It's gotten rather confusing for those of us trying to keep up with which fish we should and should not eat for health and political reasons. We try to keep up with all the seafood watch sites, and read the latest news, but when it comes down to it, often the fish we think is okay to eat, isn't on the fishmonger's blackboard.
Here at The Kitchen, we're going to start trying to synthesize the information that's out there on fish for you, with a very simple explanation of those fish that you can cook without a ton of guilt. And we'll do it on Fridays.
This week, we begin with Striped Bass.
Here's what the various seafood rating websites have to say about it:
From the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program: "Atlantic striped bass are at record levels as a result of effective fishery management and strong conservation actions, making it a best choice for consumers."
From Environmental Defense's Oceans Alive Guide: "Even though striped bass are both farmed and wild-caught in an environmentally sustainable manner, Environmental Defense recommends that you eat only farmed striped bass because of high levels of contaminants in wild striped bass."
From Blue Ocean Institute's Guide to Ocean-Friendly Seafood: "Striped bass populations reached severe lows in the 1980s, but strong management has helped them rebound. Striped bass fisheries utilize a range of gears, many of which have minimal impacts on habitat such as hook and line gear and midwater gillnets. There is work underway to assess bycatch."
• Here is a link to all the recipes on epicurious.com with Striped Bass
• One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish: The Smithsonian Sustainable Seafood Cookbook (Smithsonian Books) by Carole C. Baldwin
• Ocean Friendly Cuisine: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the World's Finest Chefs (Willow Creek Press) by James Fraioli
Very nice, but you forgot to give a receipe that can be easily executed by a newbie like me.
Hi Charles,
A yummy easy way to cook fish, I haven't cooked Striped Bass, but we will assume it can be cooked the same way, is to grill it.
We have been buying some cheap cedar planks at the grocery store here, soaking them in water for at least a couple of hours, take them out of their bath and then putting our fish fillets on to them and then throwing it onto the BBQ.
Last weekend we did it with salmon and we made a bed of fresh basil, dill, parsley and lemon then rubbed some olive oil on our fillets, both sides, salt and peppered them and then put them on top of the fresh herbs. Take it out to your hot bbq (with a squirt bottle with water in it to help with flare ups) and cook away. Your cooking time will depend on size and how well you like your fish done, I think we cooked the salmon for about 20 mins.
Hi Charles!
I'm Chinese, so I make my fish the way my family made it when I was growing up. This recipe is perfect for striped bass.
You can either take the whole fish, cleaned/gutted and skinside down, or just fillets, skinside down. Cover the flesh with sliced ginger and steam it until the fish is cooked through.
Put the fish on a platter. Then cover the entire thing with shredded green scallions. Drizzle soy sauce on top of the fish. Have a small pan of corn oil on the stove top, and heat it till hot but not smoking. Splash the hot oil on top of the fish.
All done. Easy and so good.
Striped bass are also great to go fishing for!!!
If you're interested in a great getaway, I suggest Harrisson's on the East Shore of the Chesapeake Bay for that vintage fishing lodge feel and top notch striper fishing.
My hint for Charles:
A common mistake is to overcook fish & seafood; I would err on the side of under- rather than overcooking(filets+other seafood: 8 mins. max. total). Here's a grilled fish fillet recipe with mango salsa that uses my 'magic' 8 min. rule:
http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=4460
(obviously whole fish and thick fish steaks etc will need more time than that.)
Fillets simply pan fried in butter& olive oil then topped with a fav. sauce/salsa is good too.
Charles,
You can also click on the link I provided to all the recipes using Striped Bass on epicurious.com.
My favorite grocery store here in Portland color codes their labels in the fish section according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program. Too bad more groceries don't do the same!
Maybe you'll be getting to this, but if you're looking to avoid high levels of contaminants in your fish, say, if you're great with child, then line caught is always the best bet. These are smaller fish that swim closer to the surface of the water (smaller = younger, less build up of mercury etc).
regards,
trillium