Every time blue sharks come up, somebody’s grandpa chimes in that they’re trash fish, the meat tastes like piss, toss ’em back and move on. I’ve heard it my whole time on the water. Nobody who says it ever seems to have actually eaten one though, so I figured I’d run my own damn experiment.
snuck in one last late season tuna run on a buddy’s boat, and while we were out there a little blue came up. Perfect chance to finally test this thing, so I kept him. Bled him right away, gutted him, got him on ice. If you’ve heard the urine thing, it’s not totally made up. Sharks carry urea in their tissue, and if you let one sit around warm, that can break down into ammonia and you’ll have a bad time. Take care of it fast and it’s a non-issue. Freshly filleted, the meat smelled like clean, quality fish. Nothing weird at all.
Quick shoutout to my serrated electric fillet knife. Shark skin is no joke. It’s basically sandpaper wrapped around a fish and it’ll chew up a regular blade in a hurry. The electric took a moment to get that first incision, but after that was smooth sailing.
Once I had my fillet pieces I soaked them in whole milk for a couple hours. That’s supposed to knock down any ammonia funk. Honestly I’m not sure it needed it since it smelled great going in, but this was a test, so I did it anyway. Then I vac sealed most of it (bag got labeled “Baby Blue Shark doo doo dododoo” because of course it did - I hope the song gets stuck in your head now).
I cooked a test piece this morning since my house cleaners were about to take over the kitchen during my usual lunch time. Simple pan fry in a little butter, umami salt, pepper. Good control/baseline test.
It’s really f-ing good.
The texture is different from most fish. I’d heard it goes mushy and soft, and I can see that happening if you overcook it. Cooked right, it’s firm and rich. Flavor-wise I’d put it somewhere in a mix of halibut and sable. No fishy taste. It’s a great canvas for whatever you want to throw at it.
We’ll be keeping a couple from now on. Blues aren’t exactly hard to come by out there and this is about as low-hanging fruit as it gets. I don’t expect many of the old timers to change their tune, but if you’ve been releasing every blue because someone told you they’re inedible, try one. Take care of it on the boat and you’ll be surprised.
snuck in one last late season tuna run on a buddy’s boat, and while we were out there a little blue came up. Perfect chance to finally test this thing, so I kept him. Bled him right away, gutted him, got him on ice. If you’ve heard the urine thing, it’s not totally made up. Sharks carry urea in their tissue, and if you let one sit around warm, that can break down into ammonia and you’ll have a bad time. Take care of it fast and it’s a non-issue. Freshly filleted, the meat smelled like clean, quality fish. Nothing weird at all.
Quick shoutout to my serrated electric fillet knife. Shark skin is no joke. It’s basically sandpaper wrapped around a fish and it’ll chew up a regular blade in a hurry. The electric took a moment to get that first incision, but after that was smooth sailing.
Once I had my fillet pieces I soaked them in whole milk for a couple hours. That’s supposed to knock down any ammonia funk. Honestly I’m not sure it needed it since it smelled great going in, but this was a test, so I did it anyway. Then I vac sealed most of it (bag got labeled “Baby Blue Shark doo doo dododoo” because of course it did - I hope the song gets stuck in your head now).
I cooked a test piece this morning since my house cleaners were about to take over the kitchen during my usual lunch time. Simple pan fry in a little butter, umami salt, pepper. Good control/baseline test.
It’s really f-ing good.
The texture is different from most fish. I’d heard it goes mushy and soft, and I can see that happening if you overcook it. Cooked right, it’s firm and rich. Flavor-wise I’d put it somewhere in a mix of halibut and sable. No fishy taste. It’s a great canvas for whatever you want to throw at it.
We’ll be keeping a couple from now on. Blues aren’t exactly hard to come by out there and this is about as low-hanging fruit as it gets. I don’t expect many of the old timers to change their tune, but if you’ve been releasing every blue because someone told you they’re inedible, try one. Take care of it on the boat and you’ll be surprised.
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