One of the things that I find endlessly inspiring is the potentiality of wild Alaskan seafood.
You see, in the past whenever I’d think of the prospect of eating seafood, the image that would usually emerge was that of a fish fillet and a sensible side, the platonic plate of a healthy, light meal. But when I started to appreciate the robust variety of Alaskan seafood — the diversity and nuance embodied by each incredible species — I discovered a culinary passport to a new world of eating.
As any Alaskan knows, salmon isn’t just “salmon.” It’s sockeye, coho, chinook, pink, or chum salmon, each species characterized by unique nuances of flavor and texture — Sockeye with its firm, dense flake; chinook, otherwise known as king salmon, with its delicate yet decadent appeal; coho with its subtlety; and so on. I started to consider each species of wild salmon in much the same way that a wine connoisseur might think about a glass of wine, as not just a color but a type, a species, a place, a style, a perfect pairing for a particular meal or occasion. In fact, much like wine, wild salmon picks up the terroir of its ecosystem.
Alaskan white fish, too, is more than a category of interchangeable, mild fillets. Among the many species of Alaskan white fish, I’d come to discover the unique steaky character of Pacific halibut. The flaky perfection of a perfectly cooked fillet of lingcod. The buttery decadence of a sablefish fillet. And rockfish? Its robust (not mild!) flavor is a bold, welcome change to the mildness that I’d previously considered a hallmark of white fish.
As for shellfish? Don’t get me started on spot prawns, aka “the lobster of Alaska,” which essentially redefined my relationship with what it means to love shrimp. Or weathervane scallops, the five-minutes-to-bliss morsels that can turn a meal into magnificence. Or Dungeness crabs, which make a drab weeknight feel like a vacation.
With the diversity of species also comes a whole array of cooking/preparing methods and techniques. For example, a handful of sidestriped shrimp cooked with white wine, good olive oil and garlic can make a bowl of linguine sing — but just as delicious is a pile of panko crusted shrimp to be used inside a taco. Likewise, Pacific cod can be the star of a coconut fish stew, beer-battered for a perfect Sunday supper, or steamed en papillote for a fancy (but not fussy!) meal.
And while wild Alaskan seafood lends itself to lean and clean cooking — think simple pan-sear, grilling, poaching, baking, broiling — it can also be a wonderful feature of rich and indulgent dishes like crab mac n’ cheese, ground sockeye bolognese or New England pot pie with Alaska white fish.
But species and cooking techniques aren’t the only variables that make seafood so exquisitely all-purpose. The other magical thing about this multi-tasking protein of the sea is that it’s what I like to call anytime-food. By which I mean that it works for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacking. You can easily start your day with a crab cake topped with a poached egg or a coho scramble; slap a seared sockeye fillet on your favorite salad for lunch; nibble on a cracker topped with hot smoked sockeye for your afternoon snack; and seal the day with a plate of yelloweye rockfish tacos. Like I said, any-time food.
All of which brings me back to the thing that I’m inspired by: the potentiality of wild Alaskan seafood. The shape-shifting, omni-possible, powerhouse of proteins that can literally do it all.
The way I see it, wild Alaskan seafood puts the “pro” in protein.
Live Wild!
Monica
Pictured above: Other delicious, unexpected ways to enjoy the full potentiality of wild-caught seafood (clockwise from top left): coho salmon summer rolls; Wild Alaska Pollock buffalo bites; Pacific halibut steak au poivre; ground sockeye spinach-feta pies.
