EntranceWhat fish has red caviar. The difference between red caviar from different salmon fish - how to determine
Processed and salted eggs of fish of various species - delicious delicacy, which is customary to eat with bread, pancakes, decorate salads with it or add to various snacks. It is known that caviar improves brain activity, strengthens the immune system and the cardiovascular system, and also has a positive effect on the quality of vision and is indicated for pregnant women. Caviar has a unique set of active substances, containing easily digestible iodine, phosphorus, iron, potassium, folic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid, vitamins A, D and E. By the way, caviar is a rich source of quickly digestible protein, the quality of which can compete with meat.
The only thing is that it is better not to use caviar for people with a tendency to edema and with atherosclerosis, hypertension and ischemic diseases. The reason is salt, which is contained in large volumes in the delicacy.
Varieties of caviar
Conventionally, all types of caviar can be divided into three categories that characterize the product according to the family of fish, as well as the method of fishing. Caviar different fish, belonging even to the same species, may vary in taste, color and size. It is also worth highlighting the caviar of some mollusks, as well as grape snails and cuttlefish.
- Red caviar. It is obtained from salmon fish such as chum, sockeye, chinook, coho salmon, salmon, pink salmon or catfish.
- Black caviar. It is received from sturgeon fish such as beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, sterlet, spike. The most expensive caviar in the world, which is often referred to as "white black", also belongs to this category. Such caviar has a golden color, and it is obtained from adults (the older the fish, the lighter and more valuable the caviar) and albino fish. Today, black caviar is divided into granular jar and barrel caviar (cleaned of films and veins and having the appearance of whole, undeformed grains), pressed (pressed grains) and oval (grains are not separated from the connective tissue).
- Partial caviar, which is also called yellow or white. In fact, this is any caviar of any fish that does not belong to the salmon and sturgeon families. It is also divided into two subspecies: coarse-grained (pike, zander) and small-grained (carp, sabrefish). We also note that partials are not a family of fish, but the so-called method of fishing with a small-mesh net, which most often catches pike, bream, mullet, striped mullet, pollock and further down the list.
Types of black caviar
Beluga caviar
A type of caviar that is considered one of the most expensive and valuable in the world. Beluga caviar leads not only in terms of cost, but also in terms of nutritional value and palatability for which it is so appreciated by gourmets. It has a nutty flavor and, contrary to popular belief, does not smell of fish at all. It is believed that the most delicious beluga caviar is the one that has a golden hue and was obtained from almost a hundred-year-old fish. Naturally, the cost of such a delicacy is off scale and can reach €7,000 per kilogram.
It should be distinguished from caviar of bowfin fish, which looks very similar in appearance, and therefore it is often passed off as classic black caviar from fish of the sturgeon family. Recognizing a "fake" is not as difficult as it seems. Firstly, it will be distinguished by a price that will be implausibly lower. Secondly, the taste, it will be coarser and "easier".
Sturgeon caviar
Unlike beluga caviar, sturgeon caviar is much less popular, and also has a much lower price. It has a very specific taste, marine and even iodized. Some say that sturgeon caviar has an algae flavor. However, it is precisely for this unusual, unlike anything taste that caviar is valued.
By the way, among the advantages of sturgeon caviar is its low salt content. To reveal the rich and unusual taste, during pickling, the brine is made less strong than, say, when preparing beluga caviar.
Sevruga caviar
The circle of elite caviar is closed by stellate sturgeon, which is slightly inferior to its more expensive counterparts in value and taste. The only thing she leads in is the amount of fat in the composition. Sevruga caviar is very high in calories and is contraindicated in losing weight. However, if you are not on a diet and can afford too much, you will like the subtle but memorable taste of caviar. Compared to sturgeon, it seems much less pronounced, but, believe me, this does not make it any worse.
Sterlet caviar
Like sturgeon, sterlet caviar has a pronounced marine taste, which, however, is much softer. However, in general, such caviar is more specific due to a strong fishy aftertaste. Of all sturgeons, sturgeon caviar is the cheapest, which, of course, does not make it less tasty. As they say, there are no comrades for the taste and color, therefore, among gourmets you can find fans of this variety of caviar.
Kaluga caviar
To taste, this caviar is somewhat similar to beluga caviar, but only with a less pronounced taste and a nutty tint. In addition, in terms of fat content and calorie content, it is significantly ahead of its counterpart, but it is these qualities that make it so tender and soft.
Types of red caviar
Pink salmon caviar
If you see familiar red caviar on the counter, then in most cases it will be pink salmon caviar. It has become widespread due to the bright and good taste, as well as the high fecundity of this fish, which allows the product to be produced in large quantities. Thanks to his universal taste- not too fishy, but at the same time recognizable, she won the favor of the masses. When buying, it is also worth considering that pink salmon caviar is often salted, so it is better to purchase it from trusted sellers.
Keto caviar
The fattest of all types of red caviar. Meanwhile, it is precisely due to its calorie content that chum caviar has a delicate and pleasant oily taste, which, however, is not liked by everyone. It is mined in much smaller volumes than pink salmon caviar. This is due to the unpopularity of such caviar among consumers.
coho caviar
Such caviar is considered the most useful among all varieties of red caviar due to the excellent composition of active substances. However, despite these advantages, coho salmon caviar has not found much popularity among consumers. As for the taste, it is quite specific and has a noticeable bitterness, because of which many do not like it.
Sockeye caviar
On the Russian market sockeye caviar is not so common, since in our country it is not particularly loved because of its pronounced fishy taste. It is also interesting that it is precisely because of this specific feature that it is extremely popular in Europe and America, where such an unusual taste shade for us is considered delicacy and gourmet.
Trout caviar
Trout caviar is quite salty and has a noticeable bitterness, which is why it is rather unpopular among consumers. Meanwhile, it goes well with cream cheese and many others fermented milk products, which is why it is often used in the preparation of rolls and other snacks with an abundance of soft and non-aggressive in taste products.
Types of partial caviar
Pike caviar
One of the most popular varieties of partial caviar. Pike caviar is much cheaper than all those varieties that we have described earlier. However, for all its cheapness, with the right salting, it can be extremely tasty and in no way inferior to its more expensive and sophisticated neighbors on the store shelf. In addition, pike caviar is very useful and recommended for people with low hemoglobin.
Pollack caviar
An extremely popular variety of partial caviar, which is presented on a large scale on the shelves of our stores. It is useful to know that pollock roe is not only rich in various useful trace elements, but also low in calories. By appearance it resembles white paste and has a specific and very recognizable taste.
cod roe
For its nutritional and taste properties cod caviar is not inferior to many noble types of caviar. She possesses delicate taste and practically does not have a fishy tint. It is often used in the preparation of salads, snacks, and it also goes well with bread and all kinds of vegetables. Cod eggs are very small and have a peach color.
Capelin caviar
Capelin caviar has a very unusual, sharp and not the most unambiguous taste, so it is practically not used in its “pure” form. However, it can often be found in stores in the form of a paste: capelin caviar is mixed with various oils or mayonnaise and sold in small glass jars. Be sure to add spices to the pasta, which shade, and sometimes muffle the specific taste. Often also found smoked caviar capelin.
Pike perch caviar
This caviar has a delicate pink color and a watery texture. It is impossible to call zander caviar gourmet or valuable, but despite this, it still enjoys popularity and love among consumers. Let's face it, the low cost of this product is largely the reason for good demand. When buying pike perch caviar, it is worth remembering that it will most likely contain a large number of vegetable oil which may affect its taste. Especially if the caviar was produced quite a long time ago.
Bream caviar
Bream caviar is one of the few that can be eaten raw. It has a golden color, and the eggs themselves are small and crumbly. Fans advise eating bream caviar as independent snack, but it will also look great in sandwiches, as well as fried as part of pancakes.
Flying fish caviar
Flying fish roe is rarely eaten as a wealthy food. Much more often it can be found in sushi or rolls. It is convenient to use such caviar to decorate dishes, tinting with various food coloring. Meanwhile, it could be an ideal dietary food product due to its low calorie content and high content of easily digestible protein.
Some varieties of red caviar are distinguished not only by their delicate delicious taste and pleasant smell, but also by impressive prices. Which of them are recognized as the most expensive, and how to distinguish them from fakes of unscrupulous merchants, read on.
This is the rarest type of caviar, and the fish itself is an ancient species of Pacific salmon, or rather, its warm-water representative. The eggs are red in color with an orange tint and reach a diameter of about 6 mm.
To taste, they resemble sockeye caviar, but without a hint of bitterness. Sima goes to spawn at the beginning of summer. For sale to the population, it is harvested in rare cases, which is the reason for the high price.
For a kilogram of the product, you will have to pay 5,000 rubles.
Chinook is the largest member of the Salmonidae family. Her eggs are also one of the largest - up to 7-10 mm in diameter. The taste of bright red royal salmon caviar is reminiscent of beetle caviar. It still has the same bitterness and pungency, but it is the most delicate delicacy. The shell of eggs is not as hard as that of chum salmon.
The price of chinook caviar is one of the highest, since domestic market she almost never occurs. In Russia, king salmon is harvested only in Kamchatka.
When buying a product, be sure to find out the region of the manufacturer. In the central part of the country, there are a lot of fake Chinook caviar in stores. Usually a falsified product is made from caviar with the addition of a dye.
1 kg of delicacy will cost about 4,500 rubles.
It is large - it reaches 5-7 mm in diameter, but there are specimens up to 9 mm in size. It has a uniform pale red color with an orange tint. Color heterogeneity is considered a defect and is not allowed during the production process, otherwise the product is recognized as a defect.
Chum caviar is the fattest delicacy. Its taste is soft, tender-creamy, without bitterness. The shell is very thin and bursts quickly, so it seems that it melts in your mouth. This product is considered the best of all types of salmon caviar. It is often passed off as chinook caviar due to its large size, but it should be remembered that chum salmon caviar is the lightest of all varieties.
The average cost of 1 kg is 4,200 rubles.
Coho salmon or "silver" salmon is a small representative of the salmon family. Its caviar is considered powerful aphrodisiac. It raises the level of serotonin and endorphin (“hormone of joy”).
The size of the beads is not as large as in the previous species, and reaches only 4 mm. Caviar is easily recognizable by its dark red color, giving off a burgundy tint. In the production of the product, heterogeneity in color is allowed.
The taste of this caviar is peculiar and suggests a slight bitterness, but in terms of the content of trace elements and vitamins, it occupies a leading place among analogues.
For 1 kg of silver salmon caviar, you will have to pay 4,200 rubles.
This is the smallest red caviar - the size of the eggs does not exceed 2-3 mm. It comes in different colors from yellow to red. The coloration depends on the time and place of catching the females.
The taste of the delicacy is bitter, with a noticeable fishy aftertaste. The eggs are quite sticky and salty. They are often served on canapés and sandwiches.
The average cost of 1 kg of trout eggs is 3,600 rubles.
Sockeye salmon mainly lives along the American coast, so it rarely comes across in Russian stores. The size of the eggs is most often no more than 3 mm, but can reach 5 mm. They have a rich dark orange color and a strong odor.
During production, uneven coloration is not considered a defect, as various shades of red-orange tones may be present. However, if the product has a white or black color, this indicates its depravity. There is piquancy and slight bitterness in the taste, which is not typical for the caviar of the next-ranked fish.
The average cost of 1 kg of sockeye caviar is 3,200 rubles.
Most often, it is this caviar of fish of the Salmonidae family that is found on store shelves, the price of which is slightly lower than for previous varieties.
Fish spawn from June to August. The trajectory of its movement is from the North Pacific Ocean to the adjacent rivers. The experience of fishermen shows that the number of fish fluctuates in even and odd years. The life expectancy of a pink salmon is up to 2 years. She spawns once in her life, after which she dies.
The size of pink salmon eggs varies from 3 to 5 mm. Most often they have a bright orange color. After tasting them, one can note the absence of bitterness, but the presence of a slight salinity.
The average cost of pink salmon caviar is 3,200 rubles per 1 kg.
Expensive types of red caviar are a real delicacy with a pleasant aftertaste. A quality product must have a number of characteristics. In particular, the eggs in the jar should be of the same size and color, whole, unrumpled, crumbly, without mucus, films and plaque.
New Year's feast is not complete without this delicacy. Many people buy caviar for a promotion in the store, others look for the code inscription "from Sakhalin" or "from Primorye" on the banks. It is enough to choose quality product difficult, but possible.
"Salmon" is the collective name of the fish family.
Salmon granular caviar is produced from chum salmon, pink salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon by processing with a solution table salt, sometimes with the addition of antiseptics.
Kizhuch. The eggs of this fish are smaller than those of pink salmon (about 4 mm), dark red in color with a predominance of burgundy. Coho salmon caviar has a characteristic bitter taste. It ranks first in nutritional properties.
Pink salmon caviar can be called a "classic" among other types of salmon caviar. It has a neutral taste, medium diameter (about 5 mm) and bright orange color. The shell of the eggs is not strong enough, therefore, when the caviar is stirred, some of the eggs burst, forming jus, that is, caviar juice. Pink salmon is one of the most prolific fish in its family, which is why it is most often used by caviar producers. In terms of its nutritional properties, it ranks second and is second only to coho salmon caviar.
Royal caviar - caviar of chum salmon. The size of the eggs in diameter is 5–6 mm. Large eggs have a regular spherical shape, a bright amber-orange color and a clearly visible fatty speck-embryo. Due to its showiness, the keto product is often used to decorate dishes. However, not everyone likes the taste of chum caviar - it has a rather dense shell.
Red salmon. The caviar of sockeye salmon is bright red, smaller than pink salmon (average diameter is 4 mm). This caviar is extremely rare in Russian stores, because this type of fish is not common in the country. The largest populations of sockeye salmon are found along the American coast (from Alaska to California). It should be noted that sockeye salmon is one of the first salmon fish species that goes to spawn, so it enters the market earlier than others. Sockeye caviar is often smuggled to Russia, since the import of this caviar into our country is prohibited.
Trout. Trout caviar is the smallest of all the presented species (the average diameter of eggs does not exceed 2–3 mm). On the palate there is a slight bitterness and a fishy aftertaste. The color of caviar is both yellow (dark yellow) and red (bright red). Trout caviar is usually served on canapes and sandwiches, as its eggs are sticky and quite salty.
In terms of taste and visual characteristics, caviar different types salmon fish may differ significantly. Many manufacturers use this.
How to choose high-quality caviar?
1. A can of caviar should not be swollen or deformed, caviar should be tightly rolled up. Press down on the lid of the red caviar jar with your finger. It should not bulge and in no case should it be swollen.
2. When buying caviar in tin and glass jars, make sure that it fills the jar tightly without voids. Feel free to shake the jar before buying. If nothing gurgles in it, caviar has a chance to end up on your table.
3. The marking on the cover must be pressed out from the inside. If the marking is printed, then pay attention to its alphabetic and numeric composition. The full set in the case of Russian caviar includes the date of manufacture of the product (salting, but not rolling), the IKRA assortment mark, the manufacturer's number, the shift number, and the fishing industry index "P".
4. Be sure to read the information on the label. The composition usually includes salt, corn or sunflower oil, as well as glycerin and preservatives. Sorbic acid (E200) or sodium benzoate (E211) can be added as preservatives. Avoid caviar with the addition of urotropin (E239) - decomposing, this preservative forms formalin. In the United States and Europe, urotropine has long been recognized as a toxic substance; in Russia, its use has been banned since 2010.
5. Pay attention to the date of caviar packaging. Salmon go to spawn from July to September. This means that high-quality caviar should be harvested during these months. There should be no more than six months between the date of production and packaging.
6. Caviar in glass jar can be studied visually. High-quality caviar, when turning the jar over, should not immediately begin to crawl along the walls. Look at the jar of red caviar against the light - there should be no bursting eggs, foreign objects in the caviar. The grain of red caviar should not be cloudy, with one dark dot.
7. To make sure that the production technology has been followed, look for a reference to GOST (state standard) on the jar - this is a sure sign that the caviar was packaged near the place where the fish were caught, and more than a month did not pass between the catch and getting into the jar.
8. After you have opened a jar of caviar, you should not be overtaken by the smell of fresh fish. In artificial caviar, herring milk is used as a fragrance, so a strong fishy smell gives out a fake. It tastes tough and very salty. If you are in doubt which caviar you bought - real or artificial, do a simple experiment: throw 2-3 eggs into a glass with hot water, artificial caviar dissolve in boiling water
Introduce New Year's table without red caviar is difficult. Some go to the store right on the eve of the holiday and out of habit buy caviar in a green jar. True, now many manufacturers have similar green packaging, but the contents are different. We did a completely honest review of five types of caviar that you can buy in a supermarket. Evgeny Butko, the chef of the new Minsk fish neo-bistro Umami, was involved in the analysis. He understands caviar and, like us, approached the issue impartially.
We bought five cans of caviar in the store: four tins and one glass. Eugene is sure that when buying goods in a transparent glass container, you can always understand how much caviar and caviar juice are in the jar, for which you don’t want to overpay at all.
Chef of the new Minsk fish neobistro Umami Evgeniy Butko
So, there are five jars on our table:
- caviar granular salmon "Rybpromprodukt", 120 grams for 14.39 rubles,
- granular salmon caviar "Far East", 140 grams for 10.99 rubles,
- granular salmon caviar "Chingai", 130 grams for 11.99 rubles,
- selected salmon granular caviar "Okhotomorye", 130 grams for 29.99 rubles,
- granular salmon caviar "Korsakov 1853", 100 grams for 27.79 rubles.
Caviar granular salmon "Rybpromprodukt"
Eugene shakes the jar at his ear and says that there is a lot of caviar juice here, which is not very good and means that the buyer overpays for the goods. This also indicates that it was frozen before preservation. This means that the quality is worse than that of chilled caviar.
Such a jar costs 14.39 rubles. Judging by the composition, the jar contains sockeye salmon, pink salmon and chum caviar. These are all types of salmon fish. We have first grade caviar, which is good, second grade products are much worse in quality.
In the composition, in addition to caviar and salt, there are two permissible preservatives - E200 ( sorbic acid) and E211 (sodium benzoate). Caviar was preserved in Russia in the village of Kurilovo in one of the administrative districts of Moscow. The composition does not indicate the percentage of salt, it should be no more than 6%, best of all - up to 3%.
We open a tin can and immediately pay attention to the fact that the caviar floats in the juice.
- Caviar should be whole - we have whole eggs interspersed with "porridge". This confirms that the caviar was made from frozen raw materials, it was transferred somewhere before it was preserved in a jar. Think for yourself, you buy 120 grams of caviar, and you have a lot of caviar juice, you won’t drink it, you won’t spread it on sandwiches either, says Evgeny.
Let's move on to the tasting. The chef tries and gives out:
- The eggs in the mouth burst normally, they do not stick to the teeth. It is moderately salty.
We carry out a chemical test: pour hot water into a glass and throw eggs into it. A white film remains on the spoon, and the protein folds in the glass. This is good and means that the caviar is real. The eggs do not discolor, which once again confirms that they are natural.
Salmon caviar "Far Eastern"
This caviar is from the same manufacturer as the first jar. The same composition. It is also made from frozen raw materials. Only the name is different - "Far Eastern". And the price is lower - 140 grams for 10.99 rubles.
Eugene shakes the jar and sums it up again: there is a lot of caviar juice here too. We open it and see that purely visually, the caviar looks a little worse than the previous one.
- Most of the eggs are beaten, some kind of mess ... It is immediately obvious that it was prepared from frozen raw materials. Look, the fish was caught, it is gutted, and the caviar is immediately salted - this is the most the best option. And here, on the ship, the caviar was probably frozen, then brought somewhere, thawed and salted. That is, it went through several stages of processing.
We try caviar, it tastes similar to the previous one, but the eggs stick to the teeth.
- Everyone decides for himself what tastes good to him. In my opinion, after tasting the first version of caviar and the second one, an unpleasant aftertaste remained, a pronounced aftertaste of dried fish.
We carry out a chemical test with hot water: the protein also coagulates, which means that the caviar is real, in this sense everything is in order.
Salmon caviar "Chingai"
This caviar is also in a green can, but it was produced in Belarus: in Brest at the Santa Bremor plant. For a jar of 130 grams, I had to pay 11.99 rubles. The composition of the product is as follows: pink salmon caviar, salt, vegetable oil and the same permissible preservatives: E200, E211. As part of the caviar of one fish - pink salmon, manufacturers most often use this particular caviar.
Eugene shakes the jar near his ear and comes to the conclusion that there is little caviar juice in it, which is good. We open the jar - visually, the caviar also looks partially beaten, but there really is less juice than in previous packages.
- This caviar tastes more pleasant, softer, here for me there is no such pronounced fishy taste. But it sticks a little to the teeth. Ideally, this should not be the case.
We conduct an experiment with hot water: the protein coagulates - real caviar.
Selected salmon caviar "Okhotomorye"
In our tasting today, this is the most expensive caviar. 130 grams costs 29.99 rubles. Ingredients: caviar caviar, salt, vegetable oil, preservatives E200 and E211. Produced caviar in the Sakhalin region of Russia. The composition says that this is a chilled product, not frozen, and it is supposed to be better in quality.
There is practically no caviar juice in the jar, the eggs are whole, the product is dense, thick. Visually, everything looks very good.
- The consistency is good, the smell is also normal. The eggs are a little crushed, but it's not scary. It tastes more creamy, and salt is also optimal.
We conduct a chemical test and see how protein coagulates in a glass of hot water. At the same time, caviar from a spoon practically does not slip into a glass - such a dense consistency.
Salmon caviar "Korsakov 1853"
This caviar is in a glass jar and, even without opening it, it is noticeable that there is not enough caviar juice here. 100 grams cost 27.79 rubles. Ingredients: caviar, table salt, sunflower oil, preservative sodium benzoate, sorbic acid. The jar does not say what kind of fish caviar is used.
- In terms of smell and taste, to be honest, it is similar to the first two options - more fishy aftertaste.
We conduct a chemical experiment and come to the conclusion that the caviar is real. It also slips off the spoon poorly, which indicates a good dense consistency.
Rating
After evaluating five options for caviar, we came to this top:
1. Belarusian granular salmon caviar "Chingai", 130 grams for 11.99 rubles (the best value for money among the options presented).
2. Choice salmon granular caviar "Okhotomorye", 130 grams for 29.99 rubles (good quality, but overpriced).
3. Salmon caviar "Korsakov 1853", 100 grams for 27.79 rubles.
4−5. Salmon caviar "Rybpromprodukt" (120 grams for 14.39 rubles) and salmon caviar "Far East" (140 grams for 10.99 rubles).
conclusions
When choosing caviar in a store, it is important to pay attention to the jar: in a glass jar you will see how much caviar juice is in it, what kind of texture the caviar has. tin can you need to shake it near your ear: if nothing flounders, you can take it - and this means that there is not enough juice. Caviar should not slide along the walls of the jar and it is good when it does not slide off the spoon well.
Good caviar has a mild moderate smell, the same taste. The egg should have an orange speck of the embryo - it is brighter than the egg itself. good caviar does not stick to teeth.
Which red caviar is tastier: pink salmon, sockeye salmon, chum salmon, chinook salmon or coho salmon? Not infrequently, these questions arise from buyers standing at the window and getting lost in the variety of delicacies.
Which red caviar is tastier to choose
To make the right decision, it is worth evaluating salmon caviar according to a number of parameters. The most common red caviar of the following fish:
Pink salmon- the cheapest and most common red caviar. It differs from the chum salmon and chinook salmon in size, approximately 3-5 mm. It differs from other types of delicacy in color (it is lighter only in chum salmon), so when you see medium-sized light orange eggs, do not hesitate - this is pink salmon caviar. The taste is not bitter, most often lightly salted.
Red salmon- rather small red caviar, 2-3 mm. It is easily recognizable both by its size and its dark orange color. It has a pronounced fishy smell and a bitter taste. During production, color heterogeneity is allowed, so do not be alarmed if the color scheme of the eggs varies in orange-red tones (black and white, indicates a spoiled product). In my opinion, the most delicious of the types of delicacy available in the store. Its price is usually equal to pink salmon, sometimes higher by 100-200 rubles.
Keta- average in price, the largest and lightest caviar. And the chum salmon itself is much larger than coho salmon and sockeye salmon. Easily recognizable by its light orange, uniform color (color heterogeneity is not allowed). Eggs with a diameter of 5-7 mm. The fattest, with a delicate taste (when properly produced). It is often passed off as chinook because of the similarity in size, which is easy to determine by color.
coho salmon– average price (more often equated to the ket price). Color dark red, burgundy. The eggs are approximately 3-4 mm. During production, color variation is allowed. The taste is quite bitter. In taste and appearance, it is very similar to sockeye salmon caviar, with the exception of a rich dark red hue.
Chinook salmon- the most expensive red caviar, the price is 500-700 r higher than for pink salmon. Intense red color. The taste is bitter, slightly spicy. The size of the eggs is slightly larger than that of pink salmon. Previously, chinook salmon caviar was the largest, but in the last 10 years, chinook salmon has become smaller, more and more individuals weighing less than 10-15 kg come across. Accordingly, the caviar in such a fish is small.
There is an opinion that the chinook is listed in the Red Book, but this is not so. In my memory, only in 2005 there was a ban on its catch, it lasted about a year. Now we continue to catch it on the shelves of Kamchatka, it will not be difficult to find chinook caviar.
In Russia, chinook is mined only in Kamchatka, so pay attention to the region when buying. There are a lot of fakes in the central strip, most often it is chum caviar with the addition of dyes. You can protect yourself by buying a delicacy from trusted suppliers, as well as by checking the product for the presence of a sharp aftertaste.