ULUA AND FERN SHOOTS

The fierce and ultimate catch from shore, that silvery fish that local brothers, and sisters too want to capture, that Trevally (Ulua) that puts up a mean fight. The meat is firm but succulent, terrific for frying, battering, sauteeing, even raw. Nope, never caught one, I'm a lousy fisherman, but Ulua is a very tasty fish. The meat is light flesh, and it is a very very good eat. Check this picture of an Ulua swimming, look at his head, he's like a pitbull in the water. These buddies can go fast underwater, their mouths are kind of jaw ee, I mean, they got some jaw going on.

On any given weekend, if you live in Hawaii, and you are driving on the highway near the coastline, you are bound to see an army of Ulua fishermen with their long ass poles, and huge reels, just trying to land an Ulua in the upper 80 lbs. class. This is a prize fish baby! Look at him, this dude here in the picture, he's got some good eating filets just ready to be sliced, of course... you gotta catch him first, because Ulua is not a weekling, no not at all, he is a fighter. Imagine if Ulua was like a killer fish? That would be crazy, totally crazy.

Here is a recipe for Ulua and Fern Shoots

1- Ulua filet about 9 oz. (dip it in infused oil)

Recipe for infused oil:

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. onion powder

Mix this well, then place filet of Ulua in it and let it marinade for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Take the fern shoots, and clean out the bottoms, trim them if you have to of any scarred areas. If the shoots are long cut them in half if not leave them whole. Place the fern shoots (a good handful) and poach them in hot water for about 1 minute it should soften some.

Then place in a strainer and run cold water over it to stop the cooking process, then set it in a bowl.

In the bowl, sprinkle some sea salt, some vinegar, pepper, some garlic cloves, some soy sauce, and toss well.

Garnish:
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half.

Heat up a nonstick pan with canola oil for sauteeing, then add in the Ulua filet with marinade, sautee about 2-4 minutes per side, when done remove and plate, return pan to stove over medium high heat, then add in the shoots, and sautee for about 1 minute, this will give the shoots some flavor of the Ulua.

Place the filet of Ulua over the shoots, garnish with sliced cherry tomatoes.


Ulua filets, fleshy pink