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From: jeff@rtech.ARPA (Jeff Lichtman)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: experiences with fish in Hawaii
Message-ID: <239@rtech.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 14-Mar-85 06:06:12 EST
Article-I.D.: rtech.239
Posted: Thu Mar 14 06:06:12 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 18-Mar-85 04:01:37 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Relational Technology, Berkeley CA
Lines: 73

I recently took a trip to Hawaii.  Since I went alone, I stayed in hotel rooms
with kitchenettes (eating alone in a restaurant depresses me).  The following
are my experiences with fish in Hawaii.

I made a resolution to eat a different kind of fish for dinner every night.  It
turned out to be very easy.  There are a *lot* of varieties of fish in Hawaii.
Some of the types I had were:

		Mahi Mahi
		Marlin
		Ono (also known as wahoo)
		Ahi (Yellowtail tuna)
		Grey Snapper
		Nabeta
		Pananni Palani
		Jackfish
		Amberjack

I didn't have a broiler either of my hotel rooms, so I baked some of the fish
and fried the rest of it.  The fish was very fresh, so I seasoned it with
nothing but salt.

If you can find ono anywhere, get it!  It is one of the best-tasting fishes I
have eaten.  "Ono" is the Hawaiian word for "delicious".  It has a fine texture
without being either too firm or too soft.  On the mainland it might be sold
as "wahoo".

The mahi mahi in Hawaii is better than what I have had in the San Francisco
bay area.  I had come to think of this fish as somewhat dry.  What I had in
Hawaii was moist and flavorful.

Marlin is a very dull fish.  It doesn't have much flavor, and I found the
texture uninteresting.

I decided when I was in Hawaii that tuna is ruined by cooking.  Yellowtail
is moist and tasty raw; cooked, it is dry and bland.

Grey snapper was something of a surprise.  I was expecting a variation of red
snapper; grey snapper has a finer texture, isn't as firm, and has a different
flavor from red snapper.  I recommend this one.

Nabeta is a tropical fish.  I think the name is Hawaiian, and I don't know the
English translation.  The texture of this fish is unlike that of any other I've
had.  It's neither firm nor soft; it's sort of a combination between fluffy and
chewy.  The flavor is very good.  The woman who sold it to me said that the
fish doesn't have to be scaled: the scales "melt" when you fry it.  I was
chicken and scaled the fish anyway.  This one is tied with grey snapper for
the second best fish I had while I was there.

I found pannini palani to be a little strange.  Before cooking, the fish had an
"off" odor (sort of a bile smell) that went away with cooking.  It is very
flaky, and the flavor is undistiguished.

Neither jackfish nor amberjack impressed me very much.  They are both firm,
and have good but not great flavor.

When I was on Kauai, I got most of my fish from J&R seafood in Lihue.  They
sell poke (pronounced pokey), which is a sort of Hawaiian sashimi.  It is fish
or seafood (usually raw) chopped and mixed with green onions and seasonings.
One of the seasonings they use is kukui nut, which is a native Hawaiian nut,
sometimes called "candlenut" because it's 40% oil content makes it burn like
a candle when it is set on fire.  I had ahi poke (made with raw yellowtail)
and tako poke (made with cooked octopus).  Both were delicious.

On the big island I recommend the Suisun fish market in Hilo.  This market
is next to the place where they auction of the day's catch in the morning.
I watched the auction; it's very interesting, and there were many types of fish
I'd never seen before.  Each day, the Suisun market buys some of the fish at
the auction and puts it on sale.  The prices there are very good (some fish
sells for less than $1.00/lb.), and it is extremely fresh.
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
aka Swazoo Koolak