Sablefish "Butterfish", 6oz filet

1, 6oz portion of boneless, skin-on Alaskan Sablefish (Black "Cod"), sustainably-caught in Alaska's Dutch Harbor, flash frozen and vacuum-sealed.

To know it, is to love it. 

The many-named Sablefish aka Black "Cod" aka Butterfish is not at all a cod but it is very unique, check it out: 

Fun facts: 

• A very deep dwelling fish, found in depths of 1,500 fathoms (9,000 ft or 25 football fields for the midwesterners). 
• A unique fish, little know in WI, and the only one of its genus (anoplopoma fimbria)
• Flesh is delicate with a velvety texture & slightly sweet flavor.
• High in protein, long on calories (so not ideal if you're trying to lose weight) and the preeminent fish in omega-3 of all AK fish, topping even King Salmon, with 1800 mg per 3.5 oz serving.
• very easy & the most forgiving of all fish to cook.
• the fattiest fish in all of Alaska's waters...trust us the fat is a good thing.
• Best fish on the planet for smoking.

Now with any animals, a lot of BAD stuff accumulates in the fat and is held there as long as the fat is there....hence why we are supposed to discard all fat and skin from our local fish that live in our highly polluted waters (and you can imagine how much more true that would be for fish imported from China....where we've outsourced the worst of our pollution). 

However, if the animal has a diet of amazing stuff (like our beef, sheep and pigs) then all the GOOD stuff accumulates in the fat too and it should be highly prized and treated like the nutritional powerhouse it is! Not a biohazard. The state of our waters is so sad. Sigh.

So what does that make the Butterfish then? The fattest fish, living in the depths of the pristine Bering Sea? 

Try it and find out!!! 

Looking for the opposite of a fatty fish? You'll want to check out the Halibut. 

Sad facts:

• 90% of the seafood consumed in the US is imported (mostly from China (see note above) and Russia). With most of the salmon coming from fish factories in Norway and Chile. 
• Most grocery store salmon is processed overseas and re-imported through a long supply chain of middlemen. 
• Typically 7-10 middlemen are used to get fish from water to shelf. 
• Farmed salmon.
  • Raised in a "fish factory" or CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) in cages full of parasites and diseases (b/c the fish are so unhappy they are trying to die). 
  • Eat GMO soy & corn, meat by-products like chicken feathers, canola meal and dye. Note the high soy composition in their feed means goodbye healthy omega-3s and hello inflammatory disease-causing omega-6s!
  • doused regularly with pesticides and antibiotics (sea lice, eww) but still have a staggering death rate of 15-20%. 

Seafood Watch, an independent guide to fish consumption affiliated with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, recommends avoiding most farmed Atlantic salmon because of excessive chemical use and disease. Read more HERE.