Today we had lunch again at Fisherman's wharf, and had some excellent sashimi the locals call "flag fish", which is supposed to be a type of swordfish. I thought it looked and tasted like tuna. But unlike the tuna sashimi we are accustomed to in Japanese restaurants, which are pale in color, these local sashimi is a deep red. Anyways, these "flag fishes" are fresh and they cut and clean them right at the store. What caught me off guard was the last time we were here, I saw them throwing the fish carcass away into the garbage, which includes the head, the whole fish bone with lots of meat on it, and the tail. I was drooling over it and the fisherman asked if I wanted it. Being Canadian and a little reserved, my automatic answer was no, but I was kicking myself on the way home, for turning down such an offer. That fish carcass would have made wonderful fish broth....
Anyways, I have another opportunity today, but the fisherman was saving this carcass along with two pieces of fish belly for his family. Finally, he said he wanted $50 for them. Deal. That is less than $2 Cdn. I felt guilty.
Local fishermen call this a "flag fish" because it belongs to the swordfish family. But after some research on google, what we have here is in fact, tuna. Albacore tuna, or long fin tuna. There are also yellow fin and blue fin, but Albacore is abundant in Taiwan waters, and albacore is mostly used for canning, because the older and bigger fish is about 5 feet long and over 100 pounds. Due to the older age of these bigger fish, the oil content is very low thus the meat is white. These "white tuna" appeal to the western consumers more. Next time when you buy canned tuna, check out the labels, most of them are white tuna. Problem with that is, as you may have heard before, these bigger fish have higher contents of mercury and could be a health issue if eaten regularly in large quantities. Exactly how much we don't know, but the issue is enough to curb the appetite for canned tuna in recent years. However, younger and smaller fish have very low levels of mercury, and the meat is a deep red indicating a high oil content, which is extremely rich in omega 3. Salmon is also rich in omega 3 but most of the salmon available these days are farmed, which has a higher risk profile due to growth hormone.
Most of the tuna sashimi which are available in Japanese restaurants are pale in color, thus suggesting that these are bigger and older fishes, which are more abundant and cost effective. Here in Hualien, only the smaller fishes are sold as sashimi with the bigger fishes sold to wholesalers, which eventually make their way to the restaurants.
Here is a beautiful picture of the Albacore tuna.
Folks, I just had the best fish dinner ever. Rebecca panfried the two pieces of tuna belly, with nothing added to it but just a sprinkle of sea salt. Absolutely delicious! I had two bowls of rice with it. She put the head, the carcass, and the tail into the soup, and added tofu, cabbage, green onion and ginger. A little miso and a few ounces of rice wine later, and BINGO! The fish broth is a milky white nectar, and the aroma is heavenly.
I can't help but keep thinking, this is unbelievable. Local folks actually throw these things away everyday, and tons of them. They filet the body of the tuna for sashimi and the rest goes to the dump. The heads, the tails, the bellies, these are prized items in many parts of Asia and can fetch good money..................I gotta do more research.......
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