No good Alaskan will eat farmed Salmon. Or salmon sold in a land locked city in America either, for that matter.
No good Eskimo will eat Salmon they didn't catch either. Well, unless you're at a top sushi restaurant and you KNOW Kenji the Sushi Chef knows his fish.
You can yell, "YO KENJI! Make me some good Salmon Sashimi, will ya!" Or if he doesn't speak English, "KENJI hei! Watashi ni ikutsu ka no yoi sāke sashimi o tsukuru, anata narimasu!"
(Yeah, bet you didn't know I know Japanese did you! I totally paid attention in class in 9th grade. Ah, who am I kidding, I just Google Translated it!)
Anyway, Alaskans and Salmon. We are picky and spoiled. At least I am. Once when I was in college in Eastern Oregon, my cousin Josie and I went to the store and bought Salmon. We HAD TO. It was so gross. Almost put me off Salmon forEVER. No, not forever, but until I got home.
(Doesn't he just LOOK like an awesome Fisherman!?)
Spoiled. Very very spoiled. So, my friend Kookie and I, we were scouting the Subsistence Nets around town at lunchtime the other day when we happened across Henry and his bart on the beach.
"Hey Henry, you got net?" I asked.
"Ya, you know how?" he replied.
"Shucks, you know who my mom is!" I exclaimed.
And it was done, we put his pully system subsistence net out for the afternoon.
Three hours and 8 fish later, we were happy. So I did what any other smart, working woman would do. I called the President of the Salmon Filleting Association, and dropped those fish off.
Seriously, if there were a campaign for #1 Salmon Filleter, my sister Saima would win. She's good. I don't even bother butchering fish anymore. Between her and Dean, I haven't had to cut a fish in a while. Let me sew or bake or something, man.
A few hours later, we checked again and a total of about 20 fish were caught and filleted.
After work, I had enough time to brine and smoke a couple fillets in my deluxe smoke house my husband built, before our Salmon Class. What!? Salmon Class!? Why Yes Sir! Salmon Class. You guys totally missed out.
So, after eating like a pig (or an Eskimo, when it comes to Salmon!) at his very own smorgasbord consisting of Pecan Crusted Salmon (Recipe to follow), Blackened Salmon, Smoked Salmon, and Twice Baked Potatoes, I went home and had a serious Food Coma.
(Smoked Salmon, and three cases of Jam we made last night!)
And then I woke up and had to go to work. Boo!
Moral of the story: I love Salmon. NO ONE should ever eat Farmed Salmon. Eat Fresh! Or don't eat it at all!
Pecan Crusted Salmon (from Daniel's sister Alana)
1 fillet FRESH (or Frozen fresh!) Salmon
2 C Milk
1 C finely chopped Pecans
1/2 C Flour
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 tsp Pepper
*Remove skin and bones (if you're picky like that, I don't remove the bones!) and cut into strips (Across not the long way!). Place Salmon in a Ziplock Bag with milk.
*In a shallow dish, combine the rest of the ingredients, mix well.
*Coat Salmon in Pecan mixture, pressing gently.
*Fry in large skillet in a little oil on medium-high heat until browned. Place fried pieces on a baking sheet, and once all chunks are done, bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees.
Eat. Be Merry. Pretend you're an Eskimo.
4 comments:
Everything you say is true. (Not the spoiled part -- that might be true, but it would be rude of me to say so!) I DO NOT like fish. I do not eat fish. I do not like crab, either. Except when I am in Alaska. Every so-called ocean fish I have ever eaten here, in the middle of the mainland far from the oceans -- has been yucky. I had no idea whey people liked it, until I ate it in Alaska. There I caught my own halibut and my own salmon and ate it (and the dungenous crab I stood and saw hauled up), and loved every bite. I had some of it frozen and brought it home with me and ate that, too. But haven't bothered to eat any since. Because, as you so rightly say, I won't eat farmed fish!
So... about this 'pulley system'...Can you tell us more? I'm curious.
OK Pulley System.
You take an anchor and rig up a pulley to the end of it. Tie up a long, LOOOONG rope to the end of a subsistence net. Thread the rope through the anchor. Take your boat out, and throw the anchor as far as the net goes, make sure it's stuck tight. Then you hold both the rope and the net and set net on the way back to shore. Tie off the net, then move about fifty feet or so over, pull the rope tight and tie off the rope. (The net and rope will form an upside down "V" shape with the anchor at the top.
When you check net, you untie the rope and make sure it's long enough to pull all the way through the anchor. (Double the length of the net) Pull the net onto the beach, and remove fish.
Then when you want to set net again, you simply pull the rope on the other side, and it will PULLEY through the anchor, tie off when the net is tight and wait for fish!
I hope that made sense, I could probably draw it much better! haha.
This way, you never have to use a boat to check net. Just pull your net up, remove fish, and then re-set by going to the rope and pulling it out again. Tie off and there you go!
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