Fit Fare

It may have been a bitterly cold January evening in Denver, but the package waiting in our refrigerator would take me and my husband back to our fifth anniversary vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii last April.

Fresh sushi-grade fish is hard to find at the retail level in the northwest suburbs of Denver, so I was excited when I heard about Kona Kampachi. Though we subscribe to principles of smart carbohydrate living, sushi is difficult to ignore. Luckily, sashimi platters are available at most local restaurants, which allows us to enjoy fish without all the rice. Devouring sashimi at home had never been an option… until Kona Kampachi.

Kona Kampachi is “open ocean grown, sustainable from hatch to harvest” on an “environmentally friendly farm,” without using prophylactic antibiotics or genetic engineering. No detectable levels of mercury are found in the fish. What it does contain is a high concentration of omega 3 fatty acids.

Without the desire to head over to the closest grocery store as snow developed across the Denver area, my husband and I decided on an Iron Chef style challenge with ingredients we had around the house. One course would be classic sashimi, of course, but we also considered searing the fish, as well as a broth.

As I opened the package flown 2nd day air from Kona, Hawaii, I noticed no odor whatsoever. I knew this fish had to be fresh (though I must admit our cats caught a whiff and wouldn’t leave us alone all evening!).

We began our meal with cubed Kona Kampachi and diced onion in a simple green tea and ginger broth. Although the fish sauce we added to the broth overpowered the delicate fish’s taste, the texture was unmistakably tender.

Next came the sashimi platter, with a side of soy-wasabi sauce. Upon the first bite of the raw Kona Kampachi, I was hooked into the best fish I’d had since our trip to the Big Island. The sashimi played around on my tastebuds, then melted away as I swallowed - just as any good sashimi should. At first, I wasn’t sure if this sensation was simply the exhiliration of being able to taste sashimi in our own dining room, but then my husband determined that it was better than “any restaurant around here.”

The last dish was sesame-crusted seared Kona Kampachi placed upon polenta. The sesame complemented the fish, while the polenta provided a nice contrast to both.

My husband had been unfamiliar with cutting up fish fillets as large as the one we received. Even though we had some tough sashimi pieces due to lack of knowledge of the fillet’s different textures, he found it a rewarding learning experience. We will be keeping this business in mind when thinking of celebrating a special occasion at home.

Kona Kampachi is harvested on Sundays, with whole fish ($8.50/lb) shipping on Tuesdays and fillets ($17.00/lb) shipping on Wednesdays. The fish is surrounded by several coldpacks, then placed in insulation before being packed in a box, so shipping can be as much, if not more, than the fish itself. For more information, go to http://www.kona-blue.com.