"Few things are more beautiful to me than a bunch of thuggish, heavily tattooed line cooks moving around each other like ballerinas on a busy Saturday night. Seeing two guys who'd just as soon cut each others throats in their off hours moving in unison with grace and ease can be as uplifting as any chemical stimulant or organized religion."

-Chef Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Halibut

Halibut are "flat-fish" properly called Hippoglossus, they are in the same family of fish as a Flounder. The french word for Halibut is Fletan.

Halibut are gray-black on the top side with an off-white underbelly. At birth they have an eye on each side of the head, and swim like a Salmon After about 6 months one eye migrates to the other side, making them look more like other flounders. At the same time the stationary-eyed side darkens to match the top side, while the other side remains white. This color scheme disguises halibut from above (blending with the ocean floor) and from below (blending into the light from the sky) giving it a counter-shade. 


Halibut is a mild white fish, I prefer it pan seared, it can also be very nice in a broth or chowder. It has a fairly small fat content (about 2%), compatible to Swordfish or Shark. Its fairly easy to get Pacific Halibut from your local fishery or market. 


It's also one of the easier fishes to clean with little or no experience. This picture was my first time cleaning one and it was a relative breeze, given my knowledge (or lack of) of fish. I have always found it easier to start with the top side of the fish, it will also more often then not give you the thicker more meaty fillets.



If you are truly inspire to give this a try here is a link with some good step by step pictures and instruction on how to clean a Halibut and some problems you may encounter.

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