Trip Report: Eating at Olive Gardens

One of my favorite rockfish species to hunt in Northern/Central California is the olive rockfish. While rockfish aren’t known to be diver-shy, olives are a little bit warier and it sometimes takes a little bit of stealth to approach one. Add to the fact that olives are a free swimming mid-water fish instead of one that holes up, makes the task of quietly stalking them through the kelp fronds quite an enjoyable activity.   

On this particular day, Harold and I explored some new water and surprisingly found 30+ feet of vis.  Diving this gin clear water was as close to blue water diving as it gets in this part of the state.


   



Within a few drops I spotted the long slender silhouette of an olive and after closing the distance, took it with a well placed shot   


   



Quickly slid the fish up the shooting line and on the the very next dive   


   



Cheezin’ it for the camera   


   


   




Testament to the accuracy of Rob Allens   


   



By the time we left the “Olive Gardens” I had taken four nice olives and a blue for variety   


   



Harold didn’t do too bad himself   


   



Not only did he also take four olives, he also scored a bonus vermillion   


   



Made for quite a nice color contrast on the stringer   


   



Feeding the seagulls seems to be a ritual at the end of every dive trip   


   



Can sometimes get a little out of control   


   



Now that I’m finally diving more and preparing fresh fish regularly again I wanted to share one of my favorite rockfish recipes.   


   



Most Asians steam rockfish whole, but I’m lazy so I fillet out my fish out and just steam the fillets. Instead of savoring each bite, I like to hoover my food down and fish bones get in the way of that.   


   



German steel   


   



Quickly reduces my catch to nice neat packages of fillets   


   



Two pieces of rockfish about to go into the steamer   


   



Three simple ingredients; scallions (green onion), ginger root, and cilantro   


   


Julienned as thinly as possible. Ideally as thin or thinner than a matchstick   


   



I like my green onion cut a little coarser cut than the ginger   


   



And finally, cilantro   


   



Sliced and diced   


   



One the fish is cooked and plated I heat up a few tablespoons of vegetable oil and toss in the ginger for a few seconds   


   



Drizzle the hot oil over the fish, top with veggies, and finally finish with a few tablespoons of slightly sweetened soy sauce   


   



Accompanied by a bowl of fragrant jasmine rice   


   



And perhaps a modest central coast chard to go with a central coast rockfish   


   



And you have a simple, yet delicious meal that you can prepare in less than 30 minutes and one that will cost you about $5 worth of ingredients   


   



I tend to bury my fish in greens because I like a little crunch of vegetables with each bite. I will also spoon a good amount of sauce over each piece of fish.   

 



Food coma in 3…..2…..1....   

So clear! You guys are hunting machines!

Nice!! You dudes are slick! Way to stalk and selectively target your prey.

Sweet report - nicely finished off with the meal.   

Kwhhok! Yay yay! The report is icing on the catch. Thanks bruddah!

Beautiful fish, you can see the great viz even in the pics, then finishing it up with a step by step pictorial of the prep,

Thanks for the great report, looking forward to more of them.

great report, and even better food porn, thanks, cameron

Excellent!!!!!!!!

 

Looks like great hunting and even better eating!

Thanks for sharing!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Great report! The pics are sweet!!! The food looks off the hook, Another great dive reort!

Thanks for all the food and fish porn bro!  You take great pictures.  What type of camera do you use?  I think I know now how I will be eating my fish tonight. 

Rey

Nice "shopping" in the "Olive Gardens".  Thanks for the great report, recipe, and pictures Nelson.

Where's the all you can eat breadsticks and endless salad?!  OG is my favorite restaurant, but Kristal thinks its b/c I'm a tightwad LOL.  Your pictures are incredibly clear, great report

Awesome report, Nelson! Clever title, too. I'd say olives are one of my favorite eating fish in NorCal, though I haven't been able to find them in large numbers yet.

Thanks for all the food and fish porn bro!  You take great pictures.  What type of camera do you use?  I think I know now how I will be eating my fish tonight. 

Rey

Rey, the dive pics were taken with Harold's Canon S95 with underwater case. The photo of the olive with the shaft in its eye + the kitchen pics were taken with my Canon G9. 

Both sets of pics have moderate to HEAVY amounts of PhotoChop involved. 

Nice write up!! Always love the pictures Nelson.

I love the canon s95, thats my first camera.  I know harold has a gopro, just wondering how come no videos?