You're right, there's not much to eat on the smaller fish.
A Pacific Butterfish from the Ocean Beach Pier
Pacific Butterfish — Peprilus simillimus aka Pacific or California pompano and dollarfish (shaped like a silver dollar).
Identification: A very deep compressed body with a somewhat perch shape. Butterfish have very long dorsal and anal fins and no pelvic fins. Their coloring is metallic silver or blue on the side with a greenish back.
Size: To 14.2 inches; most caught from piers are from 3 to 8 inches.
Range: Gulf of California, and the Pacific Coast between Bahia Magdalena, southern Baja California, and Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands), northern British Columbia. Common from southern Baja California, to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Habitat: Typically found in sandy nearshore areas; found from the surf zone to a recorded depth of 991 feet.
Piers: An occasional catch at sandy-shore piers in southern California; less common but still caught at a few piers north to San Francisco.
Food Value: A flavorful, good eating fish with small flakes, and soft texture. It has moderate to high fat content in the flesh, hence its name. Best smoked or pan-fried whole but only the largest fish seem to have enough meat to make it worth the effort. However, it was long regarded as one of the best “eating” fish in the state, in fact one that was considered a “delicacy” that brought a high price.
Recommendations for Cooking: (from various cook books).
Sunset Fish & Shellfish A to Z — Due to size only sold whole, usually without their head. High fat content (about 8 percent). Flesh is delicate with fine, moist flakes. Flavor mild to moderately pronounced and sweet. Can be (1) smoked; (2) Barbecuing and broiling. Brush barbecued or broiled fish with Lemon–Butter or Sesame-Spy Baste; (3) Frying. Pan-fry, dusting fish with flour or use cornmeal; (4) Poaching and Steaming. Pan-poach or steam Chinese-style. Serving ideas: Serve cooked butterfish with Caper Butter, Almond or Filbert Browned Butter, or Tomato-Caper Sauce.
The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Fish & Shellfish (Kate Whitman) — “Can be fried, baked, poached or steamed. The fish goes well with spices and Asian flavors such as coconut, lemongrass and tamarind. Because the fish are thin and the flesh is soft they should be cooked only briefly.”
Fish, The Basics (Shirley King) — “Butterfish are ideal for smoking, as their flesh is quite oily. They are also delicious pan-dressed and the fried. Butterfish can also be broiled or grilled. Their flesh turns white when cooked.”
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One of the favorite fish of early day pier anglers in California.
Food Fishes—Of the small varieties of fish there are the smelt, herring, perch, sardine and pompano, together with quite a number of other varieties. The pompano is the rarest and most expensive fish caught on this coast, the market price being $1 per pound, and the fish is sold readily at that price as soon as put upon the market.
—Los Angeles Herald, January 1, 1893 (Pretty expensive for 1893)
Playa del Rey—Hardly a foot of the wharf was unoccupied by some fisherman casting his line and reaping a harvest from the unusually fine run of pompano. Everybody on the pier joined in the sport, nearly, and good baskets were the result in every instance.—Los Angeles Herald, July 9, 1908
Pompano, the delicious little poppy fish, made Playa del Rey one of the most popular resorts during the week.
—Los Angeles Herald, September 28, 1908
Fish and Game Bulletin No. 49 (The Commercial Fish Catch of California for the Year 1935) states “One of the finest food fishes taken in California for the fresh fish markets is the California pompano, which unfortunately is not caught in any great abundance…It is the highest priced market fish in California.”
Added to Seafood Recipe page.
