Sea Tales Archives

Sea Tales Sardines in Water Revisited

These Sea Tales Sardines in Water were the second of two cans I found at Home Goods. The first can was a huge disappointment, I was barely able to finish it, and I considered not even opening this one.

Initial impression upon opening the can: Still meh...

Still really roughed-up looking. Still three to the can. But I have a plan this time. And it's not so much a re-visit as it is a salvage operation.

Let's Doctor Things Up a Bit

I learned early on from watching online tinned fish reviewer videos that certain condiments can save the day when it comes to a lackluster can of sardines. Chief among them are various hot sauces, Salsa Espinaler, and chili crisp.

I hadn't heard of chili crisp before, but after trying a few (OK, more than a few), it became a new obsession.

For the purposes of this experiment, I first seasoned up the rice with some soy & sesame sauce in a packet I had left over from a Trader Joe's Asian-style noodle product.

For the chili crisp, I chose a particularly bold variation from a brand called ChuanNan. Its label indicates it's "great with rice" and "fragrant". Chili crisp is as much about texture as it is heat and flavor. This one contains peanuts, crunchy peas and sesame seeds, plus a fair amount of Sichuan pepper heat. My assumption is that when a culture eats as much rice as is consumed in Asian countries, anything to liven up its soft texture and inherently bland taste is a welcome addition.

Although it all did much to improve the otherwise unimpressive fish, upon reflection, I may have overdone things a bit. I should have backed off the soy & sesame sauce as, together with the chili crisp, it made things perhaps a bit too salty. If you remember my first tin of this selection, I was wishing for some more salt. I should have been more careful here.

But all in all, it didn't totally ruin things, and I found a way to improve an otherwise boring tin of fish. Still a win.

Main Takeaways

Added saltiness improved things
Still visually unappealing
Probably should have used less soy sesame sauce

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

Sea Tales Sardines in Spicy Tomato Sauce

DeenLeave a comment

These Sea Tales Sardines in Spicy Tomato Sauce were on sale at Whole Foods. I had to go twice, as they often don't have sale items stocked ahead of time in support of the ad. My recent interest in sardines in tomato sauce, in addition to the fact these are also spicy, made me eager to try them. Let's see how they were.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.9/5.

Some nice-looking pilchards. It appears to be a five count. There are the pepper and pickle right on top. So far, so good. The aroma is vegetal, tomato-y. A sip of the red-tinged olive oil is similar, with a moderate hit of heat at the back of the throat. I see no fins or scales.

Time To Eat

I was ready this time. I knew from previous tins packed in tomato sauce that there is a tendency for the oil to separate. After I placed the fish and spicy bits over rice, I used a plastic fork to whisk the remaining liquid in the tin back together before pouring it over everything.

The fish are meaty and tender, with no impression of dryness. The tomato sauce as reconstituted is milder than anticipated. There is a sweetness to it, plus a little tang from cider vinegar. There is still enough flavor to it that I wouldn't characterize it as over-cooked.

I tasted the pickle (a real pickle), and the pepper, which still had some heat to it. There was also a fragment of bay leaf, but it didn't stand out in the flavor profile. I didn't find things overly salty, the sodium was a relatively low 290mg.

All in all, I liked these and am glad I bought two cans. I'll get them again, hopefully on sale. Regularly $5.49, the sale and Amazon Prime member benefit brought them down to $4.25.

Main Takeaways

Tender, meaty pilchards
Well-balanced seasonings
Could have been a little spicier

Brand: Sea Tales
Description: Sardines in spicy tomato sauce
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Sea Tales Sardines in Water

DeenLeave a comment

I bought these Sea Tales Sardines in Water at a place I wouldn't normally think to look for sardines. But I had read online they sometimes have them there, and at a bargain price. To be honest, if these weren't the only ones they had on hand, they would have been my last choice. I don't usually buy sardines packed in water, but another brand I tried recently wasn't all that bad, so I went ahead and got them. They were cheap compared to the brand's regular price, and I thought at $3 there wouldn't be anything to lose.

Initial impression upon opening the can: Meh...

They're really roughed-up looking. Three in the can. The wrapper claims hand packed. The aroma is a little fishy. A taste of the water, which has become sort of broth-like, is encouraging. But that's where the encouragement ends.

The first, nearly skinless one breaks apart as it's plucked from the can. The flavor is bland, reminiscent of cheaper boneless skinless pilchards. I checked the can for sodium content. Only 105mg, which is quite low. More salt might have saved these, but I doubt it. To be quite honest, this may be the first can in over a hundred I've tried that I've considered not finishing, just trashing the rest. And probably throwing away the second can I bought as well. There was nothing appealing about them, neither visually nor otherwise. Disappointing.

Main Takeaways

Thought I was getting a bargain
Visually unappealing
Needed salt

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

Sea Tales Sardines in EVOO

DeenLeave a comment

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