Nothing like some seafood from the great north.
Some people simply cannot abide eating fish, and for a long time, I was one of them. Maybe I just couldn’t get it prepared properly, or maybe I was just hung up on its particular texture, but seafood and I just couldn’t hit it off until my adult years. When my taste buds developed, though, one of my favorite kinds of fish was one of the most easily attainable varieties: Alaskan pollock.
Pollock is a great introduction to the world of seafood thanks to its low price point and mild flavor. If you’ve ever eaten a plate of fish sticks, you’ve already tasted pollock; it’s the kind of fish used in almost all frozen fish stick brands. Even when it’s not breaded and fried, it’s still very tasty, and because they’re so plentiful up in Alaska, you can get them pretty much any time of year for next to nothing.
But what exactly is pollock bringing to the table besides taste and affordability? A lot, as it happens. Like most fish, pollock is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which do a world of good for your heart and cardiovascular system. Studies show that diets rich in fish, and by extension omega-3, result in a 5% decrease in risk of heart disease, as well as a 9% decrease in risk of heart attacks.
Pollock is also chock full of essential vitamins, including a few that you might not be getting enough of, such as vitamin D, potassium, niacin, and selenium. Though, the caveat there is that you can’t eat it fried if you want to get the full nutritional profile. But hey, who needs fish sticks when you can have fish tacos?
So get yourself some pollock with a side of rice. Who knows, it could serve as a bridge into the wider world of seafood!
