Giant Chinook Salmon

I went down to the Fisherman's Wharf by Granville Island three time in the last five days and finally got a good fish from Steve Johansen of Ocean Organic. I was luck, maybe as a reward of my persistence, because this is the smallest and last of his whole fresh fish, caught the day before. Normally a 25lber is quite large but Steve said he caught only 20+ fishes in this opening but the largest is 40+lbs. Too bad I didn't get to see that monster. I asked who got it and he told me it was Raincity Grill who ordered 100-lbs of salmon and he delivered just three fishes. That is pretty impressive.



To give a better scale, here is the head of the fish again my 9-inch Trident chef's knife. Makes it look like a paring, doesn't it? I simply pan seared and then roasted a 1.5lb fillet and the collar and the belly tips to serve to my aunt, my visiting cousin, her husband, and three of their friends. The meat is so moist, so sweet and so tasty that this simple preparation is just right. Now I still have a good 17 or so pounds of fillets, I will make some gravlax, some hot smoked, and some poached for the freezer. Should last me a bit of this winter.