Offices
Wholesale: Pier 33
San Francisco, CA
Tel 415.956.1986
Fax 415.956.5851
Retail:
1582 Hopkins
Berkeley, CA 94707
Tel 510.525.5600
Office:
1649 Hopkins
Berkeley, CA 94707
Tel 510.525.0999 Fax 510.525.4109
The
Sanddab
he
Pacific Sanddab is a wonderful little fish found in
great abundance off our California coast. One of the
most numerous fish along the west coast, the Sanddab
in chameleon like fashion is able to change color and
pattern to match sand, gravel or shell rubble bottom
thus go unnoticed by prey.
Seldom is the Sanddab discussed in cook-books and only
rarely is it seen in restaurants or seafood markets.
A fish that is plentiful, cheap and delicious as well
as being one of the most underutilized species in the
Pacific ocean. How can this be? The answer in one simple
word is "bones"!
As many people have an aversion to bones in their fish
the Sanddab is sometimes a hard sell. Because of it's
small size (2-3 per pound) the sandDab is always sold
either whole or simply dressed. The whole sand dab is
usually prepared for cooking by removing heads, viscera
and fins; no need to remove the extremely fine scales.
If properly trimmed before cooking it is quite simple
to remove all the bones from a Sanddab before serving.
The trick is to properly trim the feather bones, these
bones run the entire length of both sides of the body
of the fish, and control the movement of the dorsal
and ventral fins. If you are unsure of the proper method
your fish monger will be happy to demonstrate.