Wahoo (Ono) Flavor Profile

Wahoo (Ono) Flavor Scale
Flavor
Oil
Texture

Ono fish gets its name from the Hawaiian word “ono” which means “good to eat”. It is closely related to King Mackerel and is marketed both as Ono and Wahoo fish.

Ono has mild-sweet tasting flesh with a firm texture, moderate fat, and large, circular flakes when cooked. Their flesh is a beautiful white color and remains white when cooked. Fillets have less blood-line than similar pelagic fish which means they have a higher yield from purchased fillets to useable portions. Shelf life for Wahoo is relatively short…up to 10 days if properly cared for.

Typical Cooking Methods

  • Bake
  • Broil
  • Deep-Fry
  • Grill
  • Poach
  • Saute
  • Smoke
  • Steam
  • Sushi

Alternate Names

Ono, Kingfish, Tiger Fish, Ocean Barracuda, Ono Fish, Peto, Guarapucu, Thazard Barard

Wahoo Fish Description (Acanthocybium solandri)

Wahoo fish is a member of the Scombridae family and is characterized by its very elongated, tuna-like body, dark blue-green on the top and silver on the sides, with a very short snout, a massive set of teeth, and a very elongated continuous dorsal fin. It also has 24 to 30 distinguishing blue bars, some of which are double Y-shaped, on its sides. Wahoo (Ono) have been recorded at up to 2.5 meters (8 ft) in length, and weighing up to 83 kilograms (180 pounds), but average commercial weight is 8-30 pounds. Wahoo can swim up to 75 kilometers (47 miles) per hour.

Wahoo Ono Fishimage source – SamanthaTours
raw OnoOno photo by www.honolulufish.com

Fresh Availability

Fresh seafood availability chart: green areas show peak availability, light green show limited availability, gray indicates not available fresh. Frozen available all year long.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

 

Ono Butchering Yield Percentage and Recovery

Item To Skin/On Fillets To Skin/Off Fillets Notes
Whole Round ungutted To Dressed H/On = 75%
Whole Round ungutted 60% – 65% Skin/Off yields also have the Blood Line removed.If you have additional yield info on this fish please leave a comment below.
Whole Head & Tail/Off gutted 37 lb up 78% 65%
Skin/On Fillets 85%
Yield % varies according to a number of factors including: size of fish, season, sex, and the skill of your fishmonger.

 

Wahoo RangeAquaMaps Data sources: GBIF

Range & Habitat

Wahoo fish are found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, including the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas.

Typical Wholesale Products

Whole, H&G, Fillets, Steaks

Sustainability Info

Name Alternate Names Catch Method Catch
Region
Seafood
Watch
Ocean
Wise
Sea
Choice
Mercury
Concerns
WahooAcanthocybium solandri Ono, Ocean Barracuda, Pacific Kingfish Wild – Troll Hawaii Yellow-icon_20.png Green-icon_20.png Yellow-icon_20.png Elevated
Wild – Hook & Line, Longline US Atlantic – Southern Stock, Gulf of Mexico Yellow-icon_20.png Red-Dot_20.png Yellow-icon_20.png
Disclaimer: The sustainability info above is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, each program randomly updates their information without our knowledge. We therefore recommend that you verify the current accuracy of this information.
Green-icon_20.png = Best Choice/Recommended Yellow-icon_20.png = Good Alternative Red-Dot_20.png = Avoid/Not Recommended Updated
August 2013

 

Nutritional Information

based upon a 6 oz (171 grams) raw edible serving.

* Calories/Calories from fat 286
* Protein grams 33
* Fat grams 16.1
* Saturated fat grams 4.1
* Sodium milligrams 134
* Cholesterol milligrams 110
* Omega-3 grams n/a

 

Comments from before Site Migration

Add a Comment!

CHRIS SIGMON [72.253.176.23]    [ Apr 14, 2014 ]

I live in Hawaii and my wife and kids are Hawaiian. maika`i  is good, `ai is eat so good to eat in Hawaiian would be said . maika`i `ai ….. not `ono ….. `ono  is delicious….

DAVID BUCHANAN    [ Apr 11, 2014 ]

Thanks Chris for the feedback and link. I think that “good to eat” and “delicious” are close enough to the same meaning that I’ll leave it as it is. I also spoke with someone who had lived in Hawaii and asked her what ono meant, and she replied “good to eat”.

CHRIS SIGMON [72.253.176.23]    [ Apr 11, 2014 ]

The first sentence is incorrect. (Ono fish gets its name from the Hawaiian word “ono” which means “good to eat”.) `ono delicious  I copied this from alohafriends.com feel free to stop by the website too.

MAGICOFSPICE    [ Sep 26, 2010 ]

Wow, I did not know about the mercury levels…And this is one of my favorites. Wondering how high of a threat it is? Great article and information 🙂

 

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