Great Cooks : The Fisherman King

Timothy Manaka spends most days in an insurance office. But as often as possible he leaves his desk and heads for the ocean.

Working off the 25-foot sport fisher he owns with a partner--or sometimes a friend’s yacht or a charter boat--Manaka fishes the waters off the Pacific Coast, from California far south into Mexico.

It’s a hobby that keeps his kitchen well stocked with fresh fish. Much of it goes into a seafood chowder that has won the acclaim of his friends. When the flu season struck this winter, Manaka filled a 10-quart pot with the restorative brew and drove from one home to another, ladling generous helpings into the bowls of sick comrades.

Manaka’s chowder is as pristine as the clearest sea, each ingredient delineated in light, clean broth. And it spoils your appetite for chunky chowders choked up with thick tomato sauce or masked with fattening cream.

The list of ingredients may seem long. But the preparation becomes much simpler when you prepare the stock in advance. Manaka stores batches of stock in the freezer, ready to turn quickly into chowder. And just as rapidly, he turns from insurance account executive into fisherman-host. All it takes is a switch from sharp gray business suit to boat-printed sports shirt.

Dashing home from the office one afternoon--an easy trip because they’re only a block apart--Manaka donned a blue-and-white nautical shirt and began ladling out chowder for his guests. This batch featured wahoo, a firm, white-fleshed fish from the mackerel family. Manaka had caught the wahoo in Mexico, but says it’s available frozen in markets here. (Wahoo is called ono in Hawaii.)

There were clams in the chowder too, and oysters and smoked mussels. Bright squares of sweet red pepper gleamed in the broth, as if part of an underwater landscape. And chunks of corn on the cob brought to mind the Mexican soup, cocido , with its traditional corn garnish.

Manaka had made the stock with calico bass heads. A white-meated fish with sweet flavor, calico bass was once so commercially sought-after that the fish were caught before they could reproduce. Now it is a sport fish, Manaka says.

On the rare occasions when he has to buy fish, Manaka goes to the Modern Food Market in Little Tokyo, which is about halfway between the Funakoshi Insurance Agency, the family business where he works, and his apartment on Central Avenue. He buys frozen oysters and clams at Yaohan market, which is also nearby, and goes to Trader Joe’s for smoked mussels and other chowder ingredients.

Manaka has managed to combine his great love for sportfishing with work by insuring tackle makers, wholesalers and others in the industry. It is clear that the sea runs in his blood, and you are not surprised to learn that his grandfather and father were commercial fishermen. His father, Timothy Sr., once cooked on board a tuna boat, the Nancy Rose, out of San Pedro. But that’s not what lured Manaka to the kitchen.

He learned to cook when he dropped out of college to ski for a couple of seasons. And even at snowy Mammoth Mountain, where he worked in the ski rental and repair shop, seafood was on Manaka’s menu. A friend who worked as an abalone diver would bring up the raw materials, and the cooks would set to work. “We used to have barbecues in the snow,” Manaka remembers.

Today he still grills--it’s one of his favorite ways to prepare fish--but on the balcony of his apartment rather than in the snow. Manaka has a favorite marinade and baste that employs lots of garlic, fresh dill, lemon juice and olive oil. He’s also learned to steam a whole fish, Chinese style, in the microwave oven.

For a party, Manaka accompanies the chowder with a green salad, buttered French bread, a Chardonnay or Mexican beer. And if his mother, Marian, has made chocolate chip cookies, he’ll serve those too.

A cook who never measures, Manaka says the following version is only one of many. “It’s always changing,” he says, depending on what is in the refrigerator or “whatever I catch.”

TIM MANAKA’S SEAFOOD CHOWDER

4 cups Fish Stock

1/2 pound lean bacon, cut into 1/2-inch slices

3 large brown onions, quartered, then sliced crosswise

6 large cloves garlic, put through garlic press

1 (43-ounce) bottle Garden Patch or cocktail vegetable juice

6 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 bunches carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 bunch celery, cut diagonally into 1-inch chunks

3 cobs fresh white or yellow corn, sliced 1-inch thick

4 medium red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 pound green beans, snapped into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 bunch parsley, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro, minced

1/2 package fresh dill, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons Lawry’s Salt-Free 17 seasoning

Pepper

1 pound frozen New Zealand smoked mussels, thawed

1 pound frozen whole clams, thawed

1 pound frozen oysters, thawed

2 pounds wahoo or other firm, meaty fish such as yellowtail, swordfish, thresher shark or mako shark, cut into 2-inch cubes

Pour Fish Stock into large soup pot and bring to simmer. In large, heavy skillet or wok, fry bacon with onions and garlic until onions are transparent and bacon is crisp. Add bacon mixture to stock.

Add Garden Patch cocktail juice, tomatoes, carrots, celery, corn, potatoes, green beans, parsley, cilantro, dill and salt-free seasoning. Season to taste with pepper.

Simmer until vegetables are tender-firm. Add mussels, clams and oysters and fish and simmer 5 minutes or until shells open. Ladle into serving bowls. Makes 15 servings.

Each serving contains about:

288 calories; 479 mg sodium; 52 mg cholesterol; 13 grams fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams protein; 1.30 grams fiber; 40% calories from fat.

Fish Stock

2 quarts water

4 calico bass heads, cleaned (gills removed) or 4 rock fish heads

3 large carrots, cut up, if desired

3 large brown onions, quartered

4 to 5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 handful fresh basil leaves

1 handful fresh dill

1/2 bunch parsley

5 large bay leaves

6 black peppercorns

Bring water to rapid boil in large pot. Place fish heads in doubled square of cheesecloth. Tie securely. Place carrots, onions, garlic, basil, dill, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns in another doubled square of cheesecloth. Tie securely. Add fish and vegetable mixtures to water.

Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 1 hour. Remove cheesecloth bundles. Strain stock. Set aside 1 quart stock for chowder. Freeze remainder for later use. Makes about 5 cups.