General Description: Moi (Polydactylus sexfillis) was once a delicacy reserved for Hawaii’s male royalty; commoners caught eating the fish faced severe penalties. Stocks of wild moi were depleted by the mid-1990s because of high demand; enhancement programs have rebuilt supplies for sport fishing, but there is practically no commercial fishery. Aquaculture operations in Hawaii now farm moi in open ocean submerged cages. These fish are harvested, iced, and delivered quickly to market. Luxury restaurants in Hawaii make it a point to include moi on the menu.

Locale and Season: As a farmed fish, moi is available year-round.

Characteristics: Moi is a small, silvery, rounded fish shaped like a flatfish with dark horizontal striping. It has a moderately high oil content but can turn dry and rubbery when fully cooked, so it is often quick-seared to rare or medium-rare. Its flesh is white to light gray, cooks up white, and is silky, rich, and mild in flavor with tender, flaky texture.

How to Choose: Aquafarmed moi are marketed at 3/4 to 1 1/2 pounds.

Storage: Refrigerate moi topped with crushed ice in a perforated pan over another pan to catch the drips for up to 2 days.

Preparation:
1. Pull out pin bones with fish pliers or needlenose pliers. Leave skin on fillets.
2. Steam or bake whole fish, sear fillets skin-side down, grill, broil pan-fry, hot-smoke, or serve raw in sushi and sashimi.

Suggested Recipe: Hawaiian Moi Fish and Chips (serves 6): Bake 4 Hawaiian purple sweet potatoes (molokai), cool, peel, and cut into strips. Cut 2 pounds moi fillet into 1-inch wide strips. Season with salt and pepper, dust with flour, dip in beaten egg, and then dip in panko crumbs. Fry in vegetable oil until golden, about 5 minutes. Separately, fry the sweet potato strips in oil. Serve together with Hawaiian chile pepper water for dipping: Combine 2 cups water with 1 1/2 teaspoons Hawaiian sea salt, 2 teaspoons chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1/4 cup minced fresh red chile peppers, 1/4 cup chopped sweet red bell pepper, and 1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes.

Flavor Affinities: Garlic, red bell pepper, red chiles, rice wine vinegar, shimeji mushroom, taro, tomato.