Fish

[kerouac2]

Besides the lime, I also used slices of fresh ginger.

[bixaorellana]

Ahhhhh! That had been my first guess. It must have been REALLY delicious then.

[lagatta]

I think fish pie developed mostly to use up - and stretch - scraps. Of course there are other things to do with scraps, such as soups and stews, as well as rice-based dishes.

Mine incorporated a high percentage of green vegetable.

[onlyMark]

Then there is kedgeree. Brought over to the UK, as many things are, from India. A combination of rice, egg and fish. Good on its own without the necessity to add curry flavours to it, but they can be included to taste -

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/really_good_kedgeree_75198

[lagatta]

Yes, that is a very famous Anglo-Indian fish and rice dish.

Facilitating seminars (mostly for young adults) from different continents, fish and rice are staples across a wide swath of Asia. Rice is non-negotiable, three times a day.

[kerouac2]

I had some cod fillets that I wanted to cook tonight, but even I get tired of traditional pan frying or oven broiling from time to time. I discovered that I had half a package of Vietnamese batter mix for cooking prawns, and I decided to use it. I have to admit that the batter was brilliant. It coated the fish perfectly and made a nice crispy outer layer when I plunged it in the oil. Unfortunately, the result was relatively tasteless because even though there was plenty of fish, the fried batter totally dominated the result. I won't make the same mistake again.

[Deleted]

While I was in NY I had a wonderful dinner that was a fluke, a type of flounder also known as "summer flounder". An Atlantic ocean fresh fish that I had served whole, lightly battered and pan fried with a side of meuniere sauce.
I always try to make a point of having whatever seafood is in season as I know it will be fresh and often times it's something I rarely see available here in NOLA.

(I also had fresh tuna and swordfish while I was there.)

[kerouac2]

My first thought for the cod was just to roll it in flour and pan fry it, and that's what I should have done.

[lagatta]

Casimira, I've had fluke and liked it very much. Is there still much of a fishery on Long Island?

A delicious fish I've eaten farther north in Québec (Lac St-Jean) is a freshwater salmon called a ouananiche.

k2, I've been finding I'm attracted to simpler fish presentations (is this ageing?) though I also still love fish soups and stews.

Fish stew, good bread, white wine or even dry rosé, some greens. Mmmmmm.

[lagatta]

I was in a Portuguese shop buying little tins of squid and octopus, and fishes of course. In the frozen-food section there was a 750g - or 800g? - mix of fish cuttings for Caldeirada, a typical soup/stew incorporating at least three fishes. There can also be crustaceans. It looked very well frozen and I'm looking forward to buying a package and making it, but I'd have to invite at least three friends - don't know how well it would keep.

www.therecord.com/living-story/2562244-caldeirada-a-portuguese-favourite/ This version doesn't include potatoes, though many do. I'm trying to track down a fishmonger here that sells scraps/cuttings of fresh fish.

The author lives in a small city in southwestern Ontario, so has less access to Portuguese shops, but I'm just north of the historic "Little Portugal".

[kerouac2]

I had a tin of Portuguese squid on melba toast for lunch yesterday. The tins cost 1 euro at my Leclerc supermarket.

Tonight is smoked salmon and pasta.

[lagatta]

Yes, I did the same for supper last night. I think it was a little more expensive here, but I'd have to check the conversion rates now.

[bixaorellana]

Just came across this recipe, which I find immensely tempting: www.theguardian.com/food/2018/oct/29/rachel-roddy-recipe-salt-cod-and-chickpea-soup

[lagatta]

Yes, and I see that in response to Bixa's earlier complaints, Rachel Roddy has noted her recipe with ingredients and procedure rather than just mentioning them all in the context of her conversational text.

www.thegannet.com/interviews/rachel-roddy/

[tod2]

Here is another recipe for Tilapia or known as St Peter's fish ( which I ate on the shores of the Sea of Galilee). You can use any other soft white flaky fish like Hake or Cod.

[kerouac2]

That looks quite good. I might try a version of it since I have never been very successful with tilapia. I might use a bit less sauce.

[tod2]

I am going to source some Tilapia in the future as you have my curiosity to try this fish again. But fillets only. It is so boney and a mission to eat just like trout.

[kerouac2]

It makes me wonder if I would dare to try it with panga. But I don't think it's worth the risk.

[bjd]

Somehow I just don't think fish and cheese are a good combination, especially that kind of melted cheese which probably doesn't have much taste to start with.

[fumobici]

I was nodding in agreement with you until I remembered I'd eaten a number of McDonald's fish sandwiches which are pretty much fish and cheese in a bun and found them if not exactly good, not in any way bad either. Sorry to lower the tone and it's been years since I've had one but I'd still have another in a pinch with no hesitation at all. I'd never combine the two if I were the person cooking however, still.

[tod2]

Apr 26, 2021 17:58:03 GMT kerouac2 said:

It makes me wonder if I would dare to try it with panga. But I don't think it's worth the risk.

I would give Panga a wide berth - The last time I cooked it, it was horrible and slimy and tasteless. But, when I have eaten it at our local Thai restaurant - all coated in crispy tempura batter, it was delicious. Unless they fooled me with some other fish.....?

[kerouac2]

Panga being the cheapest fish, I doubt that they would substitute it with a more expensive fish -- unless they had run out and didn't have a choice. Tilapia is almost as cheap...

[tod2]

Our supermarkets are overflowing with hake because its cheap. It is very rarely offered fresh except the other day when I went "fish shopping' they had some fresh but I stuck it in the freezer anyway.
Some fish lovers may be interested to find out what we pay for frozen fish at a fish shop. This was part of my purchases:

Calamari @r290kg - 312grms cost R90-48 (5.23 euro)


Rainbow Trout @ R180kg - one whole deboboned cost R43.20 (2.50 euro)


Fresh Hake @ R196kg Cost R88.98 for 454grms (5.15 euro)

Baracuda fillets @ R255.00kg Cost R121.89 for 478grms (7.05 euro)

Dressed Sole @ R350.00kg Cost R171.50 for two soles @ 490grms (9.92 euro)

[bjd]

That's really cheap for fish compared to here. Of course, I suppose a lot of people in SA can't afford it.

[tod2]

Yes bjd, thats true but those that cannot afford these prices have a cheap access to tinned fish in the form of pilchards - many do not like fish and prefer to pay the price of a Kentucky meal.
Before Covid hit us. my helper that did our ironing refused to touch fish. When I asked her why she said her family had never eaten it and she did not want to either. Might be more to the story but I'll never know.
However, plenty people pay up for a decent piece of fish even if its once in a while. Seafood, especially prawns and calamari are very big here. There is a restaurant chain that specialises in seafood called Ocean Basket.
They are always busy and the other fish specialist opposition restaurant is called John Dory's. They have been going the longest - I think over 40 years. Our newest fish place is called Fishaways which opened in opposition to a very longtime fish take 0ut in our city called Skippers Fish n Chips. I find all of them too greasy.

[kerouac2]

The prices look quite similar to the ones at my Chinese supermarket, in other words about half the price of fresh fish from a fisnmonger. Yes, I know there can be a major difference in taste...

The trout, though, is MUCH cheaper than here. The Chinese place doesn't even sell trout because it's too expensive.

[tod2]

Kerouac, those prices are from a Specialist Fish shop. Hake from a supermarket is a lot cheaper but fresh fish from Woolworth Food is on a par with the prices I gave for other fish. I noticed Woolworths still selling Panga fillets. They look so nice but I bet the buyer only does that once.

[onlyMark]

Tod, re: John Dory's, Fishaways and Ocean Basket - no matter they are fish restaurants (and do a bit of other stuff like sushi which in John Dory's in Lusaka was good), we found them to be virtually the only restaurants over the years we spent in Zambia that were consistent quality. The braai, steak, Chinese, Indian etc ones always varied, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but with those three you could nearly guarantee what you had one time would be the same the next time.
Certainly not the best ever fish restaurants in the world but in Zambia they stood above any other.
We liked them and used them as our 'go to' places when we didn't want to cook. I'm not much of a meat eater anyway so they suited me down to the ground.

[tod2]

Thanks for that info Mark as I had no idea the chain restaurants had gone so far afield. I think it must be something like a McD's franchise where the staff are trained like robots so they are consistent. Nothing wrong with that as it is good for the customer who has a good meal and wants to repeat it often.

[bixaorellana]

When I start venturing out to the big markets again, I'll be searching out fresh fish. One thing that some stores and markets commonly do here is to display fish on big beds of ice, all ornamented with fresh parsley. It looks great, but more often than not is is actually fish that was previously frozen. Because of that, I prefer to buy commercially frozen fish. My recent go-to is this, composed of lightly breaded filets of tilapia with not much weird stuff added. It usually costs 99 pesos per bag, but when I went to look just now, I see it's on sale for 79 pesos.

1 Empaque con 500 g
Ingredientes
Filete de Tilapia, aceite de oleína de palma (vegetal), TBHQ, empanizador: harina de trigo enriquecida (niacina, hierro reducido, mononitrato de tiamina, riboflavina, ácido fólico), aceite vegetal hidrogenado, agente leudantes (pirofosfato, ácido de sodio, bicarbonato de sodio), dextrosa, sal, colorante natural (extracto de paprika), levadura, acondicionadores de masa (ácido ascórbico, clorhidrato de L cisteína), extractos naturales (paprika y romero), adherente: almidón modificado de maíz, harina de trigo enriquecida (hierro, ácido fólico, zinc, niacina, tiamina y riboflavina, peróxido de benzoilo, ácido ascórbico, azodicarbonamida y enzimas), harina de maíz (maíz blanco seleccionado, trazas de cal, mononitrato de tiamina, riboflavina, niacina, ácido fólico, hierro reducido, óxido de zinc), sal yodada, goma guar, dextrosa, ácido cítrico.