Reviews - Page 26 of 30

Natural Catch Spicy Yellowfin Tuna Filets

Caught these Natural Catch Spicy Yellowfin Tuna Filets, new and on sale at Whole Foods. Regular $5.49 marked down to $3.77 for Amazon Prime members. One of a few cans of various premium tuna I've acquired recently to try.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

Nice presentation with the pepper visible. Packed reasonably full of layers of yellowfin tuna filet. Ingredients list vegetable broth in addition to organic EVOO and spices. A nice, warm heat from the seasoning, not overpowering. No dry mouth feel like some tuna, and a nice, fresh tuna taste.

Natural Catch is an up-and-comer in the premium tuna arena. Based upon this can, I'd say they will be a contender. Recommended.

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Natural Catch
Description: Yellowfin Tuna in Spicy EVOO
Species: Yellowfin tuna
Country of Origin: Viet Nam
Source: FAO71, Western Central Pacific
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.4 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Trader Joe’s Lightly Smoked Mussels

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Officially described as Trader Joe's Lightly Smoked Mussels in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I continue to have a bone to pick over "in olive oil". These are clearly not packed in olive oil. There may be some in there, and according to the box, it's the second ingredient on the list. But it should really say "with olive oil". This is not the first can of mussels I've seen make this dubious claim. I drank some of the liquid from the can (okay, so all of the liquid) to assess the flavor. And it was clear I wasn't drinking oil. Anyway, moving on...

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

These are nice looking, and the can is packed reasonably full. The taste was of a really good, sweet shellfish and just the right amount of chew. Didn't really get much in the way of smoke, though.

I think I'm going to make a frutti di mare pasta with a tin of these, can juices and all. It should go well with some fresh shrimp I have on hand. At a little over $2 each, I just might use two cans.

Brand: Trader Joe's
Description: Lightly Smoked Mussels
Species: Mussels
Country of Origin: Chile
Source: FAO87, Southeast Pacific
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.02 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Fishwife Albacore Tuna in Spicy Olive Oil

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Dropped in to Whole Foods and found this Albacore Tuna in Spicy Olive Oil and other Fishwife products on sale for 20% off for Amazon Prime members, so I took a chance. Premium tuna has been last on my list. One, for the price compared to regular canned tuna. (How much better can it be?) And for two, what am I going to do, make tuna salad with an $8 can of fish? No, it has to be magnificent on its own, would you not think?

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.9/5.

Man, that's some pretty looking fish, and it's packed in there tight. Solid albacore tuna with no slosh, no headroom. No skin, and no mystery bits. Glistening olive oil tinged red with paprika and cayenne. I tasted a little of the oil on its own, and it packs some serious afterburner heat. Not like in-your-face jalapeno hot, just more like what you'd expect from the combination of hot paprika, cayenne and white pepper. I wasn't really getting any of the garlic, though.

Having tasted fresh-caught tuna and mackerel from the Gulf, I was hoping to come closer that experience than regular canned tuna. But I don't know, it just didn't blow my hair back. I found it a tad dry and maybe a bit metallic (for lack of a better word). Perhaps that's just the nature of the beast. But definitely not what I was expecting from premium albacore. I also bought a can of albacore with the preserved lemon, so I'll have to compare to that at some point to make a final call.

Main Takeaways

Nice looking, solid tuna
A little on the dry side
Will try another can to compare

See it on Amazon.

Brand: Fishwife
Description: Albacore Tuna in Spicy Olive Oil
Species: Albacore tuna
Country of Origin: Spain
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 3.2 oz.
Price Range: $8

King Oscar Spanish Style Sardines

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I've been waiting for my local Walmart to have these back in stock for a while now. Fully described as King Oscar Skinless & Boneless Sardines, Spanish Style in Olive Oil. As is usual with KO skinless/boneless sardines, these are pilchards.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

I didn't include a photo of the just-opened can because it looked like any other can of King Oscar skinless/boneless pilchards. My assumption was that whatever was included in the can would be underneath the fish, so photographing that would have been moot. Perhaps the idea is that one is expected to dump the fish out onto a plate, et voila! there are the inclusions nicely perched atop the liberated can contents.

Such was not the case, as I chose to do as I usually do, which is to dig portions straight out of the can. I did manage to find the carrot and cucumber, but felt a little disappointed to find no actual whole pepper. These were not as firm as I have come to expect from KO. Digging around to find the veggies created a bit of a mush. They still tasted fine. However, if there was supposed to be any pepper to convey some heat, both it and the heat were absent. Maybe the pepper lady was on break when this can went down the line. I will reserve final judgement until after opening the second can I bought.

Main Takeaways

Not as firm as typical King Oscar boneless skinless
Flavorful but absent heat

See it on Amazon.

Brand: King Oscar
Description: Skinless & Boneless Sardines in Olive Oil, Spanish Style
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: Morocco
Source: FAO34, Eastern Central Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.23 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Trader Joe’s Boneless Grilled Sardines

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These sounded good, so I picked up a couple of cans. At only $2, the risk of disappointment was small. Fully described, they are Trader Joe's Wild Caught Boneless Grilled Sardines in Olive Oil. Whew...

Initial impression upon opening the can: Confused.

When I opened the can, I had to look at the lid to make sure I hadn't somehow bought mackerel. It smelled like sardines. And after tasting a bite, I still wasn't sure, The can says "Ingredients: sardine, olive oil, salt, natural flavor." and "Contains sardine." Yeah, but what species? It's not herring.

The can also says "Product of Tunisia", so I'm really at a loss to say what it is other than slices of a fish with some skin left on the back side and grill marks on the top. It wasn't really possible to determine if there were grill marks elsewhere than the top layer of fish, nor if they were real grill marks at all. I'll have to investigate further with the next can.

The fish does have the subtle taste I would associate with having seen some time on a back yard grill, but maybe less "char-grilled" and more "one that needs its grates cleaned". The "slightly smoky" on the lid is apt. The packing oil was neutral enough to not interfere. I think at $2 these warrant a re-buy, even if I don't know what fish this is. Sourced from Tunisia, I can only assume it's from the Mediterranean.

Follow Up

A revisit of these 10 days later revealed a troubling inconsistency. The "spent some time on a well-used back yard charcoal grill" flavor was absent, as was any evidence of seasoning, even saltiness. What wasn't absent were bones, albeit very fine and soft ones, but bones nonetheless. These are cheap enough to perhaps overlook the incongruity. Caveat emptor.

Third and Final Assessment

A week later: I think "spineless" is really what these are, as there are indeed some very fine rib bones that remain after processing. The back yard grill taste was there again, but I have to say, overall, I won't be revisiting these after I decide how to dispose of the two cans I have left. The $2 is better spent elsewhere.

Main Takeaways

Mystery fish species
Unappetizing grill flavor
Inconsistent, can to can

Brand: Trader Joe's
Description: Wild Caught Boneless(?) Grilled Sardines in Olive Oil
Species: Unspecified
Country of Origin: Tunisia
Source: FAO37 Mediterranean Sea(?)
Skin/Bones: Yes/No(Maybe?)
Net Wt: 3.88 oz.
Price Range: $2

Choshita Saury Kabayaki

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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