Elma's Favorite Seafood Meals
In Elma’s Kitchen…
Twice this week, I’ve said out loud, via FaceTime, “Seafood is SO good. I wish more of my friends were comfortable with seafood.” Since the Stay-at-Home order has become routine, I’ve noticed my normal regard for “special” items in my freezer and pantry has gone out the window. Last summer during my Bristol Bay salmon season, we had long waits in the Ugashik district as the salmon run took its sweet time returning upriver. During the closure (when no fishing was allowed), we were lucky to spend a bunch of time putting up fish for “homepack.”
As a setnetter, we use gillnets to catch our fish and small, open skiffs to set the nets in the shallow water near the tideline. Rather than living on the boat like seiners, trollers, or drift gillnetters, setnetters live in small cabins on the beach often in, or near, villages Alaska Native Villages.
“Homepack” is the practice of “putting up fish” to take home for personal use during the off-season. At my fishcamp, this usually means fillets vac-packed and frozen then packed home in a cooler. If we’re lucky, we also have time for smoking and canning the fish to take home and last the winter. Here’s my friends & crewmates, Matt & Tiff, at the fillet table.
Some scenes from “Fishcamp”
Recipes
I grew up on an island, surrounded by water, with oyster farmers in the family and parents who had both worked in the seafood industry. I am so grateful for this childhood and for the dinner tables I grew up around. Then, I started fishing and had my own hands directly involved in harvest and cooking for a crew. These experiences have directly influenced how I eat. I believe in food as a tool for community engagement - thus, my well-suited role at Bellingham SeaFeast.
This year, I took home sockeye collars and bellies so as not to see them go to waste and as sort of a special addition to my freezer. I was imagining these would be dinner party items - to be shared as finger food while we wait for a fillet to cook, or as a tool to convince my landlubber community that it’s okay to start with a whole fish. I have started to give up on this idea and enjoy them myself. In a way, this is a complete silver lining because - to be honest - these “special” items sometimes wait past their prime. If you are holding on to a hot sauce, spice packet, or canned fish you picked up at SeaFeast or got in your Christmas stocking, eat it. That’s what it’s there for; now is the time!
In all seriousness, I am grateful I got some of my homepack smoked at Barleans Fishery earlier this winter, and I’m glad Crabby convinced me to indulge in the Bornstein Seafoods sale. Here are some seafood meals I’ve eaten this past week.
I made this Bon Appétit staple fish dish with rockfish from Barleans. The plate was so beautiful, and celery is totally underrated. Just ask Allison Roman. I like rockfish because it is simple, takes any marinade well, and frankly, because it’s inexpensive (and sustainable!).
From now on, a breakfast sandwich will not be complete without smoked sockeye and Bullwhip Hot Sauce (made from kelp by SeaFeast vendors, Barnacle: coast to kitchen). I’ve also resurrected my sourdough starter. Here’s how I do it: toasted sourdough, mayo, mustard (def prefer Grey Poupon but to each their own!) OR a spread of cream cheese, greens (sprouts, arugula, spinach), one fried egg, smoked fish, Bullwhip hot sauce - especially good with something pickled as well. Open face or closed, up to you!
Tuna is so good. I wish we ate more of it in the US. This week, I split one of the Bornstein loins I bought in two. The first night I had it as poke; I used the Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon poke bowl recipe and subbed the fish for tuna. I didn’t have cucumbers so had it with celery, avocado, carrots and sprouts. The second night, I seared the rest in my cast iron and had it with a sesame oil coleslaw.
I understand that not everyone has the luxury of homepack from Bristol Bay and that fillets can be out of reach for folks financially. So, a quick plug for canned fish! I’ve been known to eat it right out of the jar or can, but I recommend it on top of any green salad or with mayo, diced onions, pickles and celery on crackers!
