Uku, a shallow water snapper, closely related to opakapaka, is one of the most versatile and delicious fish you could prepare. What limits its popularity with the masses is its unfortunate name (uku more commonly means head lice) and its junkyard dog face. uku is also called green jobfish or gray snapper, which are just slightly more appealing names.
Recently my semi-commercial fishing friend Jon had some uku to sell since the fish auction prices have been down due to all the closed restaurants. Friends and I purchased uku at unheard of pricing and made some incredibly delicious yet simple dishes.
The first thing to do with any fish is to remove the gills and guts to slow down the spread of bacteria. We filleted the fish, wrapped the filets in paper towel and put in the fridge to soften because uku is too firm initially.
Since the uku bones have more blood content than the filets and would spoil first, they were deep fried right away and the head was made into soup. This was the first time I’ve fried fish bones and I was amazed at how good it tasted. I seasoned it like a steak and deep fried it crispy. It smelled fishy while frying but tasted like tender, fried pork chops. The high fat content near the bones made it so juicy.
Uku is pretty firm for the first 2 days so I made a simple poke on the 3rd day with sesame oil, chili flakes, Hawaiian salt and inamona (minced kukui nut). I could have also added limu, shoyu and onions. The poke was had a slightly firm texture and tasted great (non-fishy for me) with the simple ingredients.
Holoholo writer Kelly gave me a simple steam recipe. Wrap the filet in foil, bake in a pan at 400 degrees and check in 15 to 20 mins depending on size of filet. It’s done when a fork smoothly goes through the meat. I poured a simple sauce of shoyu, chopped ginger, sugar, sesame oil and chili flakes and the uku was flaky and clean tasting. Friend and culinary artist Brandon’s steamed uku is much more presentable than mine but was prepared in a similar, simple fashion.
Brandon also salt and peppered the filet, lightly seared for 5 to 10 seconds on each side, then sliced it. He laid the slices on red onion, lettuce, wakame, and sprinkled green onions and tomatoes on top. Finished with a lime ponzu sauce. Looks like fine dining yeah, but can easily be done in your kitchen.
So there you have it. If you make soup with the head, all that’s thrown away are the scales, tail and guts. High yield and so many ways to consume uku! But I gotta say, the fried bones were the best!
