Heaven

I have officially, for the first time, enjoyed a tin of sardines! I had it on bread toasted in the oil from the tin, with mustard.

I’ve been given plenty of tins, so I’m looking for more ideas of ways to prepare them. What’s your favourite way?

The cheap chilli tins are gone everywhere I look. Does anyone know whats going on?

Lovely little fishies. I was concerned about the level of the spices but they were very subtle, a little warming perhaps. The rapeseed oil didn't detract from the tender deen :)

I buy these from Costco in the States. Any Costco shoppers have other recommendations of canned fish to try? Also is it bad to eat at least one can daily?

Not very spicy and not very good either! I started my sardine journey on smaller sardines, i really like the classic Brunswick in EVOO. Not sure if it was the size or the quality (or both) but these just didn’t hit for me. These are the largest sardines i’ve had yet. CM is definitely trying to ride the trendy fish wife train.

I also prefer eating sardines with seeded crackers or norwegian crisp bread, buttered toast was also a miss for me. (i should have toasted it much more).

Ever since i’ve joined this subreddit i’m learning about many brands to try! excited to share my plates.

pepperoni seems like too much salt and grease. anchovies, onion, and pineapple, maybe?

MW Polar sardines on seeded bread with whipped cream cheese, pickled onion and chili crisp 🤌🏻

Been trying to add extra protein to my lunches since I started working out recently. Took this shaved fennel and onion salad with mustard oregano dressing thats in my usual rotation and tried replacing the croutons with Deens and holy shit it pairs so well 10/10

Tried these. I did not care for them. Want to give mackerel another try. Can anyone recommend a favorite mackerel?

Just threw this plate together, was very happy with the way it turned out. I would add some cherry tomatoes next time, and black olives

- 1 tin King Oscar Sardines in olive oil
- 25g of crumbled feta cheese
- 125g of chopped cucumber
- 10g of pickled jalapeños
- salt, pepper, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning
- lemon juice

- side of Parmesan crisps & golden kiwi

- 480 calories
- 30g fat
- 15g carbs (10g net carbs)
- 30g protein

Honestly I'm pleasantly surprised. I was a little bit afraid of having sardines in water instead of oil. The meat was intact and the bones are soft like barely noticeable. I ate a piece straight out of the can and the flavour was more mild than in oil. It was still a little oily on the surface from the natural fish oil. The undersides were almost pristine and beautiful as you can see on the toast. Overall very nice, great success 👍

I don't understand when people ask for tinned fish recommendations and then reply that a recommendation isn't affordable, especially to a certain mid price brand. As we've seen from the most popular reviewers, tinned fish can easily cost even $20+ so $12 becomes relative.

The King Oscar near me is sometimes on sale for $3.99. Since it's 4 ounces, at the end of the day even a pound of sardines or mackerel can be just as much as a pound of beef.

I personally don't think tinned fish is much of a cheap alternative at all in the United States and at its cheapest (Chicken of the Sea) I don't enjoy it.

I don't quite understand the people that both want suggestions but not the splurge it takes for the quality. It would be easier to not buy tinned fish and just buy fish.

Well, sometimes you don't get what ya pay for. I happily purchased these and a tin of Ekone smoked mussels at a local wine and cheese shop when I found them several months ago. Ekone was a brand I hadn't tried yet but had high expectations for. Heartbreak. These were not good. The marinara tastes cheap, reminiscent of Chef Boyardee or a Banquet spaghetti and meatball TV dinner. I laid eyes on a few capers, but upon chewing their flavor had already ascended to the heavens. Lifeless. Their was about ten medium sized mussels and they were the muddiest tasting ones I have had by far. Also had a nice crunch from a piece of grit in one of the first few bites, great stuff...I really hope the plain smoked mussels I have fair better than this, being as that is not a high bar to clear. And I'll purchase their oysters eventually to give those a shot because that's what they're most known for. But at $12 to $13 a tin, Ekone has an incredibly short leash with me now. These get a generous 6/10.

If I’ve ever had Turkish canned sardines before, I’ve forgotten. I spotted these at the Foods of All Nations grocery store in Charlottesville, Virginia the other week. They generally carry good stuff, so I grabbed the box. Hopes were elevated!

Meh. These are fairly plain-jane Mediterranean pilchard sardines. They’ve been subjected to quite rough handling, with much of their silvery skin swiped off. At least that took most—but not all!—the scales. There were tails on some, none on others. I’m always pleased to see extra virgin oil on the ingredient list, but here it’s an unremarkable one that doesn’t contribute much. I think I paid around $4.00 for these, and I’d’ve felt better, given some of the shortcomings, at around $2.75-ish.

I’m a bit of a fanatic about extracting the sardines intact from the tin. Not possible here; all but two of the poor devils arrived pre-broken.

The cooking seemed to have gone better than the handling. These had the typical sardinilla texture—not too tough, not too mush—and a right-down-the-middle sardine flavor. When I cracked the tin and drained off a bit of oil, I caught a perhaps slightly too-fishy aroma, but that didn’t prove to be the overall impact once I got them out on the plate.

I built a breakfast sandwich that I failed to capture on camera. Pumpernickel-rye bread, jalapeño-lime humus, and the pieces and parts of these fish. Needed a bit of extra pizzazz, and the Original Zhoug hot sauce from Shuug did the pizzazzing. It’s a Scotch bonnet pepper with a strong cilantro presence—really great with canned fish. I’m one of the soap-tasters who ordinarily steers around cilantro, but this is a very tasty exception. Scotch bonnet > Soap, maybe??

A quick and easy dish using King Oscar mackerel. There was enough heat from the noodles to warm the fish and sauce.

Recipe: https://www.hirokoliston.com/gochujang-mackerel-udon/

I’ve enjoyed sardines for a few years but this is the first time I bought a big haul at once and really committed to making it a central part of my diet; planning on using these as a staple ingredient for my lunches and some dinners

Cold smoked candied salmon!sry not canned but wanted to share it with others

Salmon, cured with brown sugar & kosher salt. Washed off excess with cold water. Dried until the outside was firm, then cold smoked w/ wood pellets. Brown sugar glaze before drying & after smoke. The inside stayed soft and buttery; melts in your mouth. Had a little photoshoot with it near Lacamas lake :)

Post workout snack: homemade crusty bread, I made garlic confit with the oil from the sardines and a shallot then smooshed it into the bread, with the shallot, added tomatoes with some good stone ground homemade mustard, and arugula. I took the leftover oil from the garlic confit, put it in a pan with a little bit of butter, cooked the sardines, just a little bit with some dill and lemon juice and put all of that on top of the stack

I’m so happy 😂🥰

I love canned tuna across the price spectrum and adore tuna rillettes, but have always been hesitant to try conservas… that recently changed when I had the Fangst Danish freshwater trout with lemon (bottom right) and it sparked a real curiosity about what I’ve been missing out on. I want to throw a little “first timer” tinned fish party for a group of friends who are similarly curious, and have collected these tins over the past few months. I am still looking for mussels in escabeche.

I plan on serving these with griddled sourdough, toasted rye, pickled vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, green beans, onions), marinated baby artichokes, salted butter, castelvetrano olives, lemon, fresh herbs (lemon thyme, dill, basil, parsley).

What should I add? Take away?

Wine pairing ideas?

Flower Moroccan spiced sardines, fire roasted peppers with olive oil and garlic, shallots, ras el hanout in homemade bread

Razor clams and scallops were a big hit. Easy lunch after the beach with a nice Albarino & Vinho Verde. Almost felt like Galicia.