If you’re a Team Sockeye person like I am, you probably have already had the delicious pleasure of sampling the full range of meaty, robust sockeye offerings from Wild Alaskan Company: our signature 6 oz. Sockeye Portions, plus Captain Cuts, Sockeye Salmon Strips, Ground Sockeye Salmon, and packs of both Cold Smoked Sockeye & Hot Smoked Sockeye.
It’s by far the most extensive lineup of offerings that we have built around a single species — which, I think, speaks volumes about sockeye salmon’s versatility. So, in celebration of the Summer of Sockeye (a salmon-themed celebration we’re running through July and into August), I thought this week would be a great opportunity to highlight why having so many different sockeye cuts and offerings is integral to our commitment to sustainability — and to Alaska.
As WAC’s Seafood Category Manager Will Rogers put it, “If you look at the mix of what we offer, it allows us to better utilize the whole side of fish,” he explained.
Caption: Will Rogers (center, in plaid), WAC’s Seafood Category Manager, in Homer with a few colleagues who have worked closely with him to source sustainably-harvested seafood from Alaska for WAC members.
Will is much more well-versed than I am in sockeye and all of its WAC iterations, having worked in the Alaskan fishing industry for decades — initially, as a fisherman on a boat; and today as a WAC colleague who plays an essential role in managing WAC’s supply of sustainably-sourced seafood from Alaska, with an oracular understanding of each and every offering.
As part of the Summer of Sockeye celebration, I recently sat down with Will for a chat about sockeye.
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As a wild fish, sockeye come in different shapes and sizes. How do we go about portioning it into all of our different sockeye offerings?
Most of the sockeye we buy from suppliers is portioned into the 6 oz portions that you know from WAC’s signature curated boxes.
But sockeye is not a cookie cutter fish, so not every part of the fish conforms to a 6 oz cut. That means there’s a lot of good sockeye left to use — the spine, the collar, the tail, any other cuts that are simply too small. These are ideal cuts to use in our other sockeye offerings: Ground Sockeye Salmon, Sockeye Salmon Strips, Captain Cuts. These are all made from the same fantastic harvest that goes into a 6 oz portion, but in different sizes and forms.
Can you explain a little bit more about why we offer more than 6 oz portions to WAC members?
Anyone can sell a 6 oz sockeye portion, so that’s what a lot of companies stick to. But what do they do with the under-6 oz cuts? They send it off to another company to deal with it.
Wild Alaskan Company is unique in that we have a diverse enough offering of sockeye cuts to utilize nearly 100 percent of the salmon sides that we buy from suppliers. And this is 100 percent intentional: We do this to get the most use of the protein itself.
It’s not very common what we do, to offer such a diverse range of sockeye cuts for members to enjoy.
So, we have a variety of cuts that we can utilize the whole fillet, but freezing also plays a big role in better utilization of the fish.
Yes, freezing is integral to the Wild Alaskan Company model.
Logistically, Alaska is really far away. For example, to ship unfrozen sockeye from Alaska to Florida, you can get the fish there in a couple of days — but the carbon footprint is huge, to put the fish on a couple of airplanes, to get it there while it’s still good enough to eat. And even then, you’re getting a product that’s three or four days out of the water.
Freezing, as a preservation method, is a total game changer. You can use freezing technology to preserve sockeye that’s been out of the water for less than 24 hours. It’ll arrive at your house still in frozen form, as if it were just harvested. Today’s freezing methods lock in that freshness. It’s an incredibly effective way to preserve the fish that expands how people are able to enjoy the bounty all year long.
Before the advent of freezing, you utilized what you could through preservation methods like canning or curing — which are also great ways to preserve sockeye harvests, but give you a different experience with the fish.
I want to hear about what you like to do with different cuts of sockeye in your own home. For the 6 oz Sockeye Salmon Portions:
A 6 oz portion is my go-to. I’m a pretty basic cook — salt, pepper, garlic powder.
For Sockeye Captain Cuts:
I like the Captain Cuts because I have a two-year-old who loves salmon, and it’s handy to have a smaller portion to be able to split between a two-year-old belly and mine.
For Ground Sockeye Salmon:
I love making salmon patties out of the ground sockeye. I generally just use egg, mayo, and breadcrumbs to hold it together, then add green onions and some salt & pepper to season them.
For Sockeye Salmon Strips:
My favorite thing to do with the strips is to make blackened fish tacos. I pan sear the strips with some blackening seasoning — they’re the perfect shape and size for tacos.
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I hope that some of you had the chance to join us at yesterday’s Live Event, where we learned how to turn Ground Sockeye Salmon into juicy burgers and a spiced filling for hardshell tacos. If you missed it, you can find a brief recap as well as a link to the full recording here. And before we sell out, make sure to add a couple packs of Ground Sockeye Salmon to your next box, via the Member Special page. Or, add Sockeye Captain Cuts to your box as an add-on any time.
Please join us for future Live Events by registering below via Zoom, which all take place on a Wednesday at 3pm ET / 12pm PT:
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Wednesday, July 19th: Sockeye vs. Coho, and All the Basics Tips You Need to Cook Salmon
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Wednesday, July 26th: How to Turn Sockeye Salmon Strips Into a Bacon-like Flavor Bomb
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Wednesday, Aug. 2nd: All the Basics Tips You Need to Cook Frozen Salmon (if you can’t make it to the same event on the 19th)
Live Wild,
Monica
Pictured above: A couple of the many sustainably-sourced sockeye cuts that we offer as a way to diversely and deliciously use more of Alaska’s bounty — on the left, Sockeye Salmon Strips; on the right, a generous portion of Sockeye Captain Cuts.
