The One We All Dream About and I LANDED IT | Ep.1 New Zealand Series

welcome back to another episode of outdoor chef life I'm taku and starting today we are on a journey across New Zealand in this little van yep we just bought a bless you we just bought this little van here in New Zealand and for the next two months we are going to be living out of it we're going to be fishing free diving and cooking all out of that little van and I can't wait to see what New Zealand has to offer let me give you a quick tour of the van check it out we just got this little well Johnson made breakfast and this little thing pops up there's a little bit of storage in there we got a bed and uh a table in there as well it just converts into the table there's also a stove in here we got a bunch of um storage for spices and stuff everything we need in there and there's a little tiny sink as well uh but yeah that's this is the this is the space I've got a couple rods up there just because it doesn't fit up top but I put this um we bought that and you know put that up there for extra storage but if you guys want to see more but the full detail on how we got the van and you know how he paid for it and how everything in New Zealand works with the van uh check out our second Channel tackle in the world we have a full detailed video on that for refrigeration what we have is the mighty Yeti this is a tiny one but it'll have to do for uh for this trip and today is literally our first day on the road we took off yesterday late yesterday so we spent the first night last night and it was pretty fun it was good van is comfortable and spacious enough for sleeping it's pretty easy to sleep in but uh yeah we'll see if we can go catch some fish today perhaps and cook it up for our first New Zealand catch and cook we started in Auckland and we are headed north so we're doing this New Zealand Northland trip one of the northern the most northern parts of New Zealand and I've heard the fishing there is amazing and keep people kept telling me you got to go there make sure you hit it up so that's what we're doing right now so we're headed north ah first well first stop uh we're stopping at a town called whangarei and we'll fish nearby there see what happens this van is a stick shift and we're on the opposite side normally the driver's side over there this side is the driver's side in New Zealand makes things a little bit more difficult just not difficult but brain when you're used to the opposite side driving on the opposite side it just makes you think a little bit more while you're driving you ready yeah we're in New Zealand baby let's go this has been our Dream trip for a very long time we actually applied for a New Zealand working holiday Visa over two years ago almost three years ago in 2020. and then obviously covid then we didn't get any response but last year in the summer they finally recruit approved it and now we get to do this trip and yeah this has been seriously a dream trip it's been on the list for so long I've been wanting to come to New Zealand so I'm so so excited that we get to do this and we get to do it in the van [Music] all right we are on our way to find our first fishing spot we've got a little Rocky Coastline here it's a bit shallow behind me on this beach so I'm gonna try to find somewhere a little deeper just gotta figure it out if I can get around this Bend and get to that point past that boat we are making some progress but it's currently high tide so it's making it much more difficult to get all the way over there oh I can't wait to get my line in the water first I'm gonna start out with some egging because I heard there are squid in New Zealand so we're gonna try that egging is like squid fishing but for bigger switch you know bigger than what we have in California I'm gonna try that first if that doesn't uh go well I got another setup that I can just fish for a Snapper Snapper is like one of those species here in New Zealand it's just they're just famous for it they get really big yeah they're abundant too so I think we should be able to catch at least one of those um I have some bait with me so we'll try it out all right we finally made it to the point I'm gonna go fish right over there the water is actually like pretty cold and right now it's summer in New Zealand or late summer almost fall oh a ton of oysters on the rocks they're tiny though I can't wait to get some oh my gosh some shellfish all the all the uni here the the they call it the kinna and the Pala which is the Abalone all that stuff is gonna be so good I'm so excited to be here big swell there we're all good all right give this a shot these are called egging lures squid squidlers basically look like little prawn or actually this one kind of is a fish it's a little windy right now so sorry about the wind and it's going to make the fishing a little difficult too yes it's a little too windy for egging I can't get the get the lure all the way down so we're gonna switch try to fish for Snapper some of you might know that I'm sponsored by okua in the states and when I told them that I was coming to New Zealand they have a team here in New Zealand and they set me up with the team here and man they invited me into their office and they just told me about about the fishing in New Zealand and what gear I'm gonna need and they just set me up with all this gear like this rod and reel this reel is the Rockaway from Akuma and The Bait Runner they're like yeah you're gonna need that for red snapper or for any Snapper and to give me a bunch of other rod and reels lures everything that I need to fish New Zealand basically so amazing so now the pressure's on I have all the gear I need now I have to actually catch fish and that part is up to me I'm gonna use an entire squid and see what happens I'm just gonna stand back over here away from the waves oh I can always feel I already have some bites there make sure I set my drag super windy oh bites bites oh no it's a big basil small fish could be just hitting it I could actually let him eat it I have a circle hook on so I'm just gonna let him eat it again nibbles nibbles all the time come on take it take it eat it there's fish on it every second oh there we go there we go yep yep got him got him small guy let's bring him over here it's a little guy got a little Snapper here beautiful check out how gorgeous this fish is got him on the side of the mouth it's a circle hook so did its job just right in the corner I'm using a big hook so we don't catch you know the little ones because obviously there's a ton out there we just want to try to get the bigger ones this one's probably still a little too small we'll give this guy a release try for a bigger one see you later there he goes sick that was a snapper oh man there's no way they took the bait already took my bait just like that okay well sun is starting to set and I still gotta do that walk so we're just gonna head back for now I just got that one little Snapper today but uh we got plenty of fishing ahead of us so let's get back for tonight to the camp and we'll see what we do tomorrow all right guys we got a plan for tomorrow bail violence we're gonna do it we're gonna take this ferry over to one of the islands and we're gonna fish there hopefully we can get one just gonna get some fishing gear ready set up and we'll be there in the morning good morning and here comes the ferry [Music] [Music] here we go [Music] okay well it is nice to have the Sun it's the winners coming from the celery Direction it's a little bit cool this morning [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] from all the people here get on trail oh there's fish down there look Josh there's fish down there there's fish down there okay already got Hawaii I think these are kahawaii maybe I don't know yeah this is the protective side from the wind especially today looks like but it's super shallow on this side but the other side is deep so we're gonna go to that side wow beautiful beautiful water this is a little island I think it's only a couple miles long and just maybe like a mile wide or maybe even even less than that uh we're gonna go do a hike get to that other side where it's going to be a bit windy but that's working where the big fish are gonna be so we're gonna try to catch a fish over there if it's too windy uh we'll just come back on this side and you know maybe we can have a little kayak a snorkel I'll have some fun over here too so do this uh probably a mile long hike you can actually camp at this island too but since we just got here to New Zealand we don't have any Camp gear sorted so we're just doing a day trip and hope we can capitalize on some nice fish I know there's going to be some red snapper ready for a hike we got our lunch and the coolers also for for the fish we're gonna catch and we could take back couldn't bring any cooking gear that's just too much stuff to carry so we're just gonna have to take the fish back to the van and then make something over there beautiful yeah getting windy already for sure right when you come to this side the wind just fix up the other side is protected yeah it's gonna be a little windy today I didn't actually see anybody else on the ferry with a rod and I don't actually know like how much fishing accessibility there is from Shore here so uh yeah because I I just looked at the theories and saw that it was coming here and I looked it on the map I said looks good let's go try it out don't really know anything about this island but hopefully we can find some good spots to fish here we go wow oh yeah oh look at that drop beautiful so much deeper on this side deer yeah starting to rain on us a little bit I'm hoping these rain clouds do not come our way but I got a little wet not too bad yet gonna head down this hill and fish right there oh it looks beautiful looks beautiful go this way okay towards the right not towards the cliff oh sure I want the plant on the left is a little spiky on the right is fine oh boy this is perfect oh yeah dream fishing destination right here oh yeah now let's hope there's fish okay I'm gonna put my stuff over here rig up and start fishing look at all this stick baits poppers more stick baits in there what should I start with you throw some of these big poppers all right so I got three setups one for stick bait and poppers two this is just for bait and then third one hopefully to catch bait so we'll start off with this one so we'll just cast a little little Middle cast Master kind of thing and uh see if we can catch any bait here there's some Bait fish here called Hawaii they're actually pretty big and uh they use them for bait for Kingfish Kingfish which are a Yellow Tail they call them Kingfish here or kingies and those are gonna be you know the prized fish off the off the shore from Shore and there's also going to be red snapper too it's cool I'm hoping see if we can get some bait here first cast Oh What A Dream fishing destination nothing on the First cast and I did bring a pack of bait too so we could go to that we needed oh man nothing so far having a hard time trying to catch bait check out this tide pool I see a sea urchin in there it's not that big one okay size in there maybe smaller than a fist but look look at all these oysters I think I'm gonna eat some of these oysters I'm so hungry right now see if we can suck One open looks like a nice one there is so attached to the Rock I don't know where I'm gonna get in maybe that one I can do oh yeah oh yeah little guy I'm gonna do a little test make sure I don't get any tingly lips if you get tingly lips from eating shellfish you might have shellfish poisoning it's which is really really did actually die from that so but it sets in really fast within 15 minutes you should be able to feel it and I've heard the I've heard they're safe but I'm just going to do a double double check and just test one brush oysters one's ready for me here's a good size one broke my knife the tip I needed that tip to dispatch all the fish these are good to go yeah just throw it go ahead oh that was a good throw but it was just a lot heavier than I was expecting we got some pilchards filters which are basically which are sardines I think I mean it looks exactly like a sardine to me but they call them pilchards here so we got that for bait we could Chum the water a little bit might help it could also toss toss a whole one on this guy here so let's see how am I gonna hook this guy nope that up and then you can kind of do a loop on the tail yeah that looks pretty good we'll just toss that without any weight or anything just let it flow down okay first let's Chum the water a bit I'll just use one custom out there all right get out of here bird is not for you no go away Birds stealing my my Chum all right I'm just gonna lightly cast that out let it flow down this is on a Bait Runner and then when we're ready we just set the Bait Runner I'll show you that in a second and just find a little rod holder spot and just find a good spot to hold it there you go right there and then when you flip this switch the fish when it hits it it's about it's ready to freely take the line right without any resistance and then when you reel clicks back into gear now your your jack is set so we'll throw that on there listen for that drag is a little oyster fishing snack super Briny pretty good though yum okay now let's get some fish oh man it got hit it just got hit for sure look at that I just went to go get my other rod and I saw this bait all right I Saw The Bait Runner going off got hit for sure all right we'll put another bait on another pilchard foreign just hold it I'll just hold it and see what happens that's just the wind taking it right now oh there it is there it is you know must have been a small fish smash the bait there's got to be some big snapper in here it has to be I'm just going to reuse this bait just toss it back out there and see if what hits it get out of here bird got my line damn seagulls there we go there we go that's a fish no I missed him missed um you got me all right rebate there we go this time we're gonna get them just taking it already there's already a fish on it no take it that easily oh these must be some small fish that's a eater for sure that's an eater huh snapper that's an eater good size good eating size right there nice beautiful freaking beautiful oops did I just miss that I might have just missed that bite that Landing but uh beautiful Snapper all right we're gonna keep this guy he is going home with us if I keep him in a tide pool for now to keep them fresh yeah this right here should work perfectly oh whoa whoa so now stay in there cool got him let's see if I can get this one this bite on camera I think I missed the last one it was pretty quick he came up to it didn't even hit the bottom yet last time so my Bait Runner is engaged and I let him take it maybe two seconds three seconds not that long because uh don't eat it kind of right away let's see if we can get another bite here oh here we go send it come on take it take it there you go if you're taking it one two three let's go yup got him got another one smaller one not a bad size though I mean it would be cheaper size but let's go let this guy go Let's Chill cook them on the outside of the lid nice straight down all right let's see what we can do with this one more bait and then I'm gonna just throw the stick bait around for a little bit it looks like rain is coming see if there's any big ones oh here we go another one actually this is this is not a snapper this is something else oh yeah oh okay why this is what we need for bait for kingfish oh snap oh he choked the bait on this one he's gonna bleed out if these guys are here right now there might be kingfish there might be Kingfish let me put him in the water all right guys let's take a look at this fish they call these salmon here too like some sometimes they call them salmon but they're called I think is the common name they do kind of look like salmon huh kind of a similar looking fish okay I have this other one this other live bait kind of rig it's just a thicker hook thicker line and this one is meant for kingfish well they normally put a balloon on it I don't have a balloon but I have a Ziploc bag that might work stay alive stay alive all right okay it's ready it's ready just hook them right in the back just like that now we're going to take him to the water stay alive stay alive too alive go swim swim little guy swim he's not swimming he's dead let out a little too much well we'll leave him we'll try to catch another one foreign perfect oh I should should have took the hook out first unless he might end up hooking me no no no please don't please don't it's not a good idea stay calm this is an operation oh if this comes together this is gonna be crazy okay we're ready we're ready to send this guy out live bait now swim out there zoom out there all right now we got our live bait out there we're fishing for kingfish now this is like the dream fish this is pretty crazy that we're actually fishing for him you can see that balloon out there is he going to be swimming around if Kingfish comes by he's gonna be trying to hit that and we'll probably be able to see it from the surface too uh meanwhile I think I might throw that popper right there and just keep an eye on it right there oh this is exciting really really exciting we've already had a successful day a couple Snappers and these uh kahulai I actually want to taste one of these also because I'm curious what they taste like because a lot of people just use them for bait but you know I like eating bait because those are normally the most sustainable fish to eat with the least Mercury content if you're kind of some of the most healthy fish to eat as well just because they live so quickly they don't accumulate anything they don't grow that large excess actually these are kind of big but they get a lot bigger than that these count Hawaii all right let's throw the popper oh Tide's starting to come up here so we won't be able to fish on this spot much longer come on get a bite come on kingy come on kingy fish oh yeah dude is it or is it just a win this bait is still very Lively and it's actually freaking out right now so there could be something on it is there a fish trying to get them come on come on get out here all right we're gonna try on this side a little more rough a little more windy but over there I know there's some small ones here might be bigger ones and I have the rest of the kahalai just chunked up for a Chum a little bit of chum heat Runner is on afraid I'm gonna get snagged there a little difficult to fish that spot it's too many Boulders right in front of me explore this way a little I can't wait to do some free diving too get some kinna and some power that's uni and abalone that's gonna be so good ouch similar kind of story over here I go back to the initial spot are actually our best fishing spot in terms of being able to land fish if you're wondering what happened to Jocelyn she's just been chilling up on the floor okay so this is no way just straight bait just ahead of the kahawaii and we're gonna put it on the Bait Runner whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa big fish on Fish on took the head took the head there we go we got a good Snapper on here it's a good eater good sized fish look at that snapper that's a healthy snapper if my other fish is alive then I'm gonna let this I'm gonna let him go and keep this one Yep this one's still alive all right I'm gonna let the smaller one go we'll keep the big one we'll let you go buddy we're going back home thank you see if we can upgrade one more time yeah I think that's it that one's pretty good well I have one more couple I had so we'll give it one more try and then we gotta get we gotta head back to catch the ferry oh there it is there it is we go hit it though hit it though come on hit it again [Music] there it is oh no yup nope missed him still got the bait though I think yep there it is fish you know just just little ones come on Big Boy where's the big boy at I want to catch that 20 kilo snapper that would be crazy that's like close to 40 pounds come on there it is nope dang ate it all up though okay last bit of my bait these little ones playing with it there's a fish an emblem there it is oh my god there he is there he is they want big ones big ones oh one you're running out of there come on come on come on they're big stay out of the Rocks stay out stay out of there big one holy crap massive massive how am I gonna get him up that's the question massive oh oh massive I'll have to drag him up here oh no no no no come on Wave come on give me a lift give me a lift give me a lift freaking wave looks coming out oh here it is oh my God oh holy oh my God oh my God holy oh what the heck oh my God what the heck did I just land dude oh oh dude massive fish massive you have got to be kidding me I just landed a monster look look at this monster monster snapper are you kidding me this is insane I can't believe I just landed that oh my gosh holy crap oh that's a big boy that's a big boy look at that from the floor all the way to my hip all the way to my hip monster monster snapper oh okay I'm gonna let this guy go because that's one that's uh too much meat for me in the van and two is just too massive we gotta let him go I'm not carrying this back that thing is shaped like a GT okay let's get the hook out of them luckily then swallow it then swallow the hook it's just right there oh that's scary it's crunching my pliers it's literally crunching my pliers ow just slapped me there we go hooks out all right I gotta let him go gotta give him a release there he goes just like that swam off that one's incredible oh what a trip what a way to start this New Zealand Stitch oh I can't believe it oh I really wanted to get a kingfish but damn a giant Snapper like that oh thank you New Zealand yes whoa all right now we gotta get back onto the ferry let's get out of here well deserved cheers that's a really good Red Line oh that's good oh my gosh the hike back it was intense and now it's sunny too oh all right we'll see you guys back at the van all right guys we are back at our van and and I still cannot believe that I got that fish what a massive fish that was man oh dream destination and a dream catch couldn't have been better now we have this guy right here and what I love is some Snapper Sashimi that's kind of like a classic uh fish to do Sashimi with and the way we do it usually do a skin on and I'll show you guys that and I've done it before with some other fish but doing it with a snapper is the best and with the head I want to make some miso soup as well because that's going to be delicious all right let's get to it and these nice bags are Handmade by my mom and they are so perfect the best knife bags ever and they're available on my website too it doesn't make very many but if you're lucky it'll be in stock beautiful Snapper this is just the perfect size this is like the size we could get in a restaurant just a nice little one and a half two pound snapper all right first thing you can do take the head off behind the fin diagonally towards the top of the head crunch down through that spine and flip it over here in the pin again diagonally all the way to the top of the head and this this side since we already cut through the spine should come off nice and easy there in this part we're going to use for the soup let me show you how to prep that too so with the head you want to open up the mouth here Snappers have some really thick strong Jaws these shellfish they have a they have teeth so we're gonna cut straight down straight down just through the head there and that'll open it up now we're going to cut this side as well the jaw side or the uh the bottom of the jaw all you have to do is just through there there we go now you have two pieces there two sides of the head okay now let's delay this guy I like to start on the back of them and this is already scaled and gutted I did that in the tide pool nice and easy right there just through the skin and then all the way to the middle bone on the second slice lift up the meat scrape up on the spine a little bit and it will scrape up on the spine one more time it's a good measure like that and when I lift the meat I lift the whole entire thing not just a little bit so it doesn't break turn it that's it right there boom now all you have to do is cut through the rib cage here pretty simple comes right off look at that basically no right there is perfectly filleted a piece of Snapper and I'm thinking we're just gonna do one side we're just gonna eat half for now I'll save the other half for later I'm just gonna cut the tail off okay I have this paper towel on the skin side I'm just gonna blanch the skin I don't have any ice so we can do a nice bath but if you did that would be good so just from the tail side I'm gonna try to do this without not burning myself see how the skin grows up make sure all parts of the skin get blanched and right now at this point you would you could put it in an ice bath if you had one but we're out here in the in the camp at the camp so it's okay so and I kept the rib cage on so that keeps it from curling too much okay now into the boiling water we got our fish oh that's a fishtail and we have the heads going in okay now we'll take the rib cage off foreign bones here we're just going to cut actually right down the two sides and we'll cut the pin bones out just like that now we have this beautiful piece here I'm just gonna do one score down the middle just real lightly with the sharp knife and this first piece kind of cooked I'll just cut that off and do a little taste test [Music] really good oh nice now we'll just cut slice for sashimi start the heel slice all the way use the entire knife not crushing down on the fish we're just slicing it that's what I have to tell people all the time don't crush got a slice a slice let the knife do the work and this last tail bit here this bit's a bit chewy for sashimi so I'm just going to throw this in the pot with the soup now this is the belly side did it basically the same thing score the skin will do two scores it's a little wider and this time I'll cut it cut it in this direction here start from the tail this is going in the pot [Music] okay now let's plate I've been sheer just gonna use that for that cucumbers foreign yeah let's do it alternating that'll be cool and I'm gonna make a little cup take the tip off I think you can see that five and then just follow that one but don't cut down all the way one two two three four four five and just twist off twist a little cup and just gonna use that for some ginger [Music] foreign pieces I'm going to do a little fold let's do it this way a little fold this way [Music] cool hey how's it going [Music] [Music] I got some of these little radishes to garnish a little breakfast radish [Music] and a little bit of a pickled ginger right in there [Music] Sashimi platter is done [Music] now we have our beautiful Snapper head stock see a little bit of fat on there yeah that's perfect and I also made a little Dashi here to get the best miso soup you want to mix that stock with the fish head and Dashi together about half and half and then add the Miso I'm gonna add the Dashi into the stock that just kicks it up to a whole nother level okay I'm gonna take the fish head out place it on the plate in the bowl there's a ton of meat on there that you can eat and even the tail I just have this kind of miso package in the van so I will just add that in to our broth there I have to add like two or three packs and there's even more coming in there little bits of it that's a boat [Music] that's a boat on Wheels that's so sick that's so cool here it is guys a beautiful Snapper sashimi oh man how does that look that's perfect with both belly side and the top side with the skin blanched I'm telling you Snapper Sashimi with the skin is great and you can even finish it off a little more even and sear the skin with a torch I don't have a torch so Let's uh give us a taste look at that beautiful meat so clear so white we got some Wasabi soy sauce here oh what do you think tender tender oh so tender even the skin just adds a little bit of texture it's not tough at all like those ones in Hawaii that we tried with oh this is so good um try that belly side a little ginger very soft that's so good okay let's try some soup oh I missed me so soup I haven't had miso soup in so long that's like well I don't think about having miso soup that much but when I have it it's all good I just for me it's just brings me back home right straight to Japan and those Snapper cheeks Snapper chic right there delicious and when I was a kid I always used to eat this eat this bit of the eyeball in this in the center it's like really hard like a marble or a BB actually but the outside you can kind of eat it it's kind of chalky and dry it's not that good I don't know why I ate that as a kid look at gosh dang the Miso soup with the head so much flavor with Dashi too in there that's killer that's how you gotta make miso soup from now on if you don't already make it like that always do half Dashi half fish stock miso soup makes a big difference it does so um definitely oh this Sashimi is so so good I love Snapper sashimi this next level oh God you might have seen um this type of Snapper in your local fish market it's usually labeled tie Snapper from New Zealand and you know it's the same Snapper and a lot of times um some of the good you know better fish markets will have them like in San Francisco I see them all over the place so you can make this at home easily we didn't you don't have to freeze Snapper it's you know they're not going to have any worms or anything uh it's perfectly safe but always consuming raw uh raw fish or raw anything there's always a risk so be warned about that but if you get over it this is delicious and something you can make at home even if you're in the US you don't have to come all the way to New Zealand to experience it maybe not it's not going to be as fresh but still going to be good well we're gonna finish this off what an epic first Adventure that we just had incredible I was a mission and a mission accomplished uh next up hopefully I want to get a kingfish those New Zealand yellowtail the kingies I want to get one so bad especially if I'm sure hope we get one but if you like the video and if you want to continue watching us make sure to subscribe and we're going to be doing more Epic Adventures like this uh thanks for watching we'll see you guys on the next one peace [Music] thank you

Channel: Outdoor Chef Life

Views: 613,521

Keywords: New Zealand Catch and cook, catch and cook snapper, snapper sashimi, landbase fishing, big snapper, sushi chef snapper recipe

Id: 1Tm7ALC9R4s

Length: 53min 57sec (3237 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 14 2023