The fish market revolution continues - includes recipes

Sunset, Feb, 1989

Jack crevalle is sold by various names, including cavalry, cavalla, toro (in Mexico), trevally, and jackfish. Hawaii has about 10 species of jack, among them the ulua, or giant trevally, and the smaller papio, or trevally.

Most jacks have firm to very firm, meaty flesh; only the papio has softer, flakier flesh. If properly bled and handled, jack meat is moderately rich-tasting. For best flavor, remove skin and as much of the red muscle underneath as possible. With papio, you can simply scale it and cook it with the skin on.

KINGKLIP A plentiful fish in southern oceans, kingklip is sold as fillets in some markets now. Golden kingklip is the most abundant and best of the four species. Avoid darker, less tender South African and black kingklip.

The meat has an unusual dense, chewy texture somewhat like monkish, but softer and with loose flakes. It's lean and bland-tasting, with a hint of sweetness.

MACKEREL. Although Pacific mackerel has staged a comeback since the 1970s, when it practically disappeared, not everyone appreciates its rather assertive flavor. Jack mackerel (actually a jack), looks much like Pacific mackerel but is leaner and milder in flavor. You can recognize the jack by a row of tiny, shallow surface bones along each side.

The choicest mackerel of all is wahoo; its Hawaiian name, ono, means sweet and delicate, a fitting name for this fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It has a fairly high oil content and a firm, meaty texture. Good frozen-at-sea wahoo is also available.

OPAH (also called moonfish). Now gaining acceptance with those who appreciate its unique texture, this exotic fish resembles a garbage can lid in shape and size. Most opah is taken in Southern California as an incidental catch, and in Hawaii. An opah has four types of firm, coarsetextured flesh, each a different color: amber-red behind the head and along the back, pale pink and slightly stringy toward the belly, red in the cheeks, and ruby red inside the breastplate. The breast meat cooks up brown and tastes something like beef; meat in other areas cooks white, and is rich and fairly mild in flavor (compare it to chicken).

If you buy skin-on fillets, remove the thick scales or cut away the skin and fatty layer underneath before or after cooking.

SEA BASS. No fish name causes more confusion in markets. The sea bass family itself, which includes groupers, is the largest and most diverse group of fish in the world. And fish from other families are also often called by the name. Sea bass usually has a mild flavor but dramatic differences in texture and fat content (species fall into four different categories in our listings on the next two pages).

The kind of sea bass sold here in the past has become rather scarce. The most commonly available species now is Chilean sea bass; its flesh is white and mild, as might be expected, but much softer and oilier than other sea basses.

White sea bass (actually a drum) is still taken in Southern California, but it's becoming rare. There's also some baquetta (a grouper) available in Southern California. And some Hawaiian black sea bass, called hapu'upu'u, is now sold on the Mainland.