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What is salted threadfish?

Ce'nedra

By Ce'nedra
in China: Cooking & Baking

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Ce'nedra

Ce'nedra

Posted
Posted

I'm deciding on cooking this particular Chinese recipe (Braised Pork Belly with salted fish and tofu) which calls for 1 piece of salted threadfish. I've never heard of it! :blink: I'm guessing you buy it from Asian grocery stores?

I'm picturing one of those salted bits tucked away in jars.

Does it come under another name? What's its Chinese name (maybe I can get my mum to read it...)?

Thanks for your help! :smile:

Musings and Morsels - a film and food blog

http://musingsandmorsels.weebly.com/

hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted
I'm deciding on cooking this particular Chinese recipe (Braised Pork Belly with salted fish and tofu) which calls for 1 piece of salted threadfish. I've never heard of it! :blink: I'm guessing you buy it from Asian grocery stores?

...

How important is "threadfish" in this dish? I think "salted fish" is important for this dish but it may not have to be threadfish. Sometimes we don't pay attention to what fish is used in making salted fish. I am sure the taste would be a bit different: salted fish made from one species to another. But we may need to cook with what's available. For example, where I live (Sacramento, California) I can find plenty of salted fish in jars (oil-filled) made with mackerel, and some dried ones (no name fish). But not much else. I don't know what the salted threadfish would look like.

The Chinese term "ham yue" [Cantonese] only means salted fish, with no reference to which species.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Tepee

Tepee

Posted
Posted (edited)

Oops, I should have expanded...

Threadfin/ Ma Yau (cantonese)/ Kurau (malay) is the most 'appreciated' salted fish. But, of course, to each his own. My mother prefers mui heong, with more crumbly meat. I took this pix and bought that piece :raz: in Pangkor Island, which is one of the places in M'sia famous for its seafood and dried salted goods. The piece at the back is salted mackerel (tenggiri in malay) I think...the pieces are slimmer and darker.

gallery_12248_5263_27025.jpg

Edited by Tepee (log)

TPcal!

Food Pix (plus others)

Please take pictures of all the food you get to try (and if you can, the food at the next tables)............................Dejah

hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted
盐鱼/鹽魚

liuzhou: I am afraid this is not the term for salted fish. The word "鹽" in Chinese means "salt", a noun. The term that we are talking about is "鹹", an adjective, describing a taste being salty.

Salted fish in Chinese should be:

咸鱼/鹹魚

:smile:

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
盐鱼/鹽魚

liuzhou: I am afraid this is not the term for salted fish. The word "鹽" in Chinese means "salt", a noun. The term that we are talking about is "鹹", an adjective, describing a taste being salty.

Salted fish in Chinese should be:

咸鱼/鹹魚

:smile:

盐鱼/鹽魚 is the term used here.

Also here..

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted

盐鱼/鹽魚 is the term used here.

Also here..

I looked at all the images in the link and read some of the essays. It seems that the term 盐鱼/鹽魚 is the name of one species of fish. It is not salted fish (fish preserved with salt) that we are talking about in this thread.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted

I've been trying to help out here, but still haven't found my card reader thing for my camera, so I took a picture of my jar of salted thread fin with my cell phone, and emailed it to myself.

gallery_11355_5288_21060.jpg

Hope this helps!

Ce'nedra

Ce'nedra

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

hzrt8w: Thanks for all the help :) I don't think I need to specifically use threadfish -I was told any salted fish will do. What kinds are there? Do they tend to be packaged with a liquid of some sort?

Tepee: Thanks alot for you effort to take a picture of the salted threadfish! Does your one contain liquid too?

prasantrin: Very much appreciated also! :) Does that mean that your one is specifically the fin of the threadfish only? I've never heard of salted fins before. Is there a particular (or common) use for it?

Thanks so much everyone! :biggrin:

Musings and Morsels - a film and food blog

http://musingsandmorsels.weebly.com/

Tepee

Tepee

Posted
Posted (edited)

You're welcome, Ce'nedra. I prefer dried salted fish; fortunately, we have many kinds here. So, nope, mine isn't soaked in oil.

I'm not a fish expert by a long shot, but I think threadfin is the name of the fish. It doesn't mean the fin of the fish, although, you can indeed buy a whole salted fish, or any desired parts of one.

Edited by Tepee (log)

TPcal!

Food Pix (plus others)

Please take pictures of all the food you get to try (and if you can, the food at the next tables)............................Dejah

Tepee

Tepee

Posted
Posted

Nah! That was an honest-to-goodness mistake. :biggrin:

Is there any difference in the flavour b/w a salted fish that's been in oil and one that's not? And do they each have a better use for certain dishes?

It's a personal taste. To me, salted fish soaked in oil tastes soooooo oily (duh?), it's as if you're not getting the full flavour of the fish. I dunno...I keep thinking I might hit on a bottle with oil that isn't very fresh. :wink:

TPcal!

Food Pix (plus others)

Please take pictures of all the food you get to try (and if you can, the food at the next tables)............................Dejah

hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted

From my shopping experience, I have seen both dried salted fish and salted fish in jars (it's oil in the jar) about equally in the USA's Asian markets. In Hong Kong, I tended to see only the dried ones available. Maybe I haven't shopped around enough.

It is a personal preference. I love the ones in jars of oil. To me the salted fish in oil is softer and seems more fragrant.

No need to use too much salted fish in one setting. A little goes a long way in adding flavor.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
CommissionerLin

CommissionerLin

Posted
Posted

I'm deciding on cooking this particular Chinese recipe (Braised Pork Belly with salted fish and tofu) which calls for 1 piece of salted threadfish. I've never heard of it!

Fish nomenclature is a 'slippery' thing. Ask any fisherman. I think the fish you are referring to is the Threadfin (not Threadfish), sometimes referred to in Australia as the Salmon Threadfin. They are excellent when salted, second only to salted Spanish Mackerel (IMHO). I have pictures of both species caught recently off the coast of Queensland, near Haggerstone Island. I could post the pictures here if someone can tell me how to do it. These pictures are my own so the issue of copyright infringement does not arise.

hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted
...  I could post the pictures here if someone can tell me how to do it.  These pictures are my own so the issue of copyright infringement does not arise.

You can find detail information about how to use ImageGullet and how to upload your images here:

ImageGullet Tips and Notes

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
CommissionerLin

CommissionerLin

Posted
Posted
...  I could post the pictures here if someone can tell me how to do it.  These pictures are my own so the issue of copyright infringement does not arise.

You can find detail information about how to use ImageGullet and how to upload your images here:

ImageGullet Tips and Notes

Thanks Ah Leung and Tepee for pointing me in the right direction. This is what a Threadfin (Threadfin Salmon) looks like...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...d=si&img=106490

and this is what Spanish Mackerel (Broad-barred Mackerel) look like...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...d=si&img=106491

Both are excellent when salted but IMHO "salt fish" made from juvenile Spanish Mackerel is the yummiest in the world with Threadfin coming a close second.

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted

Here are more pictures of a whole salted thread fin that we bought in Thailand a few years ago (and smuggled it into Japan). I'm actually not sure it's thread fin, but someone who saw the picture said it was.

gallery_11355_5288_24251.jpg

gallery_11355_5288_17668.jpg

hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted (edited)
I'm not sure whether you're supposed to reply to your own post but "oops! for some reason the pix aren't displaying."

CommissionerLin:

Use the %7Boption%7D button instead of the [http://] button to include in-line images when you compose your note.

You get the URL of your JPG image by clicking on the "Click for actual URL" link in your image album.

Edited by hzrt8w (log)
W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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