Hawaii's Share Your Table

Among the many species of fish caught by Hawaii's long line fishermen, swordfish is one of the most bountiful. Yet it is under appreciated by Hawaii consumers and much of it is exported to mainland markets where Hawaii swordfish is considered a top quality and delicious fish.

It's time to change that: Hawaii swordfish is terrific and here's why.

First and foremost, swordfish is a succulent, flavorful fish with high oil content. That means it's delicious – the fattiness of the fish keeps it moist and it has a firm and tender texture with a distinctive flavor.

Swordfish is perfect for pan frying or grilling, two of the simplest ways to cook fish. Use just a sprinkling of salt and pepper to expose the great flavor of swordfish. Seasonings, marinades and condiments are fine with swordfish, too, but remember, less is always more in the flavor department when it comes to fish.

A third reason to eat swordfish is that it is plentiful and relatively inexpensive compared to fish we usually eat like ahi and mahimahi. And it's a fish caught by our local fishermen, close to home.

Hawaii swordfish – it's a delicious thing!
 

An important tip on cooking fish

      When you're cooking swordfish or any fish, it's important not to overcook it because the fish will be dry and tough. How do you cook perfect fish?

First measure the thickness of the fish steak or fillet you are cooking, the thickest part. Then follow this rule: for every inch of thickness, cook your fish for 8 minutes. If your piece of fish is ¾ of an inch thick, your cooking time will be 6 minutes total.

If you're pan frying, grilling or broiling, cook the fish for half the cooking time on each side. If you're steaming or poaching, just cook the fish for the total time. If anything, you want to err on the side of undercooking fish; once you remove the fish from the cooking pan, it will continue to cook from the residual heat. Fish is cooked when all traces of translucency in the flesh are gone – the flesh should be white.

Perfectly cooked fish will be moist, tender and succulent!