The Hawaiian culinary scavenger hunt continues!
Ready, set, WAKE UP!!! I’m not kidding this is your 4am wake up call in paradise, seriously grab some Kona coffee put on your warm clothes (not kidding you will be in a freezer) and head out on the H1 Highway to Pearl City. The Honolulu Fish Auction is your destination, if you choose to take this crack of dawn food tour, please I beg you, go on the tour, but call ahead to make sure they are open I believe they are closed on Sundays. Have you ever wondered how fish is graded for sushi? How about watching the fishing boats unload their catch? This can all be done and I guarantee you will receive an education like no other and you will love it! Even better, bring cash with you and just like the fish markets and restaurants you can purchase your own fresh caught fish at a fraction of the price.
The prize I was after was a little know fish outside of Hawaii and the South Pacific, coming in anywhere between 1-18 pounds. Long about late summer when Hawaii’s waters turn cool the fish in deep waters develop a nice fat layer which adds a sweeter level to their flavor. I was after Hawaiian pink snapper, Opakapaka. This sweet and delicious fish is found at depths between 18 and 600 feet , all Opakapaka are caught by deep water hand line gear with power reels. The bright pink flesh garners a higher desire for its sashimi cuts because of delicate sweetness.
Once I found my prize fish I headed back to our condo and started my food prep, the Opakapaka was seasoned and wrapped in foil then placed in the fridge to marinate. In addition I sliced up some Hawaiian sweet onions and seasoned with salt and pepper, fresh cut pineapple spears were in a zip bag with teriyaki sauce and red chili flake. Chinese long beans were in a foil pouch with sesame seed oil, sliced fresh ginger, Hawaiian sea salt and pepper. Long about 5:00pm I turned on the rice cooker and out the door I headed with our food, I was set to go make friends with that spectacular and ridiculous sized Weber grill outside. Now is where I slammed on the breaks, I turned the corner at the BBQ area entrance and you know that feeling when you walk in a room and all of a sudden every eye is on you and you might possibly be getting the judgement stare. Well, welcome to my experience, however there was a great lesson to be learned.
I made my way over to a grill and started to place all of my items on the table, pretty quickly the other people a the grills were looking my way. Then the questions started, “what’s in the foil?” “What are those long green things?” “Why is that pineapple red?” “You have a whole fish in there, can we see it?” “You a chef or something?” Welcome to Kate’s Curious Kitchen impromptu cooking school, there I was teaching six men and their friends all about layering flavors, fresh caught fish and how to get out of a BBQ rut. I should have charged them but I got a few nice beers out of it so all is good.
The moral to this culinary story is simple, share. Always share your knowledge, someone somewhere does not know how to cook what you are cooking and if they are interested, show them. Be open to new flavors, I really shocked the men when I grilled off some of that pineapple they were set on not liking it and low and behold there i was texting them the recipe. Simple twists and ingredient changes can develop a whole new level of flavor. Just like the previous post I have included some links for you to make your Hawaiian food shopping a bit easier, in no way am I receiving any compensation for providing these links. I just want you to have fun coking your food!
Mahalo and enjoy!!
Grilled Opakapaka
One, 5 pound whole Opakapaka or red snapper. Cleaned, de-scaled and patted dry
4 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch green onions rough chopped, white ends too
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
½ cup water
½ cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon alaea salt or Hawaiian sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons Sriracha
Place your whole fish in a deep pan, set aside. In a bowl mix all your other ingredients together then pour over the fish. Make sure the marinade gets inside the fish too. Cover and place in the fridge for up to 4 hours, turning once at the 2 hour mark.
When ready to cook, heat your BBQ Grill, if using gas light all burners on high (500 degrees), if using a charcoal grill prep the charcoal mound in the center of your BBQ. When coals are covered in white ash they are ready. While the BBQ is heating make a double layer foil packet, cut it long enough to fold in half and cover the fish completely. Imaging the foil is a sleeping bag and the fish is going to be inside of that. Take ½ the chopped green onions out of the marinade and place on the foil pack. Remove the fish from the marinade; do not brush off any of the ginger or garlic. Place the fish on top of the green onions and now place the remaining green onions on top of the fish. Seal the foil up tight on all sides and take it out to your grill. Spread out the coals if using a charcoal grill, lower the two outside burners on your gas grill to medium lower the center burner to medium high.
Place fish on heated grill and close the lid, after 12 minutes flip the packet over and cook another 10 minutes. Remove from grill and let it steam in the foil another 5-10 minutes while you are prepping the plates.
Open the foil and flake off pieces of the snapper; watch out for the bones they are long and very translucent. Serve with steamed rice, lemon wedges and a sprinkle of mirin sauce or just on its own, enjoy!
https://www.hawaii-seafood.org/auctiontour/
http://www.onlyfromhawaii.com/seasonings.aspx
http://www.hawaiiansunproducts.com/