluster approx. 1 lb]

SATURDAY, 2/2/13, Buy Otolith’s King Crab at the Rittenhouse Square Farmers’ Market
Located: 18th & Walnut Streets, on south sidewalk of Walnut St between 18th St and 19th.
Buy Otolith’s King Crab and have your order delivered to your home in Philadelphia  FREE of charge by Otolith.   Call  or email for more information.

215.426.4266 or sales@otolithonline.com                                 1 lb packs of King Crab pieces for .50¢ less/LB

Halibut and Sablefish

April 23, 2012 in Seasonal Wild Catch

The 2012 harvest season for halibut and sablefish is now open for commercial fisherman in Southeast and the Gulf of Alaska.  Join now to receive Otolith’s CSS 2012 wild halibut and sablefish in May or call to place an order for delivery.  CSS Enrollment Form 

Halibut is an extremely versatile and appealing fish due to its mild flavor and supple flakiness.  It cooks quickly and goes with almost any menu or meal’s theme.  Small 5 oz. portions of a lean and lovely halibut fillet make an excellent accompaignement to wild salad creations and zesty sauces poured over pasta and fish.