Whole/In The Round: Whole fish or fish “in the round” are being sold completely intact, exactly as they were caught.

Examples: Whole Rockfish, Whole Fresh Sardines

Drawn/Gutted: Drawn fish are whole fish that have been gutted…i.e.  had their viscera (stomach, roe sacks, other guts) removed.  Gutted/Drawn fish generally last longer than fish that are 100% Whole/In The Round, because the guts spoil faster than the meat.

Example: Whole Rainbow Trout

Headed & Gutted (aka H&G): Headed & gutted fish have had their viscera (guts) and head removed.

Example: Whole Pink Salmon

Dressed: Dressed fish have had their viscera, head, tail, and fins removed.  They have also been de-scaled.

Bullets: Head, tail, fins, other pieces and viscera removed, with the skin on.  This term is generally used instead of “dressed” for sturgeon, because they have particularly unusual anatomy requiring more cleaning and the end product is a bit different.

Portioned Sturgeon fillets are generally considered more consumer-friendly than bullets because they are much smaller and can be cooked similarly to other fish fillets.

Browse Whole Fish (most Drawn or Headed & Gutted)

Fish Portion Terms

Portion Types

Steaks: Steaks are portions of fish that have been cut across the body rather than along the sides.  Often, but not always, they include a section of backbone.

Example: Swordfish Steaks

Fillets: Fish fillets are cut along the entire side of the fish, removing the meat from the spine and most of the bones.

Browse Fish Fillets

Butterflied Fillets: Butterflied fillets are two fish fillets in one.  Both fillets are cleaned similarly to normal fillets, but they’re left connected to each other.

Example: Yellow Perch Fillets

Fillet Portions: Fish fillets, especially those from particularly large fish, are often cut into smaller portions to make them more manageable.  A fairly standard restaurant portion weighs 6oz, but larger or smaller filet portions are also sold.

Cheeks: Some large fish have portions of meat on their heads, separate from the fillet, that are of sufficient quality to be harvested and sold separately.

Example: Halibut Cheeks

Preparation terms

The below terms are most often applied to fish fillets.

Skin On: The fish skin is left on the portions.  Skin on fish fillets & fillet portions are often used in pan seared fish recipes, so the skin crisps up, providing an attractive texture and presentation.  If desired, you can remove the skin from skin-on fillets after you buy them.  See how to remove fish skin for the basic technique.

Skinless/Skin Off: Skin removed prior to sale.  Whether to leave round fish skin on is often a question of personal preference, the species being used, and the recipe being used.  Flatfish skin is very leathery and generally considered inedible

Pin Bones Out (aka PBO): Many fish fillets have small, thin, flexible bones distributed along the side of the fillet.  Generally these are removed (usually with a pair of tweezers) prior to cooking and serving the fish.  “Pin Bone Out” fillets have already had the pin bones removed for you.

Frozen At Sea (FAS): Is a term for fish or fish portions that have been frozen within hours (usually 5 or 6 hours) of the fish being caught.  The fish are cleaned, processed, and frozen on the vessel that caught them.

Frozen at sea fish has a reputation for being much higher quality than fish frozen much later, and even some fresh fish depending on how long it has been out of the water.

In addition, FAS fish may be more environmentally sustainable because it can be transported more slowly than fresh fish (and thus usually using lower-carbon methods – i.e. trains instead of jets).

See Can Chefs Cozy Up to Frozen Fish? (Washington Post, 2008) for more info about FAS fish.

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Here’s the technique for taking the cleaned lobster bodies (minus their claws, tails, and innards) and turning them into lobster stock for use in sauces, soups, and other dishes.

Ingredients:
4 Lobster Body Shells (cleaned of innards) & Legs
1/3 cup Cognac
5 Carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
1/2 head of Celery, leaves removed, ribs roughly chopped
2 Onions, peeled & roughly chopped
1/2 bunch Fresh Thyme
1/2 bunch Fresh Fennel

Directions:
1. Tear or cut up the lobster bodies into large chunks and sauté them in a little oil over medium heat until their shells turn orange, stirring occasionally.

2. Move the toasted shells to a stock pot and crush them lightly with a wooden spoon.  Continue to brown.

3. Drizzle in the cognac, then add the carrots, celery & onions.

4. Sweat briefly to start the vegetables cooking down, then fill the pot with water.  Add the thyme & fennel.

5. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

6. Strain out the solids & discard them.  Use the stock in recipes or chill/freeze for later use.

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Lobster Recipes
Culinary Techniques

Here’s the basic recipe for lobster poached in beurre monte/beurre fondue, an emulsified blend of butter and water.   See how to make beurre fondue for more process photographs and technique tips.

Once poached the lobster can be tossed with pasta, added to salads, added to finished soups or used in a range of other recipes…just be sure to add it at or near the end of the dish’s cooking process, so its heated through rather than further cooked.

Ingredients:
Peeled Lobster Meat, Cubed         (We used Lobster Tails)
1lb chilled Unsalted Butter, cubed
2tbsp Water

Directions:
1. Bring the water to a simmer.

2. Turn the heat down to medium low.  Whisk the butter into the water a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly.  Once the mixture is thick and creamy, add the lobster meat.

3. Poach the lobster for five to seven minutes, until cooked through.

4. Use the lobster in the recipe of your choice.

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Lobster Recipes

Using a Grater: For whole nutmeg you will need to use a nutmeg or Microplane grater.  Simply drag the whole nutmeg nut across the surface of the grater repeatedly, taking care not to catch your fingers.  Microplane graters also work well with long pepper.

Note: Some standard box graters include a grating side suitable for nutmeg.  Its teeth should look like the ones on the nutmeg grater in this picture.

Using a Mortar and Pestle: 

These are great when you want to carefully grind up spices like star anise (pictured) and juniper berries to a very specific size.  They can also be used to just crack open whole cardamom or Tellicherry peppercorns for making infusions.  We highly recommend that you choose a mortar and pestle with a rough texture in the bowl, as the friction will speed up your grinding considerably.

Using a Bladed Electric Coffee Grinder: 

Truth be told these don’t do a great job of grinding coffee (for that you want a burr grinder) but they’re very affordable and great for grinding spices in the home.  Just be sure to clean them out after each use (grinding and then discarding some dry white rice is a good way to do this) so that you’re not accidentally mixing spice residues into your coffee.  While you don’t have as much control as when using a mortar and pestle, coffee grinders are a fast way to grind spices like annatto seed, long pepper, grains of paradise, and lavender buds. They’re also a great way to make chile powders. 

We do not recommend using coffee grinders to grind whole cloves or whole allspice, which can damage the plastic.  If you want to grind these using this technique, you’ll want an actual motorized spice grinder with a metal compartment.

Using a Pepper Grinder: For Tellicherry pepper, the best grinding method is to use an actual pepper grinder.  Grinders that incorporate different settings that control how fine the resulting grind is are becoming more common and are great for gourmet cooking.  Depending on your grinder’s design and construction, it may be possible to also use it to grind peppercorn-sized spices such as Szechuan pepper, and allspice, though it will depend on your actual grinder and whether you want to add different flavor notes to your peppermill.  If your pepper grinder cannot handle other spices, simply use an electric coffee grinder or mortar and pestle as normal.

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Culinary Techniques

Like the American meat grading system (Select, Choice, Prime) the Japanese system is based on an examination of fat marbling (called intramuscular fat) in a given piece of meat.  Fat not only carries flavor, but when distributed properly in tiny veins throughout the meat it melts during cooking, resulting in a more tender and moist steak.

The Japanese, as a culture, are extremely fond of heavily marbled steaks, and have bred wagyu cattle to attain levels of intramuscular fat far beyond those found in conventional American beef.  This gives them a silky smooth texture and rich, buttery flavor totally unlike conventional beef.  They are also believed to freeze better than conventional beef.

Even low-grade Kobe beef is more tender and has more flavor, less saturated fat, and a lower melting temperature than typical beef.

The Japanese Beef Scale

The Japanese marbling scale (aka the MBS) runs from 1-12.  Converting between disparate scales is tricky, but to better illustrate what these numbers mean: Prime (the highest grading category on the USDA scale), tends to come in between 3-4 on the Japanese scale.  USDA Choice (the highest grade of beef found in most grocery stores) tends to come in at or below a two.

Marx Foods Kobe Beef

We currently offer Grade 3 Kobe Tenderloins, Grade 6 Kobe NY strip steaks, Grade 5 Kobe ribeye steaks, and Grade 3 Kobe beef flank steaks and Kobe tri-tip steaks from wagyu beef raised in Australia.  Because flank steaks and tri-tips are naturally less marbled than the rest of the cow, Grade 3 is actually very high for those cuts.

Grade 6 & 7 wagyu beef is generally regarded an affordable compromise that gives you extremely high quality Kobe beef while avoiding the extravagant prices of the highest grades. 

However, we do have access to higher grades and even imported Japanese Kobe beef (considered the very best of the best) should you want to go all out.  To inquire about these higher grades, please contact us.

Kobe Burgers & Kobe Hot Dogs

Kobe beef burgers, Kobe sliders, and Kobe frankfurters aren’t graded on the Japanese scale.  Don’t worry, there’s plenty of flavorful fat in them ready to cause exciting flare-ups on your grill.  Kiss dry burgers goodbye with Kobe!

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Meat Tips & Techniques

Fresh wasabi rhizomes (colloquially known as fresh wasabi roots) are a rare and precious culinary commodity prized by high level sushi and fine dining chefs. Fresh grating is key with fresh wasabi rhizomes.  Below are instructions for how to get the best flavor out of fresh wasabi. 

How to Use Fresh Wasabi:

1. Rinse the wasabi rhizome.

2. Trim the tip off of one end. Put this end down, then use a knife to strip the outer peel off the end of the wasabi (try not to expose any more than you plan on using).

3. Using the finest grater you can get your hands on, grate the wasabi root into a fine paste. In the picture below, we used a microplane, but a metal Japanese wasabi grater would be even better, with the best option being the traditional Japanese sharkskin grater (called “oroshi”).  In a pinch, you could also use the finest hole size on a box grater.

4. Form the wasabi paste into a small pile to minimize its exposed surface area.

5. Use the fresh wasabi paste in the next 5-10 minutes for optimal flavor.

Reviving wasabi:  About 15-20 minutes after being grated, wasabi starts to lose some of its nuanced flavor, becoming simply hot. Its subtle flavor notes can be somewhat revived, however. Vigorously mix in 1-2 pinches of granulated sugar (we recommend superfine sugar) per teaspoon of wasabi paste. The paste will briefly regain some of its complexity.

How to Store Wasabi Rhizomes: Store whole wasabi rhizomes in the fridge, wrapped in a damp (not wet) towel. Check the towel daily to make sure it hasn’t dried out and re-dampen or refresh with a fresh towel.  Though they are often most potent in the few days after arrival, wasabi rhizomes can remain fresh for as long as three weeks if carefully stored.

Recipes Using Fresh Wasabi Rhizomes

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Root & Rhizome Recipes

Directions:

1. Test your geoducks to make sure they’re still alive (how to test geoducks for freshness).

2. Bring a stock pot of water just to a boil on the stove.

3. Blanch the geoduck for 6-8 seconds.

4. Remove from the water & let the duck cool until you can handle it.

5. Use a paring knife to cut around the shell, releasing the body.

6. Remove & discard the geoduck’s internal organs.

7. Starting on the body end, pull the skin off of the siphon/neck. It should come off in one piece like a sock.

8. Return the geoduck to the hot water for just a second to rinse out the cavity.

9. Cut down the middle of the siphon to either halve it or butterfly it (either works), exposing the center of the siphon.

10. Wash out the sand and grit from the center of the siphon.

11. Use the geoduck meat in whatever manner your recipes call for.

The firmer, chewier siphon/neck meat is often thinly sliced and served raw as sashimi. The softer mantle/body meat is often fried, grilled, sautéed or used in soup.

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Geoduck Recipes
Clam Recipes
Culinary Techniques

To toast saffron, simply briefly heat the threads in a dry skillet on the stove over medium high heat.  Keep them moving, and keep a very close eye on them, you don’t want them to scorch.

Pre-Steeping:  In general, saffron threads should be steeped in a hot, acidic, or alcoholic liquid for at least 20 minutes prior to being added to your dish.  Once steeped, both the threads and the liquid are added to the dish.

Converting Saffron Powder Recipes to Threads: A good rule is to use roughly 20 threads for each pinch (~1/16th tsp) of powder called for. However, high quality threads are more potent, so you may not need as much. Remember to add a pre-steeping step to the recipe (perhaps in 1-2tsp of hot water) if it doesn’t already include one.  Alternatively, you can crush saffron threads into your own powder (toast the saffron first if you normally would when using whole) and follow the original recipe measurements.

 
How to Use Saffron Powder:
Saffron powder can usually be added to recipes without any prior preparation.

Converting Saffron Thread Recipes to Powder: substitute one pinch of powder (~1/16th tsp) for every 20 threads called for.  Many saffron powders are less potent than saffron threads (they’re often made with less pure saffron), so you may have to use more.  Our powdered Iranian saffron is made with the same threads we sell whole, so they’re the same strength by weight.

What Flavors Work Well With Saffron?

Saffron can be used in stews, risottos, puddings, ice creams, baked goods, soups, seafood dishes, sauces, and rice dishes (basmati, paella, or risotto).  Saffron pairs well with flavors such as apples, almonds, cardamom, honey, poultry (particularly heritage chickens and squab), bone marrow (often from veal marrow bones), milk or cream (try it in ice cream!), cinnamon, lamb, seafood, garlic, white wine, vinegar, rose water, and citrus fruits.

Fresh herbs frequently paired with saffron include: basil, cilantro, rosemary and thyme.

Other Saffron Tips to Keep in Mind:

1.  Saffron’s released pigment is so potent it stains (at least temporarily) very easily.  Avoid using wooden or porous plastic utensils or containers.

2.  Saffron will continue to release flavor into the steeping liquid for up to twelve hours (at a slower and slower rate) if you let it, so if you don’t mind waiting you can get even more bang for your saffron buck.

It is better than store bought.   And, simple to make.  But you have to really want to make it because it is hard on the eyes, nose and throat.  Really hard.  If your eyes can’t handle you chopping onions, don’t even think about making fresh horseradish.  I made the mistake of making horseradish inside — oh, boy — I felt like I was in a tear gas cloud.  Seriously…I have actually been in a tear gas cloud, so I know what I am talking about…it was in Lima when Fujimori was being evicted … Anyway, that’s a story for another day. 

I think it is worth it.  And, so did my grandparents (who I got this recipe from).  They made it every year so that it could be piled upon gefilte fish.  But, they were smarter than me and made it outside.

Here’s how to make homemade horseradish:

Peel the fresh horseradish like you would a carrot and then chop it in chunks that are small enough to fit in a food processor.  Process it until your throat burns, you are crying and you have been pushed beyond your pain threshold.  That is at least when I decided to stop.  Fortunately, it was at the same time that I arrived at the other indicator of completion: the horseradish was finely minced.

Add a pinch of salt.  Fill up your jars with horseradish and then top them with some white vinegar (or any other vinegar that you want). 

It lasts a long time.  At least six months.

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Culinary Techniques

Shape classification is useful for determining how a fish should be prepped for cooking.

Round Fish:  Round fish are the most common classification of fish, and what you generally think of when you imagine a fish shape.  They have a long, rounded shape and eyes on either side of their body.  Their meat can be separated into two fillets, cut from either side of the backbone & belly.

Examples include salmon, trout, & rockfish/red snapper.

Flatfish:  Flatfish are just that – flat.  They tend to have both of their eyes on one side (the top) of their body, and leathery inedible skin that must be removed prior to consuming.  Flatfish have four smaller fillets, two on either side of their spine on top, two on either side of the spine on bottom.  Examples include sole, & halibut.

Fat Content – Lean Fish vs. Fatty Fish

Fat content classification is useful for determining how a fish should be cooked, and how long it will take to cook.

Lean Fish: Lean fish can have as little as .5% fat.  They cook quickly and can dry out easily if roasted or baked.  They’re often served with sauces.

Examples include cod, sole, flounder, striped bass, mahi mahi, red snapper/rockfish, tilapia, perch, pike and halibut.

Recommended cooking techniques:

If broiling or baking lean fish, be sure to baste them frequently to keep them from drying out.

Fatty Fish: Fat fish have a higher oil/fat content (some as high as 20%) that gives them rich flavor and keeps them from drying out.

Examples include salmon, yellowfin tuna, rainbow trout, swordfish, sea bass, black cod (sablefish), Spanish mackerel, Arctic char, ono/wahoo, whitefish, bluefish, and sturgeon.

Recommended cooking techniques:

Some fat fish are better suited to sautéing than others depending on how oily they are.  In general, fat fish are not well suited to frying – many become too oily or greasy.

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