A good catch: chefs go fishing for alternative species as supplies of popular seafood dwindle

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 5, 2007  by Bret Thorn

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"It looks like a big carp," he says.

Besh cooks tripletail in a Cajun-style court bouillon with onion, bell peppers, celery, tomato, allspice and other seasonings. He serves it over white rice.

He is now also playing with brown eel, which he cuts into pieces, poaches, fillets and then makes into a brandade to be stuffed in ravioli.

Phil Evans, executive chef of Herons at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C., likes tripletail as well.

"It has a very unique flavor," he says, describing it as a cross between mahi mahi and flounder.

Evans makes roulades out of the fillets, rolling them with a stuffing of bread, poblano peppers, corn, crab and house-smoked maple syrup. He broils them with salt, pepper and lemon and serves them with a maple syrup-butter sauce.

He added the item recently to his menu and sold more than 60 pounds of the fish in less than a week. He says he thinks people are drawn to its uniqueness and the smoked maple syrup flavor.

Jeremy Sabo, executive chef for the Urban Food Group in Raleigh, N.C., which operates Frazier's, Porter's City Tavern, Vivace and South, has taken a liking to triggerfish, which is a by-catch of grouper and snapper.

"It's really a neat little fish," he says. "It has a firm yet sweet taste to it. It sears really nicely and has a quick cook."

Sabo compares triggerfish to a John Dory. Recently he seared it and served it with potatoes and mushrooms in a pancetta broth.

Chefs aren't just using wild fish, though. They also are appreciating an array of farm-raised fish. Perhaps the latest in sustainable farmed fish is Kindai, a farm-raised bluefin tuna being raised in a process developed by Kinki University in Osaka, Japan, over several decades at the cost of around $60 million, said Jeff Nitta, the owner of Hokusai restaurant in Los Angeles, one of the few U.S. restaurants to serve the fish.

Nitta says the cost is about the same as wild bluefin--which is quite expensive because of severe overfishing and high demand--"but the quality is much better, and the sustainability of it is great."

Hiro Nishida, president of Foodscope America, which operates Megu, a restaurant with two locations in New York City, says the Kindai bluefin has a cleaner finish than other farm-raised varieties of the fish.

Enjoying widespread acceptance is Kona kampachi, a type of yellowtail that is being raised off of Hawaii's big island.

"It's great for all cooking methods, and it's really super-hyper fresh," says Jeff Tunks, chef-owner of Acadiana, DC Coast, Ceiba and TenPenh, all in Washington, D.C.

Bernard Guillas, chef of the Marine Room in La Jolla, Calif., likes Kona kampachi, too, especially raw, although it can also be seared rare.

"We marinate it for, like, 15 seconds in seasoned rice vinegar and plum powder," he says. "It's just gorgeous."

At Crave in New York City, chef Todd Mitgang says the fact that Kona kampachi is domestic helps put his customers at ease, as they worry about possible contaminants in fish from overseas. He serves it raw with green chile-garlic puree, fish sauce and lime juice. He lays that on crispy Chinese noodles with lapchang sausage, shallots, Chinese morning glory and a southern Thai-style curry.