Try Fish Bone Marrow And More at This Scale-to-Tail Seafood Dinner Series
Conservation International Hawai‘i and Chef Hui team up for a three-part dinner series celebrating Sustainable Seafood Month.
Have you ever tasted ‘ahi belly chorizo? What about mahi skin chicharrones? This dinner series may be your chance at trying seafood prepared in ways you’ve never imagined.
Photo: Courtesy of Under My Umbrella
October is Sustainable Seafood Month in Hawai‘i. For the past eight years, Conservation International (CI) Hawai‘i has partnered with Chef Hui to rally the chefs in its Sustainable Seafood Council to host educational events throughout the Islands to influence the way we appreciate and source seafood. This month on O‘ahu and Maui, chef members Ed Kenney of Mud Hen Water, Jason Peel of Nami Kaze and Sheldon Simeon of Tiffany’s will host prix fixe dinners with creative seafood dishes that cleverly use all parts of the fish.
Kampachi yield. Photo: Courtesy of Nami Kaze
Once scaled, gutted and filleted, a single fish yields approximately 50% meat. A skilled chef will find ways to use the remaining half, which is usually in stock. But more often than not, most of these “scraps” slide into the trash. This year, chefs on the council will focus on preservation techniques and preparations that utilize every part of the fish to reduce waste. It’s an approach chef Josh Niland championed in 2019 with his book The Whole Fish Cookbook: New Ways to Cook, Eat and Think. In 2020, CI gifted a copy to every chef on the council.
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Niland believes fish have a minimum of 90% yield. In his prequel Take One Fish: The New School of Scale-to-Tail Cooking and Eating, which the council received earlier this year, he wrote, “My priority is to maximize the yield from one single fish, which I firmly believe should not be seen as something we only take the filets from—this kind of thinking is lazy and neglectful and will only continue to result in the widespread depletion of our oceans.”
After its release on Oct. 17, CI will send the council Niland’s newest book: Fish Butchery: Mastering The Catch, Cut, And Craft. Like Niland, the chefs know this is not new knowledge. In Hawai‘i, preservation methods such as curing, smoking and dry-aging have been practiced with seafood for centuries. Like many of the sustainable practices chefs are adopting today, we need not look much further than the methods Native Hawaiians used to sustain themselves pre-contact.
Chef Jason Peel of Nami Kaze. Photo: Courtesy of Nami Kaze
Inspired by ancient and modern techniques and drawing on their own personal styles and skills, Kenney, Peel and Simeon are going beyond the call of duty to show diners that we can and should create delicious meals with scraps otherwise destined for the dumpster. Details for each dinner are listed below:
Event 1: Chef Ed Kenney
Restaurant: Mud Hen Water
Address: 3452 Wai‘alae Ave., Kaimukī
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m.
Price: $100 per person (includes wine pairing)
Menu: Four-course dinner with wine pairings
Kampachi headcheese. Photo: Courtesy of Nami Kaze
Event 2: Chef Jason Peel
Restaurant: Nami Kaze
Address: 1135 North Nimitz Highway, Iwilei
Date: Sunday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m.
Price: $70 per person
Menu:
First course: Kampachi Head Cheese, Dill, Thai Chili, Black Garlic Remoulade, Skin Cracker
Second course: Fish Eye and Black Garlic “Caviar,” Old Poi Blini, Labneh
Third course: Āholehole Escabeche, Āholehole Waste Garum
Fourth course: Smoked ‘Ahi Bloodline Panisse, Smoked Tomato, ‘Ahi Scrape Tartare
Fifth course: ‘Ahi Marrow, Mrs. Cheng’s Tofu Pudding, Uni
Sixth course: Salmon Fat Bao, Crispy Salmon Skin, Szechuan Pepper Glaze, Pickled Vegetables, Herbs
Seventh course: 48-Hour Prime Short Rib, Kampachi Bone Umami Butter
Dessert: (TBD)
Event 3: Chef Sheldon Simeon
Restaurant: Tiffany’s
Address: 1424 Lower Main St., Wailuku, Maui
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 24
Price: $95
Menu:
Welcome snacks: Mahi Skin Chicharon with Chile H2O, Fish Bone Taré Chex Mix
‘Ohana-style pūpū: ‘Īao Prawn Wontons, Steamed Fishball with Eyeball Shisonette, ‘Ahi Bloodline Palu Toast, Fried Fish Bone with Aloha Poi
Main 1: Chow Funn Palabok, Kaua‘i Shrimp Head Gravy, Akule Tinapa, Salted Egg, Chives
Main 2: Fried Ta‘ape stuffed with ‘Ahi Belly Chorizo, Skeleton Beurre Blanc, Micro Greens
Accoutrements: Parker Rolls topped with Dry Aku and Sesame and AkuZu Butter, Mahi Botarga Rice, Tossed Greens
Dessert: Koji Ice Cream with Kiawe Corn Flakes, Fish Head Garum and Fish Scale
