Loincloth lover Jason Momoa has shown us over the past few years that he’s more than just a pretty face. He cares deeply about the environment, likes challenging the traditional ideas of masculinity, wants to be a worthy representative for native Hawaiians and Indigenous people, and has some good thoughts about teaching our children that failure is a part of life. He’s also a big fan of breakfast. Like many people who love a good routine, Jason has a go-to breakfast. For me, it’s an egg white omelet with spinach and a little bit of cheese, drizzled with buffalo sauce. Jason’s breakfast is a little bit more exciting than mine is. His favorite breakfast is rice with avocado, sunny-side-up eggs, and sardines.
“I have a weird breakfast thing,” the Aquaman star, 44, tells PEOPLE. “I always have rice with avocado, sunny-side-up eggs and sardines.”
That salty fish element, he adds, must be “fresh.” And the pièce de résistance on his sardine dish: “You can get them grilled.”
Asked whether “always” means every morning for breakfast, Momoa responds, “If I can, yeah. That’s my favorite thing.”
Of course, the menu changes if he happens to be in the place he grew up. “If I’m in Hawaii,” says the Honolulu-born actor, “it’s Portuguese sausage, eggs, rice, [macaroni] salad, kalua pig, lau lau and a big bowl of f—ing poi.”
Then, jokes Momoa, “it’s back to sleep.”
A sardine-heavy breakfast, of course, also helps the onscreen superhero stay fit amid his grueling workouts. And it’s not the first time he’s used food as a tool in his acting arsenal; while filming the drama See, Momoa learned how to interact safely with a nine-foot-tall Kodiak bear. As seen in a 2019 Instagram video post, he had his furry costar eat an Oreo cookie straight out of his mouth.
My 9-year-old loves sardines. It’s odd because he doesn’t like cheese (I mean, is he even my child?!) but he’ll sometimes eat those little canned sardine packets for lunch on the weekends. I can see why Momoa would include them daily. They’re a good source of protein, vitamins B12 and D, calcium, iron, and, especially, omega-3 fatty acids. I’m not a big fan of them, but maybe I should give them another chance. Plus, who am I to yuck anyone’s yum? I feel like sardines are similar to anchovies in which their smell and reputation tend to make them more off-putting. While I don’t care for sardines, I will eat anchovies if they’re in a good puttanesca or a bruschetta where they complement the other flavors. Are there any other foods that they’re good in? Aaaand now I’m hungry for both breakfast and Italian food.
Momoa will be back as Arthur Curry in Marvel’s next Aquaman movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It comes out in theaters on Friday, December 22 and co-stars Suits’ Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. I’m not a huge fan of the DC movies, but I liked the first Aquaman movie, so I’m planning on seeing this one over the holiday break.
Photos credit: Darla Khazei/INSTARimages, Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram
When I eat sardines for a few days in a row I literally see my skin de-age. Maybe that’s his secret.
They completely stink up your house tho. My neighbors cat used to go bonkers because i made them all the time but i got self conscious about my stinky house so i stopped.
This is intriguing… but if they stink up your house, what must they do to your actual body? I had a friend who got on a garlic pill kick and suddenly, every time she sweat (or even got a little warm), she smelled HORRIBLE. I’m in the gym multiple times a week. I’d hate to be the smooth skinned strong woman in a cloud of sardine sweat. There are already so many inadequately deodorized gym bros there.
LOL. Avocado and sardine toast was featured on a Good Eats episode where Alton Brown talked about how he reworked his diet to lose weight.
Well, if that’s on a menu anywhere, I’ll try it. Not gonna make it for myself, though.
I love sardines and yes must be fresh. I buy them from the fish market. I pan sear them in olive oil, onions, peppers, salt, garlic and I add some heat. They are delicious, but most people hear the word sardines and immediately gag. Sardines with white rice and a side of avocados is one of my guilty pleasures.
I love them like that too. But, I don’t like them canned, if I eat canned fish it’s either tuna or mackerel
Sardines are healthy and tasty. I use them where I would use canned tuna. They are great in an Italian/Provencal-style sandwich mixed with olives, basil, olive oil, tomato, etc. I also mix them with pesto, basil, and green beans, and gnocchi, a bit like a salad Nicoise meets pasta.
Ok that sounds amazing
@DeaN that sounds amazing. You’re making me want to go out and try to make this now.
Hope you like it! I use canned sardines, and I think some brands taste/smell better than others, and it can be a strong smell. I normally mix all the oil from the can into the dish and wash the tin. That seems to keep the smell contained enough for me, but perhaps I am not particularly sensitive.
Not sure why “fresh” is in quotation marks. If he’s having fresh, grilled sardines, then they wouldn’t be smelly like anchovies, they’d be the same as any other kind of oily fish.
That sounds delicious – esp fresh ones. I love a sardine banh mi sandwich.
It’s been a minute since Mamoa had said something that didn’t make my eyes roll. Sardines are delicious.
I don’t like breakfast in general, except for things like French toast, and the idea of a sardine breakfast makes me queasy. I hope he brushes his teeth well, it might be hard to get rid of sardine breath.
For anchovies–in Spain on my honeymoon I had them on toasted bread with melted Manchego. Delicious! And they really do add a nice umami flavor to a homemade Caesar salad dressing. I use Bon Appetit’s recipe:
1 garlic clove
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp grated or shredded parmesan
6 anchovy filets
salt & pepper to taste
Toss in a blender/food processer & enjoy!
This sounds amazing! CB should do a cookbook with favorite recipes of the writers and commentors 🙂
Love that idea, @Flamingo!
I’m a chocolate frosted donut and coffee girl. LOL I know, not healthy.
I definitely thought he was talking about anchovies at first, I love anchovies. Now I’m wondering if I’ve actually had sardines.
I used to eat canned sardines with rice as a lazy meal when it was like, just my grandpa taking care of the kids, and I haven’t had them since, but lately I’ve found myself of tinned fish TikTok and it got me interested again in trying tinned fish. Got onto Trader Joe’s smoked trout and it’s amazing. I actually had it on crackers for breakfast the other day. Fresh sardines sounds amazing, too. I only had them once when I was vacationing in Spain, and it kind of blew my mind how tasty they were so simply cooked and crispy. With avocado and rice, too? Oh man, that sounds amazing.
I’ve never had a fresh sardine in my life. Where do you even get them? I’d like to try it! I’m into them canned.
We are lucky to live in a region where we can get fresh sardines when in season. They are salty and pungent like mackerel.
Canned are great too. You can even eat the bones, great source of calcium.
Trying to eat healthy while dealing with the horrors of long covid & chronic autoimmune issues…I’ve discovered the JOY of canned sardines & mackerel…and they’re relatively cheap too…I have a SERIOUS issue getting enough protein in my diet…and sardines are CHEAP & don’t cause Gout like so many other seafoods❤️
Oh man, I had no idea that seafood was such a trigger for gout until I started cooking for a friend who suffers from it. It makes it so hard to eat healthy! You have my sympathy.
Best wishes for your full recovery and return to health, Lala.
I’m about to embarrass myself by asking a stupid question. How do you deal with the bones? Are the canned ones filleted? Are they small enough you just eat the whole thing, skin, bones and all? Can you tell I don’t eat much seafood? Ok, maybe that was more than one stupid question…
You can eat the whole thing, skin, bones and all!
Not a stupid question! I was wondering the same thing. Thanks Tealily
The bones are part of it, and a really good and easily-absorbed way to get your calcium. They’re soft and small and hardly even noticeable. Varies by brand, too. Brunswick and some others tend to have larger fish, so the bones are edible but noticeable. King Oscar and John West have fish that are much smaller, and no bones detectable.
I’m really hoping that this TikTok canned fish resurgence will translate to my supermarket, because the sardine options have been decreasing for years. I’m boring and just mush them onto hot buttered toast with a squeeze of lemon, but loved the Brunswick ones canned with jalapeno peppers. Haven’t been available for years, and even though I can add my own pickled jalapenos or hot sauce, it just isn’t the same.
I love canned sardines but have never considered seafood for breakfast. My grandma was born at Fort Bragg in the early 1930s. We have a cookbook from the ladies of the Methodist church there. The section on recommended school lunches was basically different combinations of sardines, crackers, and marshmellows.
He can eat my tinned sardines!
I like sardines but I much prefer kipper, especially smoked. Kippered Herring is the bomb
Try sardine pasta, folks….so so good!