Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant x Ocean Wise Seafood
If you are a foodie, you probably have heard of the non-profit organization, Ocean Wise. They have been educating the public for many years now on sustainable seafood and why it’s important to eat sustainable seafood in order to preserve the future of our oceans.
I attended a media dinner put on by Ocean Wise to celebrate their newest partner, Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant, in becoming an Ocean Wise partner. I personally was ecstatic to hear that they have committed to removing Shark Fin soup (a Chinese delicacy) from their menu! So many sharks are killed yearly just for their fins and it’s a horrific sight if you ever see a video of how it’s done. So thank you Pink Pearl for being a leader in this industry and hopefully more Chinese seafood restaurants will follow suit.
This is the Steamed Black Cod in Preserved Vegetables and it was absolutely delicious. Black cod is also known as sablefish and their buttery texture goes incredibly well with the preserved vegetables and light soy sauce. This is best eaten with white rice because you need something to soak up all the delicious sauce!
It’s hard to see what this is but it’s the Oysters with Ginger and Green Onion Sizzling Hot Plate. The plate comes piping hot with lots of aromatics surrounding the crispy yet sauced up oysters.
Another dish best eaten with white rice. The Pan Fried Clams in Black Bean Sauce. The black bean sauce might be an acquired taste for those not experienced in Asian cuisine, but trust me, it’ll grow on you and you will love it after a while. These clams were plump, juicy, and didn’t have any sand.
Though it was physically one of the more difficult things to eat, the Dunguness Crab with Spicy Dry Garlic is a definite must try. The crab is fried and tossed with jalapenos, fried garlic, and green onion.
Getting the crab meat out of its shell is a task, but it’s a worthy one. When you’re left with the crab head, remember to scoop and eat some of the innards that are attached to the crab shell! It’s bitter, full of cholesterol, but full of deep umami flavour (you only live once amiright?). Some people even say that is the most valuable area of the crab!
At the end of the day, I think it’s wonderful that an authentic Chinese seafood restaurant like Pink Pearl has decided to join the Ocean Wise program. It’s not easy to change perception or tradition (ie. drinking shark fin soup at weddings and celebrations), so for them to pave the way in support of preserving our oceans, I’ll go back and dine there just for that.
Happy Eating!
