Search This Blog

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Arctic Char? Recipe


While I certainly think of myself as a rather adventurous eater, I can sometimes be incredibly picky, at the very least. (Some say it's snobbish. Hmmm. Maybe. And so what if it is). Truthfully, I tend to shy away from certain food items that I don't know much about. I'm more than willing to try something once I get my brain around it.

Tonight I ventured into the market after my romp at the gym and knew I was headed for the fish counter. Again, that feeling of trying to be "healthy" creeps into my head and sticks. Fish it is. Tonight, I wanted to make Salmon Terriyaki. It takes no time at all and it's really flavorful. Best of all, the kids like it. But when I went up to the counter, I paused. I saw three types of Salmon - one was $8.99/pound and looked it. YUCK. The other was the Wild Salmon at $17.99/pound. And you know what? I don't think it's all that. So I stared at the Scottish Salmon that was $14.99 pound. It looked like what I had in mind. So I asked the man at the counter for his advice (this poor guy - I ask him nearly twice a week for something and sometimes he even weighs fish for me and then I change my mind. He's so nice!) and he tells me what I was hoping for...that he, too, prefers the Scottish Salmon.

The rub at this point is that I see there is only about 1 lb. in the tray and of course he has no more. I can't make do with only a pound. So now I'm stuck and staring at the man and the fish and I'm irritated. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I spot a lovely pink (salmon color) fish with plenty to choose from. It's: Arctic Char.

Of course I've heard of it but as I said, if I've never learned anything about an item, I tend to shy away. But since no one else was around I asked the man: "So what's the deal with this?" And he tells me that it's kind of a cross between a salmon and a trout. Huh. (not exactly). Then he says that it has that salmon flavor but it's much sweeter, more mild and less fishy. Huh!?!

So of course I bought some. Really, he was right. Also, I've listed a website and what I learned online. But first, the recipe:



Arctic Char Terriyaki
1 1/2 Lbs. Arctic Char cut into 4 pieces
1/8 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/8 cup good BBQ sauce
1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. In a small bowl, mix the sauces and the cinnamon together. Place fish into an oven proof dish and pour sauce mixture over the fish. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.


check this out: http://www.seafoodchoices.com/smartchoices/species_char.php

Arctic char is a member of the Salmonid family. It resembles a salmon in appearance but is genetically more closely linked to trout. While some populations of Arctic char migrate to the ocean and return to freshwater to spawn, others spend their entire life in freshwater. Unlike Pacific salmon, Arctic char do not die after spawning.

In the wild, these fish enter saltwater in the spring and spend the summer gorging themselves on fish like capelin and Arctic cod. In the fall, they return to freshwater lakes and rivers, weighing 30 to 50 percent more than when they left. In many cases, char does not feed during winter months; it lives off the fat accumulated the previous summer.

Although Arctic char has been farmed for well over a decade and farmed product represents the majority of the U.S. market for char, production remains quite small. Arctic char is currently farmed in Canada, Iceland, Norway and the U.S., with the majority of U.S. supply originating in Canada and Iceland. Farmers have had considerable difficulty selecting char that consistently perform well because of its complex genetic makeup, which is one reason supply of Arctic char remains relatively limited.




1 comment:

Your working group: said...

MHC, I'm totally going to try this fish! Love salmon...