Dive Bar Opah Chili

This flavorful pescatarian chili is loaded with ground opah, beans and just the right amount of heat! Serve on its own or top your favorite burger with a big ‘ol sloppy spoonful. We like it on opah sliders with opah bacon (pictured)! Recipe created for Catalina Offshore by Tom Logsdon of The Balboa.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground opah*
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1-1/2 cup sweet onion diced
• 1 whole red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 whole jalapeño, seeded and diced
• 7 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 – 28 oz can diced tomato in juice
• 1lb can of kidney beans
• 12 oz dark beer
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder
• 2 Tbsp dark chili powder
• 1 Tbsp black pepper

How to Prepare:

1. In a 5qt stockpot, melt butter over medium heat then add sweet onions and simmer until slightly translucent.
2. Add bell pepper and jalapeño, simmer until the color of the bell peppers begins to lighten.
3. Add garlic, simmer and stir for 1 minute.
4. Add opah and cook until lightly browned, using your spatula to break it up like you would ground beef or turkey.
5. Add undrained tomatoes and kidney beans and stir to incorporate.
6. Add all other ingredients, stir, bring to a light boil then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes.
7. Garnish with sour cream and onions, or feta cheese.

*The ground opah in this recipe is derived from opah “flank” (abductor / adductor muscle). Ask your fishmonger to grind it for you if don’t have a meat grinder at home. Alternatively, you could use an 80/20 ratio of ground opah flank and ground opah belly.

Products

Opah Abductor

Opah Belly