June 2025 - Page 3 of 3

Choshita Saury Kabayaki

I went out on a limb and ordered a couple of Japanese tinned fish selections, including these Choshita Saury Kabayaki. They ended up being a little mystery to be solved, as the package received had no English, not even an added sticker like imported cans often do.

Pacific saury, also known as sanma, is apparently a popular seasonal fish commonly enjoyed in the Japanese autumn. The kanji characters of the Japanese name literally translate as "autumn knife fish". It is a shallow water fish which grows to a length of about 12 inches.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3.5/5.

What little research I had done about kabayaki prior to opening the can led me to expect a coloration characteristic of a soy sauce-based glaze. So, even though the brown color was not exactly appetizing (IMO), it wasn't a surprise.

I chose to consume these over a bowl of rice, which I understand is how they are commonly served. This allowed me to just pour out the entire contents so as to savor the entire preparation. "Kabayaki" means grilled and basted with a sweet and savory glaze. Although I have to say the grilled aspect might have been lost in the canning process. Either that or the glaze just overpowered any grilled flavor.

There were a few crunchy bones, maybe 3 or 4 vertebrae, but that was all that was apparent. I found nothing off-putting in either the texture or the flavor. I have a second can and might try frying them up before serving to see if that adds anything to the experience.

Main Takeaways

Preparation style overpowers the flavor of the fish
Might be better heated

See it on Amazon.

Brand: Choshita [Tawara Canning Co.Ltd]
Description: Saury Kabayaki
Species: Saury
Country of Origin: Japan
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 3.5 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Minerva Sardines in Spiced Olive Oil

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These Minerva Sardines in Spiced Olive Oil with Vegetables were tried as a follow-up to the Nuri Spiced Mackerel. I had enjoyed that spiced flavor profile and hoped it would translate well to sardines.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

Four nice-sized pilchards, with very little headroom left in the can. While these did have the slices of carrot (2) and cucumber (1), they had two small piri-piri peppers, and that was all. No clove, bay leaf or peppercorn to be found. As such, these had a little heat and nothing else in the way of spice.

That's OK, though because, as plain sardines go, these were top-notch. Clean aroma and taste, tender, and not dry at all. Although I probably won't buy them again, at least I know Minerva puts out a quality can of fish, even if they weren't seasoned as expected.

I also purchased some of the Minerva Sardines in Olive Oil with Lemon at the same time. Hopefully, I'll have something good to report on them later.

Main Takeaways

Nice looking pilchards
Not spiced as anticipated

Brand: A Poveira/MInerva
Description: Sardines in Spiced Olive Oil w/Vegetables
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.25 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Nuri Spiced Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil

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I guess I'm on a bit of a mackerel kick lately. These sounded good, Nuri Spiced Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil. There needs to be a distinction made between "spicy" and "spiced". It seems that, in the world of tinned fish, "spiced" doesn't necessarily mean "hot". So, even though there are a bunch of red peppers on the label, that's not what's really going on here.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 5/5.

The score is based on a full packing of fish, a clean look to the olive oil, and the aroma of the spices wafting up from the just-opened can. A sip of the oil gives a subtle preview of the infused spices.

The meat is tender, the fillets breaking apart somewhat easily as they are extracted from the tin. The texture is reminiscent of tuna, but the flavor more mild.

Spicing Things Up

I have seen video of the Pinhais packing operation in Matosinhos, Portugal. The empty cans move down a conveyor belt with several ladies seated on either side. As the cans move past, they toss a variety of things into them: small, thin slices of carrot and cucumber; peppercorn and whole clove; and one small red chilli. Meanwhile, another lady is scissor-snipping bay leaves cross-wise into small strips, and one of those pieces is tossed into each can as well.

In Summary

Of all the spices, the bay and clove are most evident, the pepper not so much. They're all underneath the fish, so that's why you don't see them in the photo. An interesting flavor combination with the richness of the mackerel. These were good, I'd try them again.

Brand: Pinhais/Nuri
Description: Spiced Mackerel in Olive Oil
Species: Mackerel
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.4 oz.
Price Range: $8

King Oscar Royal Fillets Mackerel in Olive Oil

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Banking on the KO reputation, I tried this King Oscar Mackerel in Olive Oil. The presentation here is similar to the KO Mackerel in Sweet Thai Chili Sauce, chunks of meat.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

Can packed full of large pieces of mackerel. Nice fish aroma. Not sure what those indentations are in the top of the meat, they weren't made by the can lid. It's not a grilled product, so I'll have to guess it's something to do with handling during canning.

A different presentation from the slices in the Cole's tried previously. And I found this to be more tender than that of the Thai Chili Sauce version, which I had likened to pulled pork in texture.

My intent was to taste this one with some Salsa Espinaler on hand in case I found it to be too bland, but am glad I didn't. The fish here is very mild and rich, and stands well on its own. At under $3 a can, a definite mackerel re-buy.

See it on Amazon.

Brand: King Oscar
Description: Mackerel in Olive Oil
Species: North Atlantic mackerel
Country of Origin: Poland
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.05 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Sea Tales Sardines in EVOO

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I got these Sea Tales Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil on sale at Whole Foods mainly to give the brand a try. I figured I should start with their basic sardines in EVOO. Let's see how it went.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3/5.

he first thing you notice when you open the can is that it's two large, fat, humongous pilchards. Maybe it's not like that all the time, but this time it was. To be honest, for the money spent on these, I'd really rather a can of pilchards be 3 to 5 fish. Bigger fish just means bigger spines and bones. Also, there were more scales than I expected to see at this price point.

On the upside, these had a fairly clean aroma and taste, which is good. The olive oil tastes blandly neutral, not quite what one would expect of a good EVOO.

The package uses a paper overwrap typical of some of the premium tinned fish brands. It has some nice verbiage about family and Cornwall, UK history. But these are produced in Portugal. I later learned it wasn't uncommon for Cornish fishing fleets to bring their catch across the Bay of Biscay to Portugal, either for processing or for sale.

These also come in a "EVOO with lemon" version, but I'm now ambivalent about trying them. I'm going to try to look online to see if this "two big fish per can" is a regular thing or not.

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Sea Tales
Description: Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Salsa Espinaler Review

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Another page here covers the history of Salsa Espinaler. But it might be a good idea to do a hands-on review, in order to give a sense of what to expect. The sauce was devised by one of the owners of the Espinaler Tavern in Spain in the 1950s as an "appetizer sauce" to be used primarily on a variety of tinned seafood. I obtained a bottle from an online source after an unproductive search of local stores.

At first glance, the sauce looks like a typical hot sauce, but less viscous. There are quite a bit of extremely fine, undissolved solids-- mostly red, but some black. Some settle to the bottom of the bottle and a good deal which appear to remain in suspension.

Instructions say to shake well before using, and to refrigerate after opening. My guess would be that if used up quickly enough, refrigeration might not be necessary. There doesn't appear to be anything that might cause rancidity.

Taste Test

First, I tasted the sauce by itself, a few drops on a spoon. The shaker top dispenses only a few drops-worth per shake. The initial impression is very vinegar-forward, probably a cider vinegar unless the other ingredients are doing something to alter the flavor of a plain distilled or spirit vinegar.

The next impression is of a slight saltiness. The label says that, among other things, the sauce is "not a significant source" of sodium (or anything else). At half a calorie per tablespoon, we'll just have to guess that some salt is among the unnamed "spices".

There is a very faint heat to the sauce. The second ingredient is red pepper, and it is evident in that it sticks to the sides of the bottle, much like that of a typical hot sauce. But it isn't the primary flavor note.

If you think about it, many condiments have a strong vinegar component: ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, salad dressings. Or perhaps more accurate to say an acid component, as, if not vinegar, lemon or lime juice. Acidity can cut through richness, can "wake up" taste buds.

Salsa Epinaler reminds me in some ways of a simpler version of an Eastern North Carolina barbecue sauce. In that region, "barbecue" is whole hog pulled pork, seasoned with a thin, vinegar-based sauce containing salt and spices like cayenne, paprika and chili powder. Nothing like the thick, sweet sauces popular in other barbecue meccas like Memphis, Kansas City or Texas.

So far, I've tried it on plain sardines, smoked oysters, plain mackerel and calamari. I think it brings an interesting dimension to tinned seafood, and keeping a bottle on hand is worth considering.

Other Variations

A second, "hot" version adds cayenne, and a third adds habanero for an extra-hot experience. There's also a fourth, an organic version of the regular flavor that, like their organic tinned fish products, is labeled "BIO"; a sea green colorway serves to differentiate those products.

See them at Amazon.

Trader Joe’s Calamari Pieces in Olive Oil

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Time for something a little different, I picked up a can of these Trader Joe's Calamari Pieces in Olive Oil. I think I was expecting the type of calamari like you'd get as an appetizer at a restaurant. You know, like little rings and tentacles swimming in a bath of some kind of flavorful marinade. This is not that.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3.5/5.

This is described on the can as being "jumbo squid", so these are just chunks of meat from a much larger mollusk. It doesn't have an aroma I would consider squid-like. It's a bit chewy, like one might expect, and a bit bland. Perhaps that's why squid is more likely to be served marinated, or deep-fried to be dipped in a sauce.

Consequently, I tried pepping it up with a dash of Salsa Espinaler and that seemed to improve things. I'll have to see if there's such a thing as a marinated tinned calamari. This one didn't really make me want to buy more, unless I thought of a good way to jazz it up somehow.

Brand: Trader Joe's
Description: Calamari Pieces in Olive Oil
Species: Jumbo squid
Country of Origin: Spain
Source: FAO27 Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 3.91 oz.
Price Range: $4