Fishwife Archives - Sardeenz!

Fishwife Smoked Salmon

I picked up this Fishwife Smoked Salmon at Whole Foods, where it is currently on sale at 30% off for Amazon Prime members. That brought the sticker shock $11.99 price down to $8.38.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4/5.

Initial impression is usually based on appearance, things like scales, fins, aroma. Fractions of points added or removed for each. It's very disappointing when points taken off are the result of glaringly empty space.

I mean, really. If you were a new customer to a highly-promoted brand, and paid $12 for a tin of smoked salmon packed only 75% full, what would you think? It would leave a bad taste in your mouth, even before the first bite. "Sold by weight, not volume", yeah, I get it, but I reserve the right to expect a far better OOBE at this price point.

Moving on. The aroma is subtly smoky. The appearance is not as dark as with some tinned smoked salmons, but the coloration suggests the promise of it having been "slow smoked over beechwood". The olive oil is neutral, and not being EVOO, I expect is basically just preserving moisture.

Let's Try It

I placed the fish over a bowl of rice. Being there was a copious amount of oil left in the tin, I poured only about a tablespoon's worth over everything.

The meat is tender and moist with a well-balanced contribution from the smoke. The smoke not overpowering the flavor of the fish is always a plus.

The fish is not as al dente as other premium smoked salmons usually seen packaged in small round tins, including those from Fishwife. The texture is flaky and it's cooked just right.

Sodium is listed at an above average 670mg, but it doesn't taste that salty. The level was just about right, in my estimation.

Main Takeaways

Flavorful, tender salmon
Good smoke balance
OOBE disappointing

Brand: Fishwife Tinned Seafood Co.
Description: Smoked Salmon
Species: Atlantic salmon
Country of Origin: Norway (processed in Denmark)
Source: Farmed
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 3.7 oz.
Price Range: $12

Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Soy Ginger

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This Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Soy Ginger is a new item at Whole Foods, so new in fact, the master carton hadn't even been opened to put it out onto the shelf yet. It's been a while since I tried a variety of Fishwife tuna, so this was an exciting opportunity to get back into it. Let's see how it goes.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

I don't know what I was expecting, visually. For all the ingredients listed, it looks pretty much like a can of plain tuna. Some broth, a few droplets of oil. Barely any color to the liquid. There's no real aroma that shouts soy sauce, ginger, mirin, leek or garlic (full ingredient list below). A sip of the broth reveals only the most subtle notes of the seasonings. I note dashi on the list as well, and conclude the sensibility here is intended to be decidedly Japanese.

Let's Eat

A nibble of the fish affirms the seasonings have permeated the meat, and perhaps have either masked or neutralized the inherent tuna "tang". A plus for me. The fish extracts from the can in large chunks, with little debris hiding underneath.

The appearance of the liquid remaining in the tin was slightly sauce-like and hinted that it might contain flavor worth not letting go to waste. I poured it all over the fish and rice.

As I ate, I debated repeatedly whether or not to spice this up with something, anything. Furikake, taberu rayu? But I ultimately decided to let it stand on its own. I didn't find it salty at all, despite the 420mg. sodium.

Main Takeaways

Good quality albacore
Delicate seasoning

Ingredients: Albacore Tuna (Fish), Dashi (Tuna, Water), Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (Soy Beans, Salt, Alcohol Vinegar), Olive Oil, Fresh Ginger, Mirin (Glucose, Dextrose, Alcohol, Rice, Koji), Leek, Fresh Garlic, Potato Starch, Sesame Oil (Sesame), Brown Cane Sugar, White Pepper

This tuna wasn't what I expected. And that's not to say it didn't live up to expectations, only that it was something quite different from what I assumed it would be. Given the ingredient list, I kind of assumed an umami bomb, more akin to the Fishwife Smoked Salmon with Sichuan Chili Crisp. In retrospect, however, I think that type of treatment would be overkill on a mild-flavored fish like tuna.

While I won't be sprinting back to the store for another can, I might be tempted if I see it on sale in the future.

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

Fishwife Smoked Trout with Red Chimichurri

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Another tin I picked up from that new local gourmet shop, this Fishwife Smoked Trout with Red Chimichurri sounded quite appetizing. It's a selection not stocked by either of the other two places I've purchased Fishwife products before. A little spendy at $13, but not out of the ballpark for Fishwife tins that incorporate some kind of additional premium preparation like their Sichuan chili crisp smoked salmon.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 5/5.

The aroma hits you immediately. Smoke, vinegar, oregano, cumin. It's almost like the lid just opened on a loaded barbecue pit. The chimichurri looks kind of sparse, though. A sip of the oil (olive) is also smoky and seasoned.

The single filet is firm enough to lift out of the tin intact. Underneath, there is a copious amount of the chimichurri, and I poured all of it over the trout and rice.

An added plus was that there was enough of the sauce to coat the fish as well as season the majority of the rice.

Picking off bites of fish, I note it is firm but tender enough. The smoking process has flavored it but not made it tough. I didn't check to see if there was skin on the bottom of it, but didn't notice any as I ate.

The seasoning includes grilled red pepper, vinegar, parsley, garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin, chili and salt. The pepper and herbs have been reduced to a coarse grind, and everything is well-integrated.

Main Takeaways

Complex aroma and flavor
Tender, meaty trout
Everything well-balanced

About the only thing that could make this tin any better would be a lower price.

Attractively priced in lots of three at Amazon, though. I just ordered three if that tells you anything. Or use the link and code below and get some directly from Fishwife.

Brand: Fishwife
Description: Smoked trout with red chimichurri
Species: Trout
Country of Origin: Denmark
Source: FAO N/S Farm raised
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 3.7 oz.
Price Range: $11-13

Use code WELCOME10 for 10% off sitewide.

Affiliate link, earns commissions

Fishwife Gift Sets

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Looking for a holiday gift for that tinned fish lover in your life? See this and several other curated Fishwife Gift Sets on sale now.

Fishwife Sardines with Hot Pepper

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I picked up these Fishwife Sardines with Hot Pepper at Whole Foods the last time they were on sale there. I've worked my way through about half their catalog of tinned fish so far. I wanted to see how they compared to the version with preserved lemon. Let's see how these are.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 5/5.

Another of those tough to open cans. These look really nice. Silvery skin with no scales apparent. They still have their pelvic fins, which normally aren't prickly, so they don't present a problem. The aroma is of a very fresh sardine. A sip of the EVOO is neutral until the pepper sneaks up at the back of the throat. The pepper has a different note than the usual piri-piri I'm used to. The carton just says "hot pepper".

A small taste finds the pepper's heat hasn't really translated to the fish. Nonetheless, they are reasonably firm yet tender, and have a really good sardine flavor.

Let's Eat

There were four stocky pilchards. One I ate by itself to get a sense of the quality. They resisted being pried from the can, so they got a little roughed up.

Out over rice, there's the pepper. It doesn't look any different than what you find in most cans of spicy sardines. I also poured about half the oil remaining in the can over all of it. I figured it would be the best chance of maximizing the hot pepper experience.

Working through it, the pepper level was steady, and didn't become fatiguing. The meat on these is tender and not dry at all. The salt level was OK. It seemed less than the average 340mg. listed, though.

Main Takeaways

Top quality sardine, hot pepper or no
Initial impression was of possibly more heat than necessary, but didn't turn out to be the case
Spendy, but a bargain if found on sale

Reasonably priced at Amazon, but only in a 4-pack assortment.

Brand: Fishwife Tinned Seafood Co.
Description: Sardines with hot pepper
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: Spain
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $8

Use code WELCOME10 for 10% off sitewide.

Affiliate link, earns commissions

Fishwife Smoked Rainbow Trout

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I've tried a few different tinned trout recently, some smoked, with mix results. I hoped this Fishwife Smoked Rainbow Trout would be the breakthrough I was looking for.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

Examples of this product I've seen before had a more impressive look. Authentically smoked fish, particularly that with a darker flesh, usually exhibits a mahogany hue after smoking. (See Fishwife Slow Smoked Mackerel.) This one looks a little pale by comparison. The initial aroma is smoky, and I find it neither too subtle nor overpowering. A sip of the oil has a similar note.

The can is packed reasonably full. The pieces of fillet appear to be skinless. We'll have to wait until it's out of the can to see what's on the other side.

A nibble of fish is promising. The smoke flavor seems spot on, and so does the salt level. I'm having trouble not just eating it all right from the can.

Let's Do Lunch

I flipped the can contents out, liquid and all, over some hot rice. I was expecting to maybe see skin, but no. There are a lot of what look like grate marks, so apparently the skin had been removed before it was smoked. Or perhaps they're the result of some automated skin removal process.

As I worked my way through the bowl, the saltiness was becoming increasingly more noticeable, even though the package lists a reasonably low to moderate 180mg. The smoke, by contrast, continued to remain pleasant on the palate.

Don't get me wrong, the salt level wasn't terrible. But, if I were to put some kind of condiment on it, or use it in a dish, I'd have to make a conscious effort to minimize any additional salt. Otherwise, it would just blow away any flavor of the fish.

Final Thoughts

Not the prettiest can of smoked fish, but the flavor quality is there
Nice smoke level stays in its lane, lets the flavor of the fish show through
A little spendy, but smoked trout at half the price is usually less than half the quality

$10 at Amazon was the best price available among my usual sources.

Brand: Fishwife
Description: Smoked rainbow trout
Species: Rainbow trout
Country of Origin: Denmark
Source: FAO N/S Farm raised
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 3.7 oz.
Price Range: $10-12

Use code WELCOME10 for 10% off sitewide.

Affiliate link, earns commissions

Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon

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I picked up this Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon about four months ago, and never got around to trying it until now. In fact, I had forgotten I had it, and bought another can while it was on sale again at Whole Foods last week.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

It's one of those stiff cans you have to battle to get the lid off without making a mess. It's a nice, solid chunk of tuna. The initial aroma is of a mild tuna, but nothing lemony coming through. A sip of the oil is similarly neutral, but with perhaps a hint of lemon. A nibble of fish straight from the can at first seems to just have that tuna tanginess. But then it kind of blooms toward citrus-y.

Prying the meat out of the can, there is no physical lemon to be found. The "lemon" in the ingredient list must be juice or some other form of lemon essence. One part of the meat, an area that was at the bottom of the can, had a bit of a discoloration to it. I wondered if it was the result of contact with whatever the source of the lemon flavor was.

As you can see, visually it just looks like a plain tuna. I dumped the entire liquid content of the can over the fish. I wanted to make sure I got the most of whatever lemon flavor there was to be had.

Getting more into it, though, with each bite it became more apparent the tanginess was from the lemon. I did find myself thinking, however, there wasn't anything overtly Spanish about it, and I might have just supplied my own good quality tuna and some lemon.

Once satisfied I had given it a thorough assessment on its own merits, I decided to experiment a bit. I had a new jar of S&B Crunchy Garlic with Chili Oil I wanted to try. As chili crisp type condiments go, it's a little saltier than most, and I did find it actually enhanced the lemon flavor of the tuna.

Final Thoughts

As quality tuna goes, it has a good flavor that the lemon, however it's achieved, improves. Although it did make me consider just trying to replicate it with my own tuna and lemon.
This would be a good choice for a salad topped with tuna.
When on sale, it's a good value for a premium canned tuna.

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

Use code WELCOME10 for 10% off sitewide.

Affiliate link, earns commissions