6/19/07 | Deep Cove Sardines
[ Currently Eating: Leftovers ]
Hey friends. Happy Belated Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there. And what better way to commemorate that day with a post about … sardines?
Yep. I’ll have to do a bit of explaining what sardines have to do with Father’s Day, at least for me. But first… hello! I haven’t posted in awhile after taking a “vacation.” I’d like to explain a little bit about why I took that vacation. No, Cheap Eats is NOT being bought out by Yahoo. For the past 2 years or so, I’ve suffered from a right shoulder and back ailment that’s most likely due to overzealous mousing. I finally decided to have it looked at by an orthopedic doctor and his conclusion was yes, Houston we do have a problem. He prescribed some anti-inflammatory and relaxant medicine, recommended a change in what side I sleep on, and generally said to ease up on the computerizing.
It has been mucho tough to try and not use the computer (I average 8-12 hours a day usage), but I’ve tried. Besides actually going outdoors into the sunshine, part of the strategy is to prioritize the usage. And Cheap Eats being a blog… well, it’s not exactly high on the list of necessary items. So, because I’m still trying to work on healing (otherwise, I’ll have to try physical therapy), the schedule for Cheap Eats is going to have to remain “every so often” instead of every week. I don’t expect everyone to throw their hands up in despair, but I know there are a few people who read the blog regularly - and I just wanted you to know that if you don’t see an update for a few weeks, that’s the reason why.
Ok, personal problems aside. Let’s get back to sardines. Here’s how the story goes. Apparently, when my dad was in college at the University of Washington, like many college kids he wasn’t exactly rolling in the dough. So, to make ends meet he’d skimp on the food side. A true Cheap Eater back in the day. This was back in the early 60s, when there weren’t so many fast food joints to choose from.
So anyway, one of the things he used to do was get a tin of sardines and heat that up and just eat that with some rice and maybe some veggies. A pitiful repast - I think I got that phrase from The Dharma Bums (the little bum in the railway car), but I’m not sure.
The thing is, dad really LIKED the meals of sardines and rice. (I think maybe this may have something to do with him being from a certain little rock in the middle of the ocean, often referred to in The Impulsive Buy.) So in honor of dad, I decided to crack open a can of sardines from the Dollar Store. Oh yes, certainly flirting with danger.
The first thing you are probably going to say is OMG, Nast! It does look a bit pitiful, but that’s only because I wasn’t succesfuly in scooping the lil’ fishies out of their tin without scraping off a lot of the skin which is very thin. Oh, another helpful note: Do NOT run in the kitchen with an open tin full of sardines and juice - unless you want a very fishy floor!
Their were four smoked sardines in the tin which as I said was completely filled with soybean fish oil juice - I’ve usually dumped that in the past, although I was watching this one hilarious J show called “Dotch” where they actually used the sardine juice to make some sort of omlette. Apparently, a lot of the nutrients from the fish get concentrated in the juice… I dunno about the nutritional aspects, you probably know more about it than me. I just know it’s extra fishy.
But anyhow, the sardines were actually pretty decent - for a 50 cent tin. They were a bit dry, but fairly tasty. What I liked is that they didn’t dump a lot of salt in there, or at least they weren’t salty to me. In fact, I put a little shoyu (soy sauce) on top and just wolfed them up. If you haven’t had sardines before - these are WHOLE fish. They’re not mini filets or anything (like anchovies). The heads, thankfully, are missing. But you get to eat the whole thing, bones and all. The backbone is actually particularly fun to eat … it has an interesting texture.
Anyhow, the shoulder is starting to act up. So I’ll end by saying that I’ll probably go stock up on some more of these sardines for those times when there’s nothing to eat in the fridge. I believe the shelf life on these tins is quite long - I wouldn’t say that it’s in the decades like Twinkies, but I think it’ll last quite awhile.
Price: $0.50
Found At: Dollar Store
Cheap Eats Score: 6/10
June 19th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Eating the bones of sardines, like canned salmon, is good for you: it’s a source of calcium.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Sorry to hear about your problem, I’m gonna miss your weekly comments. About the sardines, I really love them especially in the mustard sauce, but that does sound pretty good putting them with rice. I think I might try that the next tjme I have them. Take care of yourself, I will always look foward to reading your reviews, they are very interesting and sometimes very humorous.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:16 am
What a concept. I’m well into the second half of a century in age and have eaten sardines all my life. My father was a fervant sardine consumer before me… I’ve never thought to eat sardines any way other than straight out of the can with some minced onions and saltine crackers (just like my dad modeled for me). Sometimes, just after payday, we added in some slices of sharp cheddar cheese! Now I can spend some time dreaming up ways to trim the budget with a little sardine/Asian fusion. Love it!
June 20th, 2007 at 11:06 am
i hope you get to feeling better. i also like sardines although i have never had them heated tho. just right out of the can and mashed up with the juice. i eat them with saltines and hot sauce. cheap eats!
June 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
As King Agrippa said, “almost thou persuadest me…”
Almost.
Are they even vaguely like canned salmon? I can take or leave the bones in salmon, but if the skin flakes off easily I get rid of it.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Hope to hear that your shoulder heals, I suffer from the same problem with my right shoulder; not fun to deal with that’s for sure.
Sardines are quite tasty and I’m glad that you did a post on them!
June 27th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
OK, you piqued my interest enough that I picked up a tin at Walmart tonight and tried it. I opted to remove the bones, at least this time. I ate one straight, then warmed some up. Not bad at all with some honey dijon mustard, garlic salt and onion powder.
June 29th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Have you tried a can of saba no ajitsuke (Japanese flavored mackerel)? It is probably a bit more expensive than these sardines, but it is delicious with a big bowl of rice. mmm.
June 29th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I can’t do the sardine thing, though my man person really likes them. He doesn’t like the smoked ones, though. He likes regular sardines in oil with a little Lousiana Hot Sauce. And he gets them from the dollar store, too.
For me, it’s kippers! I do love those smoked rascals and I eat them plain, out of the tin, with nothing added.
I enjoyed reading about your dad and his cheap eatin’ ways! My mom and dad have told me that in the early days of their marriage (in the 50s) they were often poor. So were the other residents of the apartment complex in which they lived. When it got down to the end of the month and everyone was out of money and almost out of food, they’d get together and pool their resources, bringing and cooking whatever they had. They’d end up with a meal of rice, beans, bread, a few pieces of fruit, some vegetables (often leftover), and maybe a little bread. They’d just lay it out on the table and everyone who contributed to the ‘budget buffet’ would get a plate full. Apparently, though those times were hard, those days made for some great memories.
So, here’s to bein’ poor and eatin’ cheap!
July 4th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
It took me until the second to the last paragraph to realize sardines were not anchovies…d’oh.
Sardines sound better than their infamous cousin anchovies though.
Could you eat a meal of anchovies with rice? From what I’ve heard, I think not.
BTW, when are you going to post the results for the “I cook my own dinner…” poll?
July 8th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Think of anchovies as fish flavored salt. It might be okay mixed with rice, but never plain. Sardines are best plain, or with a bit of some condiment (hot sauce, mustard, horseradish).
July 8th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
One of my favorite childhood meals was fresh white rice, canned sardines and soy sauce. I still love it–with a little kimchee on the side….
July 9th, 2007 at 7:13 am
Hey, cool site. I recall my dad eating canned sardines when I was a kid - but they came in a tomato kind of sauce, not oil. I liked eating them occasionally, but never the whole tin. I think he ate it with bread? It’s fuzzy, it was so long ago and it was never a big thing. I mean, I grew up eating nearly anything, of course. The tomato sauce would be good with rice or bread… I think he may have started eating that as a poor college student in America. I don’t think it’s a very HK thing to have eaten… though I would have to look into that, I’ve no idea. Yum, you’re kind of making me want to look for a tin of sardines though… but you know, I never liked eating the bones, especially the backbone, because it tickled my throat. Haha.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:35 am
gwen - yep, definitely!
todd - I am going to have to pass on the mustard and sardines… didn’t even know they made that!
ken - yes, some minced onion does help it go down easier.
jim - oh yeah, hot sauce is a good one
kelly - what do you do for your shoulder issue? It still plagues me..
jeff - another mustard n sardines fan!?
jin - oh yes, I had canned saba before… good stuff!
denise - I like the community chest way of eating too. My parents street has an annual ‘block party’ (they know all their neighbors, surprisingly) and while no one is so poor that they can’t bring anything, it’s a free-for-all potluck that is fun… I don’t even live there anymore yet go back sometimes.
skibs - yeah, I think it’d be too salty. Re: the poll. My god I’m embarassed. I think I’ve left it up for half a year now! Going to change it out soon.
Reg - I’ve been meaning to try out anchovies for pasta dishes one of these days… they aren’t as cheap as sardines though, right?
linda - my mom used to make a “quick and dirty” meal - it’s ground beef mixed with soy sauce, ginger, sugar and cooked up and put on hot white rice. With tsukemono on the side…
yvo - i try to chew up the bones, but find they get stuck in my teeth quite frequently! It’s a really weird texture, those cooked sardine bones.
July 10th, 2007 at 7:51 am
I’ve had some mousing related injuries, and fixed them by doing two things:
1) ergonomic imporvements, most notably a wrist rest and a proper chair/desk height
2) Switching hands! I mouse at work with my left hand, mouse at home with my right. It takes some getting used to but you’ll be an ambi-mouser in no time.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Love sardines. They totally stink up the house, though.
My grandmother turned me on to them when I was very young, and we ALWAYS eat them with cheap yellow mustard and saltine crackers.
Power to all of you bone-eaters; I just can’t eat the little spine. There is a art to pressing the side of your fork in just the right spot to reveal the spine, and then you just lift it out.
I feel 10 again.
July 19th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Wow, this brings back memories of my grandfather, and I remember trying these of my own free will and liking them.
I bet these would be a great treat for a cat! On sale I’m paying about the same for Whiskas Purrfectly FISH Sardines & Mackerel Entrée pouches.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Ahhh… smoked sardines. I’ve tried the Deep Cove brand from the local dollar store. They’re just OK. The best smoked sardines I’ve had are the Bela Olhao brand available from Trader Joe’s. It’s more expensive, but worth it for around $1.80.
I have, however, discover an even tastier canned smoked fish - Riga Sprats. They’re available at Long’s Drugs Store for 99 cents and have an intense smoke flavor… perfect for eating over rice, crackers, or a good toasted sourdough bread.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Try them wrapped in a warm tortilla, quick and tasty fish taco. The tortilla also tones down the fishy taste.