is there ever a good time to bring up whale meat?

 It’s probably difficult to take an unbiased stance on the topic of hunting whales for whale meat. It is a reality however, that in certain places, like Japan (and where else?), whale has been hunted and eaten for hundreds of years. During the restoration after the war, whale hunters supplied the impoverished population with thousands of tons of whale meat to bolster food stocks.

MacAurthur, as it happens, encouraged this practice – possibly because it was a cheap source of food, and also possibly because excess whale oil was then taken back to the United States and Europe, where it was used in the making of many things from lamp oil to soap. In fact, it became such a main source of food that only a few years after the war, over fifty percent of the meat eaten in Japan was whale meat. It’s since the end of the war that whale meat became a staple of school lunch, and even though it lost its popularity as Japanese consumers were able to afford pricier meats, asking around I’ve noticed most people remember having eaten whale at school growing up.

The loophole - if you want to call it a loophole - that Japanese whalers have operated on since the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986 is a provision that allows countries to catch a certain number of whales for scientific research. The meat from these scientific catches is then distributed for sale and eventually reaches grocery stores and restaurants. Mm, science meat.

 

Because this is a very sensitive topic to a lot of people, I’ve tried my best to remain neutral, but you can probably pick up my bias anyway. For those of you that live under the “don’t fry it until you try it” mantra, I will just say this – I have eaten whale. A sashimi plate of it was pushed upon my nose under the pretext that it was a cut of beef served rare.

Upon eating the first bite, the old man who had invited me to try it burst out uproariously, “It’s whale! Haha!” I protested that he might have considered a method other than deceiving me into eating it, his words: “What are you, Green Peace?”

vinegared cucumber cod maki with foam sauce

believe it or not, there is cod in there under the foam sauce

White, firm, and clean tasting, cod has remained one of my very favorite fish. I do have a bias however - it seems that I have a Newfoundland cod fishing heritage on my mother’s side. Donning oil slicks and bundling over stormy waves in the foggy waters of the Grand Banks, some distant relative fought and struggled with these fish in what I imagine was an epic battle that would have put The Perfect Storm to shame.


Meanwhile I get mine down at the fishmongers. Unfortunately the cod I have to work with in Japan is Pacific cod - what they used to fish off the Banks was Atlantic cod. You can’t taste the cold water of the Labrador Current in the Japanese varieties, but it is - for the purposes of cooking - the same fish.

We are making a point of creating two different but balanced flavors. The cucumber is vinegared to give it a refreshing sour tang, and the fish with its foam sauce is an herbaceous and rich companion to it. We want it so that by eating the cucumber it makes you want to eat the fish, and vice-versa. The rice vinegar could be replaced with apple or wine vinegar, but I recommend against balsamic for this recipe because there's too much flavor going on there. Additionally, while the extra step takes some more of your time, soaking the cucumber slices overnight can make a really nice pickle for the wrap.

First off, get some rice going. White is fine but I prefer to throw in some herbs while it's going to flavor it up. The fish: salt – both sides! – of your square-cut fillet and set it aside while you peel your cucumber. Take your peeler and take as thick a slice off the side of the cucumber as you can. Make four of these slices per fillet, and chop up the rest of your cuke in as haphazard a way as you choose. 

George Clooney in The Perfect Storm

Throw these guys into some salted water and add to it about 2 shot glasses (50ml) of vinegar. Let them soak while you make the fish.

Back to our fish. Drain off any juices from the fish that may have collected from your salting. Pat dry. In a fry pan over low heat, add a small amount of not-olive oil (something less flavorful, like grapeseed oil) and add the fish. As it begins to whiten you’ll see a line coming up the side of the fillet. When it gets around halfway, turn the fillets over and add the remaining chopped cucumber.

Just before you feel that it's done, take it off the heat. Don't overcook this one! If you have nice fresh fish, please consider leaving the center soft like you would with a steak. You'll thank yourself that you did. Just after taking it off the heat, evenly sprinkle a small amount of vinegar – I like rice vinegar here as well – to calm the flavors. The heat remaining in the pan will warm the vinegar and brighten its flavors.

You'll also probably want to make a foam sauce - it goes frighteningly well here. I'll talk more about foam sauces in another post. If you don't want to take the time, don't worry - it'll still be excellent without.

Pat dry your cucumber slices. I use a form to shape the rice, but you could use an old soup can or an upside-down cup. Make it into a cylinder and wrap the cucumber slices around it. Put the fish fillet up on top there and drizzle your foam sauce over if you're using it. Or as an option to that you could sprinkle an additional small amount – the goal is not a puckered face, so be sparing – of your vinegar after plating if you like. Simple and elegant.

pan-searing scallops - take off those feet

Quality scallops are one of my very favorite treasures of the sea – I definitely prefer them over hijiki, by contrast – and can be eaten raw. Note what word I chose to begin that sentence with. Don’t settle for second-rate seafood. Look at it, smell it, don’t buy discounted old stuff - all the common-sense rules apply. With seafood, freshness is everything. That, and maybe avoiding mercury contamination. The key here though: don’t fear the natural product. When searing scallops you’re not trying to cook these things through, far from it. All you are aiming to do is caramelize the outside. The whole process should take around a minute, maybe less.

 

a little fancied up

Remove (if it hasn’t been done already) the tough muscle shaped like a little foot on the side of the scallop. If you are using frozen scallops, which by the way are quite good these days, bring them to room-temperature-ish before searing. You can eat the foot by the way; it just doesn’t have a nice texture. Get a fry pan going on high heat until it’s very hot. Put some high-temp cook oil in there (like grape seed oil or canola oil), maybe a couple of tablespoons, and when the oil is also hot place your scallops in there. Make sure you hear that sizzle! It’s the sure sign that the oil is hot enough to give you a good sear. Stay on high heat and check your scallops after about 20 seconds. If it’s golden and browned, turn. 20 seconds the other side. Cut the heat and take those guys out of there, they are finished. If you want to sear a flavor in, try a dry-rub beforehand instead of a marinade. You don’t want them wet before searing. Wet things don't sear. Me? I like them with a little salt, and maybe some turmeric or Cajun seasoning. Or sometimes a bit fancier.

prosciutto-wrapped amberjack over avocado basil salad

Amberjack is a trout-sized fish that's common in Japan, but it could be replaced with cod or another firm white fish fillet. I should also say that prosciutto is simply the word for ham in Italian, and what is meant here is dry-cured ham, which is what us Americans tend to mean when we say prosciutto. You will want:

 

Fillets of white fish (de-boned and de-skinned)

Enough prosciutto (you’ll see)

Sea salt

For the salad:

Avocado

Fresh basil leaves

Lettuce (of choice, something crisp)

Something crunchy (I use celery)

Simple dressing

Wrap the prosciutto around the fillets, covering them entirely as best you can. Season with sea salt – both sides, always both sides – and set aside. Preheat your oven to 210 C.

Break up the lettuce coarsely with your hands. Wash and throw in the salad spinner (an absolute essential kitchen device) along with a couple handfuls of fresh basil leaves. Also cut up a celery stock or two and toss those in as well.

To make a simple dressing, shake lemon juice with olive oil and some salt together in a mason jar. This isn’t emulsified but it works fine. Dress your salad and toss. The wrapped fillets go into a hot frying pan with a glug of olive oil. There should definitely be a big sizzle when they touch the pan, and we’re going to keep high heat the whole time. By the way, a glug is a unit of measure based on sound – it’s more than a splash but less than 2 tablespoons, according to me (who you gonna trust?).

Now, since we’re going to pop this into the oven after pan-frying, the goal here is not to cook the fish but rather to crisp up the ham with a nice sear. Golden brown with maybe just a touch of black char will tell you that it’s done. Do both sides. The searing will only take a minute or so, so watch the fish and adjust heat down a bit if needed. Take the fishy bundles of joy out of the frying pan and put them in an un-greased baking pan in the oven for 10 or 11 minutes.

While that’s baking, get the avocado out of its shell with a spoon and slice it up thinly. Arrange that on your salad, lumping it up in the middle a bit. Take out the fish, let it rest for just a bit, and then place it atop the avocado. This will warm the avocado without much wilting the leaves. One spoonful of pan jus - the juices left over in the pan after cooking - over the finished fish gives it that sexy sheen (and I don’t mean Charlie!).

 
This works really well as a light luncheon or entrée for a romantic dinner. I would say lager beer with the luncheon and chardonnay with the romantic dinner. The juices from the prosciutto seep into the fish, giving it a meaty, fishy, chicken-y, my-taste-buds-don't-quite-know-how-to-respond-but-it's-wonderful-y feel. Brilliant.