Sitka Local Foods Network Honors Innovation

Putting seafood to new uses earned recognition and cash prizes at the 5th annual Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest.

Salmon Snacks and Bone Broth

The Sitka Local Foods Network chose two winners to each receive the $1,500 top prize. One is a pop-up restaurant serving Japanese-Hawaiian fusion that replaces Spam with wild Alaska salmon. The other salvages fish cut-offs to make a rich broth.

“We are happy to encourage more businesses to get into the local food system with our contest,” says Charles Bingham, board president of the Sitka Local Foods Network. “Even though we had other entries, our judges were unanimous in picking these two standouts.”

Gretchen Stelzenmuller’s Enoki Eatery invented a smoked salmon musubi. She describes it as “a Hawaiian/Japanese snack food of sticky rice [and] togarashi seasoning (mainly sesames and seaweed) topped with protein, such as smoked salmon, chicken, or mushroom wrapped in sheets of nori seaweed for easy eating and extra nutrients.” Stelzenmuller does serve a Hawaiian-style Spam version, but she adds, “I am trying to use healthier and more sustainable ingredients that reflect Alaskan culture.”

The fish broth is the invention of Edith Johnson, owner of Sitka’s Our Town Catering, and Lexi Fish-Hackett, who catches sablefish and salmon from her family’s F/V Myriad. In their entry form, Johnson wrote, “Lexi approached me with an idea that she has had for years, the thought of using fish ‘waste’—heads, bones, and the meat left on the bones—to make a product that is very sustainable but also helps use fish parts that are thrown away. Every year in Sitka alone, thousands of fish carcasses are tossed into the ocean or disposed of. We would use these to make a fish bone broth.” The result is three products: a clear bone broth, a heavier broth made from smoked salmon heads, and a fumet made with halibut, garlic, leeks, and white wine.