A few months ago we discussed the environmental morals and ethics of indulging at a sushi bar and seafood in general, and things haven’t changed much since then.

Actually, there was big news a few weeks ago that Gulf of Mexico red snapper were no longer being overfished so now you can add those to your menu guilt free, but other than that it is pretty much status quo. I guess we should just be happy that there haven’t been any new announcements about additional species being in dire straits. With the oceans still being pounded, it continues to makes sense to feed as low on the food chain as possible since those species are most abundant and rebound from fishing the fastest. That doesn’t mean that tuna and swordfish should not ever be consumed, but if sustainability of our marine resources is one of your goals then they should be a treat and not a staple. Here’s a nice guide for sustainable seafood from Monterey Bay Aquarium if you’re so inclined.
The tobiuo: Katherine Hook photo
Writing that post sort of pushed me from environmental awareness into action, well a little anyway. Now I drink my R/O water from an aluminum Sigg bottle and I talked myself right into only eating seafood that is farmed responsibly or underfished in the wild. Even the species that I catch on my boat comes under scrutiny and I promise not to chase grouper intentionally at all next summer. This good behavior has limits though and I was seriously ready for something exotic when I walked into Teppay on Westheimer the other evening for a serious sushi throwdown.

Chef Sato gave me the look when I sat down at the bar. He is very familiar with my tastes and knows that I’m always up for the unusual. He walked down to his special items case and with a grin nearly as big as the fish. Then he held up two of the largest flying fish that I have ever seen. To be fair, my experience is limited to Gulf and Atlantic species that I run into when I’m out on the water chasing our local fish, and most of our flyers max out around 8 inches or so. Chef Sato’s monsters were close to two feet long and practically had kite-sized wings. These Pacific flyers, tobiuo (toe-BEE-woe) in sushi parlance, had flown in earlier that day and boy were their wings tired. (Sorry, I had to throw that in.)

Any sushi bar worth the label has a flying fish presence at all times. It’s just that it comes in the form of their tiny eggs, tibiko, that are colored bright orange, black or wasabi green. They differ from masago, the other little orange eggs in that they are much brighter in color and shine like little jewels. Ikura, salmon eggs, are orange also but much larger. Finding tobiuo, the actual flying fish, is a rarity that you will only find in high end Japanese restaurants and not very often there.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic! Not only did I have something unusual to perk up our adventure, tobiuo falls squarely in the low trophic level, high sustainability and absolutely guilt free seafood category. Monterey Bay Aquarium doesn’t even bother to mention flying fish in the seafood watch list. I didn’t come to Teppay to be socially responsible though, so let’s focus on the fish.

Paraphrasing Brillat-Savarin, seafood, like everything else, falls under the heading you are what you eat. Flying fish are grazers. They cruise the clear blue waters of the ocean well off shore, away from our prolific dumping, slurping up plankton and little crustaceans. That’s about as low as you get on the food chain and still get large enough to make an interesting menu item. All that marine salad, baby shrimp and miniscule crabs make flying fish top notch table fare that has a soft smooth texture and a mild flavor.

Flying fish really do spend some time airborne, although they are not bird-like in how they get it done. Their side fins (pectorals) are not used at all for swimming. They are very rigid and held close to their body when in the water but when they put on a burst of speed and jet out of the water their fins pop out and lock in place so they are slightly curved like an airplane wing. They can glide for several hundred yards making twists and curves as needed before splashing down. They do this to escape their predators which include just about every fish and mammal in the water big enough to eat them and every species of bird working offshore water. Yes, it’s a tough life when you’re tasty.

I got just what I was looking for at Teppay. Chef Sato’s presentation was excellent and the meal was outstanding. There is nothing like the combination of delicious, exotic and guilt free