Rockfish Crudo

so simple and delicious!

We get beautiful fish here in Homer. And while we are the self titled "Halibut Capital of the World", Halibut isn't the only thing we have in relative abundance, in fact, it is in such high demand, fetching prices of up to $6.00 a pound across the dock, my husband won't be bringing any home for our freezer.  He will, however, bring home rockfish. It is a by-catch associated with halibut long lining, but does not have a strong market here. We are able to move some on the local buyers, but the rest comes to us. some we have commercially processed to use at the bakery and the rest goes right into our freezer. I love having this around for the last minute dinner. It thaws so fast, you could have a solid block of frozen fish and come home, pull it out and immerse in cool water, take a hot shower and you'll be ready to cook it by the time your toweled off. We often use it as our ace in the hole when we have unexpected company. No matter how you cook it, this fish is always very good. One of my favorite ways to use this fish, especially when it's only been frozen for a short time, is to make a crudo. It's sort of like a ceviche, only the fish isn't left to cook in the lime quite as long. In fact my crudo spends a little more time with the lime juice than most, but I find the texture to be so great if the fish is, if you will, cooked in the acid until it is just 'al dente'. You can play with this yourself, depending on the comfort level of your guests...you could pile all kinds of wonderful things like shaved onion, avocado, tomato, yuzu, salmon roe...whatever turns you on. Me, I like to keep it simple, especially if there is a big menu to come. So amazing, so clean, so simple!

Here is how I do it:

If your fish is fresh, freeze it until solid. This will kill any parasites that may be lurking about and it will make it easier to slice super thin. Take your frozen fish and thaw it just slightly, it should feel a little pliable, but still be stiff in the center. With a sharp knife and going across the grain make paper thin slices of the fish. Place those slices in a single layer on a glass plate. Squeeze lime juice liberally over fish and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of sea salt. Cover with plastic and refrigerate up to 30 minutes. Right before serving, remove plastic and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with cilantro leaves. If your gilding the lily, add the above condiments, or whatever suits your fancy. Serve with a nice flat bread cracker or crack chips. OR, if your a purist, just a fork or a pair or chopsticks are all the accessory you need.

Rockfish Chowder

The first comercial Halibut long line trip is underway for husband John (summer must be here!) and one of the benefits for us, you would think, would be fresh Halibut on our menu...but alas, that fish is all spoken for by people with way more money than we have. So we console ourselves with something I think is even better...Rockfish! The Shortraker Rockfish that swims in areas along with the Halibut is also an allowable by-catch. Because the Rockfish run with the Halibut, it is inevitable they are brought up on the longline hooks. Since the fish have come up so quckly from the bottom, throwing them back usually means a bunch of dead Rockfish. So as not to waste all those wonderful fish, John has worked out a deal with a local processor to breakdown and package them in trade for half the haul. It gives us a nice supply of legal fish at a cost that doesn't hurt our bottom line! One of our favorite ways to use it is to make Soup...

Easy Rockfish Chowder:

In a 6 quart heavy bottom soup pot saute:
1 medium onion-diced
3 lg carrots - diced
3 ribs celery - diced
3 Tablespoons olive oil

When onion is translucent, deglaze pan with 1/2 cup white wine. Stir until liquid is mostly absorbed and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of flour and stir to coat all vegetables. Pour in 2 quarts Fish stock (or water!) and stir over medium heat until the flour is incorporated and add 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced and and a hearty pinch or two of salt. cook over medium low heat until the potatoes are soft and the broth is thickened. It is important to stir frequently during this process as the flour will want to cling to the bottom of the pan!
Add 1 pound of Rockfish, raw and cut into 1 " chunks, stir until fish is cooked, this will only take a moment or two.
Finish with a cup of heavy cream, a squeeze from half a lemon and a tablespoon of dill (dried or fresh, use what you have!)