Wild Planet Archives

Wild Planet Skipjack Tuna with Dill Pickle

I got this Wild Planet Skipjack Tuna with Dill Pickle at Whole Foods about three months ago. It was on sale and inexpensive enough to spend the just over $2 to see what it was about.

It's a small can, 3 ounces and only about 2-1/2" across. It has the foil top with a pull tab, so no fiddling with a pull ring and sharp edges. I had a big bowl of noodles and chili oil for lunch, but was still craving a little protein, and this seemed like it would fill the bill.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

Looks like some typical canned tuna. The aroma is a little fresher, not as fishy as one would expect as with a supermarket variety canned tuna. I also get a whiff of the pickle, of which only small specks can be seen.

I just ate it right from the can. As I dug down, there were some larger pieces of pickle. The pickle is not too acidic and is just a little sweet, not overshadowing the tuna flavor. But what it does do is offset the inherent tuna "tang".

It's packed in water, but not an excessive amount, so you're basically paying for tuna and pickle, not a bunch of liquid to just drain off. And I didn't feel compelled to drain anything. There's just enough liquid to keep things from feeling dry on the palate.

I could see this being a convenient way to make a quick tuna salad sandwich. Some toast, a little mayo. Maybe a dash of hot sauce. You could make it up right there on the bread.

Main Takeaways

Tasty skipjack tuna
Good balance of pickle and flavor
No-drain contents

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Skipjack tuna with dill pickle
Species: Katsuwonus pelamis
Country of Origin: Thailand
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 3 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Wild Planet Sardines in EVOO with Lemon, Part 2

DeenLeave a comment

A recent review elsewhere of Natural Catch Sardines in Organic EVOO got me thinking about these Wild Planet Sardines in EVOO with Lemon again. The Natural Catch are sourced from Viet Nam, and are not true pilchards, but rather another species endemic to that part of the world. These Wild Planet are, as well, and are processed in Thailand. Let's see what I think this time.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

The first time around, 7 months ago, I wasn't too impressed, overall. I really didn't get any sense of smoke, and very little lemon. This time, a sip of the oil revealed a subtle hint of smoke, so being labeled lightly smoked is apropos. Again, I'm moved to comment there should be a labeling requirement to say "with oil" when it's apparent the packing liquid is only partly oil. I note that water is included as an ingredient here, listed just after the EVOO.

The appearance and aroma are about the same as last time. They are scale-free as touted, but there are some pelvic fins still attached. The aroma is neutral, not smelling of fish or smoke. This time there are four fish as opposed to three, a plus in my book.

I put them out over rice, fished out the lemon and "artfully" arranged it over the fish.

As last time, the lemon has had most of its flavor cooked out by the canning process. But I am getting more of an impression of it from the fish this time.

The fish are meaty and reasonably tender. I don't find them dry at all. The salt level is a little on the low side, but adequate. I sprinkled a little furikake over the last fish, and its additional salt I deemed an improvement. It may have even enhanced the lemon flavor somewhat.

Part of my reason for wanting to revisit these was to reassess the Northwestern Pacific variety of sardine. To date, the only brand available to me has been the Wild Planet. Until I can obtain selections of another brand containing them in single quantities, these will have to be the basis for my judgement of the species.

Main Takeaways

Meaty, tender fish
A little saltier might have been better
More smoke flavor this time, but the lemon still needs improvement

If you prefer these Northwestern Pacific sardines, at the price, these are still a good value.

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Lemon
Species: Sardinops sagax or melanostictus
Country of Origin: Thailand
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.4 oz.
Price Range: $3

Wild Planet Wild Sardines in Water

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These Wild Planet Wild Sardines in Water came in a 3-pack from Whole Foods. They were inexpensive enough, about $3 per can when not on sale. I figured little to lose at the just under $7 sale price.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3/5.

I really need to start paying better attention to labeling on the package, and less to just the price. I again overlooked the fact that these are not Eastern Atlantic pilchards, but instead Northern Pacific Sardinops sp. There are four in the can.

The aroma from the can is underwhelming, kind of aquarium fishy. I tasted a sip of the water apprehensively. Blah... They do have a reasonably nice appearance, though, for what they are.

Forging Ahead

They are tender, and fall apart somewhat readily when trying to lift them from the can. Not quite the "firm meaty texture". A taste of the fish is also underwhelming, bland. The package calls it "rich mild flavor". I note I also overlooked (or ignored) the "no salt added" on the carton. It should just say "no salt", even if the sodium is 70mg. It really tasted like no salt at all. On the upside, there are no scales, as the package proudly notes.

A little dash of hot sauce didn't help. Putting them on a saltine cracker only made them taste like cracker. Sigh... Now I have two more cans I don't know what to do with. I suppose I'll need to come up with something to hide these in so that I can at least benefit from the protein and Omega-3 content.

Main Takeaways

Inexpensive
Why can't these be pilchards?
Needed salt, badly
Note to self: Stop buying sardines in water

It's a shame these were so disappointing. Some Wild Planet selections I've found quite pleasant, others not so much.

I noted an observation made in a recent review by Canned Fish Files, one with which I concur. Plain Pacific sardines just don't taste as good as the pilchards from the Eastern Atlantic. At least not to those whose palate is accustomed or attuned to the latter. Perhaps it's telling, though, that you rarely if ever see Asian brands packing sardines from that region without some sauce or cooking technique, like miso paste or kabayaki.

Follow Up

I ended up putting the content of both the remaining cans, sans the water, over rice, and liberally dousing them with some Lao Gan Ma Fried Chili in Oil. Its heat, umami and salt made up for the blandness of the fish. So not all was lost.

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Sardines in Water
Species: Sardinops sagax or melanostictus
Country of Origin: Thailand
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.4 oz.
Price Range: $3

Wild Planet Skinless & Boneless Sardines

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Trying these to round out my recent tastings of several Wild Planet cans. Officially described as Wild Planet Sardines Skinless & Boneless Fillets in EVOO. These are priced competitively with the King Oscar.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

We have four substantial pilchards in EVOO. There is no overt aroma of anything. Digging in, they are packed tight enough to make extracting a whole fillet impossible. The flavor is mild, kind of bland, and a bit on the dry side.

The taste of the oil is neutral, maybe a little bit peppery. I had hoped, being listed as organic EVOO, it might have brought more to the table. It also could have benefited by a pinch more salt.

To be honest, I have become reluctant to try to solve the shortcomings of bland fish by recurrently hitting them with dashes of Salsa Espinaler. In such cases, it often becomes all you can taste, sort of like putting cranberry sauce on white meat turkey.

Anyway, at $3 a can, these are decent enough. They might fare better included as a protein in a salad, where the fish, a dressing and other components can complement each other.

I am curious as to why, when Wild Planet can source these pilchards from Morocco, they choose to source their sardines with lemon as a Northwest Pacific species from Thailand.

Main Takeaways

Not our favorite boneless skinless pilchard
Unexpectedly bland
Cheap enough to consider using as an ingredient, rather than for consumption alone

See Wild Planet at Amazon.

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Sardines skinless & boneless in EVOO
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: Morocco
Source: FAO34, Eastern Central Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.25 oz.
Price Range: $3

Wild Planet Wild Mackerel in EVOO

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I bought this Wild Planet Wild Mackerel Skinless & Boneless Fillets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil on sale for under $4 at Whole Foods, with an eye toward comparing it to their smoked mackerel.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

Reasonably full packing of fish. Neutral aroma, not fishy. The EVOO is also neutral in flavor. As with most tinned mackerel, the meat is pale in color, firm in texture, but flakes readily.

The flavor of the fish is mild and pleasant enough to stand on its own. But, I'm always looking for different ways to spice things up, so a few dashes of Valentina added some mild heat.

A blurb on the carton calls mackerel a "plentiful, underutilized species', and I'd have to agree. I'm more satisfied with most of the cans of mackerel I try vs. half of the cans of tuna.

Main Takeaways

Generous portion
Mild flavor, maybe too mild
Priced well, better if on sale

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Wild Mackerel Skinless & Boneless Fillets in EVOO
Species: Scomber colias
Country of Origin: Morocco
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.4 oz.
Price Range: $5

Wild Planet Wild Yellowtail in EVOO

DeenLeave a comment

I found this Wild Planet Wild Yellowtail in EVOO at my local supermarket, where it seemed oddly out of place among the rest of the typical grocery store tinned fish offerings. Yellowtail, not to be confused with yellowfin tuna, is commonly called amberjack. I wanted to compare this to their smoked salmon and smoked mackerel.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

A pleasant fish aroma. Chunks of white meat fish. A sip of the olive oil revealed a neutral flavor lightly infused with the taste of the fish. Ingredients include salt, and it might have benefited by a little more. Described as fillets, there were a couple of nice hunks on top, but under that were more or less small pieces. Not a big deal.

The texture was a little firmer than tuna, more like mackerel. The taste leaned more toward very mild and better quality tuna-like. Recommended.

Disappointing that Whole Foods doesn't regularly stock this although they carry an otherwise full selection of Wild Planet. Being able to catch it on sale as an Amazon Prime member would be most welcome.

Main Takeaways

Nice filets on top, not so much underneath
Generous portion, though
Needs better distribution in the marketplace

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Wild Yellowtail in EVOO
Species: Seriola quinqueradiata
Country of Origin: Viet Nam
Source: FAO61, Northwest Pacific
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.4 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Wild Planet Wild Smoked Pink Salmon

DeenLeave a comment

Officially described as Wild Planet Wild Smoked Pink Salmon in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. First foray into tinned salmon. I remember the tall round cans years ago from which my mother made salmon salad. It had the little cylindrical vertebrae bones in it that would just pulverize on contact, the only fish bones I wasn't afraid of getting stuck in my throat as a child. While boneless, this salmon is quite different from that in all other respects.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4/5.

I guess I was expecting more than I should have. I've seen those cans of really premium smoked salmon reviewed, and that stuff is amazing-looking. Of course, it also costs twice to three times as much.

This is boneless, but not skinless. It ended up being mostly skinless because most of the skin stuck to the bottom of the can when I pried it out.

The flavor is very smoke forward, almost to the point of overpowering the fish flavor. The package doesn't say if the fish is naturally wood smoked or artificially flavored. Ads claim it is wood-fire smoked.

We eat fresh, broiled salmon regularly, so the tougher texture of this was also comparatively surprising. I think I'll chalk this one up to experience, and maybe check into that more spendy one I've seen that I thought looked so appealing.

Main Takeaways

Smoke stronger than necessary
Superior to most supermarket varieties
Better versions far more costly

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Wild Smoked Pink Salmon in EVOO
Species: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
Country of Origin: Latvia
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/No
Net Wt: 3.9 oz.
Price Range: $5