Blue Moon Fish, Wild Fish, Alex and Stephanie

Posted on May 15, 2013 in Hiroko's Blog

I was so excited when I heard Stephanie on WNYC last Wednesday. She was giving tips on how to cook their catch. She and her husband, Alex, owns Blue Moon Fish company. Alex is a fisherman and has been in the business for 40 years. According to Alex he started to bring fish to the Greenmarket 25 years ago. TriBeCa location became a huge success. Alex expanded the sales of his fish to other Greenmarket locations, and eventually he is selling his fish only to the public. Stephanie confirmed me that their small business never survived without Greenmarket. They are grateful about the market.

I have known Stephanie for several years. She is a beloved fishmonger’s wife and Mother for people who work at her company. I buy fish from them because I know that fish is local, wild and seasonal. In addition, the quality of Blue Moon fish is always excellent. They know how to treat and store fish properly. Fish is so excellent that I sometimes prepare a dish for raw consumption. We, consumers, are grateful that they come to sell their fish no matter what the weather condition is.

Today I bought sea trout (weakfish) from Stephanie. About 2 3/4 pounds. I first cleaned and filleted the fish. As you can see here, the blood is concentrated along the center bone (opened belly). The fish is very fresh so that the blood is flowing. I always rinse off the blood with a tooth brush; the bet equipment for this job.

When you fillet the fish you can also tell the freshness of the fish. The fresh fish muscle meat sticks to your knife during working. Not-fresh, spoiled fish has a mealy muscle meat and crumbles on slicing.

I cut each fillet into 3 1/2 ounce portions – Japanese size! I portioned triangular shaped tail end part for fish noodle making.

The fish cooking tips: you can find the same info. in Hiroko’s American Kitchen
1. Lightly salt the fish for 20 minutes
2. Thoroughly rinse off the salt under cold tap water
3. Wipe dry fish and marinate it in BBC (Best Baking and Cooking Sauce) or the mixture of mirin, sake and shoyu
4. Roll the thinner belly part of the flesh before putting it on a skewer for even cooking
5. Paint the surface of the fish with the remaining marinade towards the end of cooking for rich flavor and glossy appearance

I served the grilled fish with sautéed spinach and pickled ramps. Thank you, Stephanie, Alex and Greenmarket.