Fresh Albacore Tuna Caught In Oregon/ Washington States

Discovering One of the Low Cost Gems of Oregon Seafood --Fresh Albacore Tuna Fresh Oregon Caught Albacore Tuna is an Alternative to Canned and Frozen Tuna and of Course Local Salmon that Saturates Seafood Consciousness Lex Loeb Contributor Network . When you are at the Oregon coast, particularly in a fishing town like Newport, you probably have seen the fresh albacore tuna signs and in the past ignored them. When you go to a local seafood restaurant in Oregon you will hardly ever see fresh Oregon albacore tuna anywhere on the menu. Salmon dominates local menus as the local fish entree. Recently signs for local albacore have appeared at Burgerville a local fast food joint and that may have to do with the present day low cost of the fish per pound and a good supply of it on the market. Larger supermarkets don't carry it at all but some of the local health food super markets do including New Season. In the Portland area the fresh Oregon Albacore is priced around $8 per pound which is competitive with other seafood fare at the same fish counters. The bargain priced fish is found at the coast. Try it first from the super market and then if you like it you go to the coast to buy it or just plan to bring some back with you when you do go to visit the coast. Fresh Oregon Albacore Tuna tastes different than canned or frozen versions. It cooks up flaky and rubbery the way you sometimes find it in processed cans. The fresh version does not contain all the salt you find in the canned version which helps preserve it. The fish has been tested and found to contain a lot less mercury than is found in canned and frozen versions because these fish are younger and live in a less industrialized part of the ocean. The fish is versatile and can be baked , broiled, charcoal grilled or used as a substitute for beef in recipes like beef Burgundy. Using fresh tuna in a casserole or a paella works very well. The flavor and texture of the really fresh albacore is light and flaky so you might not even notice that it is tuna. The cooked meat is light in color. If you get tired of the same old fish varieties at stores like Fred Meyer you should ask them to get fresh albacore in stock because there is no reason they can't given it's very low wholesale price. In Newport, Oregon you will see signs all over where Fresh Albacore Tuna is available. The signs lead down onto the docks lined with fishing boats. There they are offering whole fish for sale at prices around $1.90 to $2.50 per pound. The smallest fish is around 20 lbs and they will offer to fillet it for you. For about $50 you might net 16 lbs of tuna which comes to $3.12 per pound. To get the fish back to Portland without freezing it to keep it fresh you might need to bring your own coolers and invest in some ice or some of the sellers will provide the ice and plastic bags to get it home in. You can skip the fisherman and buy from one of the fish processing retail stores in town. There the price was $1.90 for the whole fish plus a $7 fee to fillet it. If you wanted to order wholesale you probably could get an even better deal. The fresh fish direct from the coast did prove to be better than what is available in town. It is worth buying it at the coast and bringing it back. Cooking the tuna fresh and not frozen and then eating it later on is a better alternative to freezing it and cooking it later. You can certainly buy it and freeze it for later use. Sometimes it does seem that freezing the cooked fish comes out tasting better later than freezing it raw for later cooking. If you like Italian style albacore tuna you can make it cheaply at home by buying the fresh tuna and baking it in the microwave and then mashing it up in extra virgin olive oil before putting it in the refrigerator to use over the next several days instead of canned varieties. Soaking the cooked fish in the fresh extra virgin olive oil gives you a better version than the very expensive imports. Just let it sit there a few minutes and serve or use later in lieu of canned tuna. When you visit the fishing boats offering fresh tuna for sale ask them if they have other types of fish or seafood for sale because you might be surprised to be able to buy other fish that are hard to find at a grocery store or super market. If you have friends with you at the coast you can buy the big 20 plus pound fish have it filleted and then share the cost so you don't have to pay $40 or more. The local sea food store in Newport had filled fresh Albacore tuna already cut for less than $6 per pound. Fresh Albacore tuna is a local seafood resource you should try if you have not because you might find it is something you will enjoy. Sometimes it does become available in Portland area farmers markets and that is a great place to try it before considering going to the coast to buy it wholesale. .