This post is sponsored by Alaska Seafood. All opinions are my own.
I grew up working on the back deck of my family’s fishing boat, learning the hard work for the harvest early on. Together as a family, we worked side by side sustainably harvesting wild salmon, hauling onboard shimmering fish through Alaska’s long bright summer seasons. Working outside in all kinds of weather and being surrounded by my family taught me perseverance, determination and the value of providing the world with wild food.
I’m proud to now independently own and operate my own commercial fishing boat, making my livelihood feeding people from the wild ocean. I treasure my opportunity to work out on the water. I care about the ocean deeply, steadfast to its stewardship and committed to responsible harvesting from Alaska’s cold, pure waters.
In Alaska’s coastal communities, nestled between the mountains and the sea, caring for the ocean is life. The harvest and heritage of commercial fishing ties these resilient communities together. Alaska’s fishing families are committed to keeping communities healthy and safe while harvesting healthy protein to feed the world. Alaska’s abundant seafood resource provides irreplaceable access to livelihood and food security for Alaskans, Americans and millions around the world.
In partnership with Alaska Seafood, I’m excited to create another delicious and nutritious recipe using wild Alaska spot prawns, and to share more about how seafood from Alaska is wild-caught and sustainable.
Across the Alaska fishing grounds, the boats surrounding me each represent a small, family owned and operated business. Eating wild seafood from Alaska is a connection to thousands of families and individual fishermen from dozens of small communities across Alaska’s working waterfront.
When you choose Alaska's wild, delicious and healthy seafood, you support generations of fishermen and coastal communities working hard, safely and responsibly to put food on your plate today and for years to come.
Connecting to the source of our seafood is vital as traceable seafood is better for a sustainable food system as a whole. Sustainable food choices are more important now than ever. With Alaska seafood, you can trust where your seafood comes from.
Alaska seafood is our nation’s largest source of domestic wild-caught seafood. Nearly 60 percent of all wild seafood and 95 percent of all wild salmon harvested in the U.S. comes from the great state of Alaska. From our own local waters, there is a bounty of nutritious, healthy food to eat. American caught Alaska seafood is always sustainably and responsibly caught.
Alaska seafood includes a variety of species, including salmon, cod, wild Alaska pollock, halibut, crab and more that are available fresh, frozen or canned year-round.
Frozen wild seafood makes buying and cooking fish incredibly accessible and convenient. Alaska’s wild seafood is handled carefully and frozen just after harvest, essentially making the flavors frozen in time. All the exquisite taste of good quality fish is preserved, transporting you back to the day out on the water it was caught. It’s pretty magical.
Frozen Alaska seafood sustains me through the winters, and throughout the week I pull dinner out from a freezer stocked with wild Alaska salmon, spot prawns, halibut and cod. I love how easy it is to prepare, simple to thaw out in the fridge overnight or cooked up directly from frozen. With wild Alaska fish in your freezer, you are supporting your local American caught fisheries and individual family fishermen.
On behalf of my family of fishermen, thank you for taking the time to discover where the food on your plate comes from. We’re super proud to work hard feeding your family traceable and responsibly harvested wild Alaska seafood.
Pickled Alaska Spot Prawns Recipe
Ingredients: - 1 lbs shell on, head off Alaska spot prawns (the spot prawns will be easier to peel after we boil them.)
To Pickle:
● 1 ½ c White vinegar
● ½ c Water
● 2 T Olive oil
● ¼ t Whole fennel seeds
● ¼ t Celery seeds
● ¼ t Dill seeds
● ¼ t Yellow mustard seeds
● ⅛ t Black peppercorns
● ⅛ t Crushed red pepper flakes
● 2 Bay leaves
● ½ t Salt
For the jars:
● Thinly sliced red onion
● Thinly sliced lemon
● 2 Fresh whole garlic cloves, thinly sliced
To Prepare:
1. In a small pot, bring vinegar, water, olive oil, spices, and salt to a simmer. Stir until salt dissolves. Set aside to cool.
2. Bring a 4 quart pot of salted water to a boil, you want it to be salty like the ocean. While the water is coming to a boil, prepare an ice bath with ice cubes in a big bowl. Once your pot of water reaches a boil, add spot prawns and cook just until the prawns float, just about 2 minutes. Once your prawns float to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon and plunge the prawns into an ice bath to cool.
3. After the prawns cool, peel the shells off, leaving the tails attached. Be careful when peeling Alaska spot prawns, these wild sea creatures have a tough armor for surviving the frigid depths of Alaska’s glacial fjords.
4. When both your spot prawns and pickling liquid have cooled, it’s time to pack it all into a jar to marinate together.
5. Layer spot prawns, lemon slices, garlic, and red onions into a large mouth jar. Pour your pickling liquid over the layers, letting the spices nestle in around the stacked ingredients.
6. Place the jar in your fridge and let sit overnight, giving time for the spot prawns to absorb the flavors of the pickling marinade.
7. Once chilled, use a fork to fish around the jar and pull up succulent spot prawns. Enjoy straight from the glass jar or serve on toast, with creme fraiche, pickled beets and fresh herbs.
8. The pickled spot prawns are good in your fridge for two weeks. Reach in there anytime for a salty, delicious bite.
