Fish and Seafood

[Dejah]

Johnnyd's super blog and this thread are both wonderful reads as well as full force torture for someone living on the prairies! But don't stop......

[johnnyd]

[Dejah]

Question about basa from Vietnam:

One bit of info' from another foodie, that basa from Vietnam is sprayed with antibiotics before shipping out of country. This is because of subpar sanitation regulations.

It was also mentioned that US federal regulations have checked on this and have banned basa from Vietnam?

That is the product we have been enjoying from my local supermarket. Can anyone shed light on this issue?

[Sam Salmon]

There's a lot of misinformation about Catfish from Vietnam aka 'Basa' being spread by Catfish farmers in the southern USA who are scared of completion.

Of course with all the problems in Louisiana right now it might be a while before you see domestic product and the misinformation campaign might sag a mite.

[Shiewie]

A selection of seafood at the market in Pasir Penambang, a sleepy fishing village near the town of Kuala Selangor on the west cost of Malaysia.

Top left - balitong - a species of whelks.

Top right - uhm.. not sure what species of crabs these are sorry..

Bottom left - Mantis prawns.

Bottom right - mackerel

[Adam Balic]

The crab looks amazing, what would be a typical recipe for the balitong?

[Adam Balic]

Many fish images on my Hydra thread.

[Shiewie]

The crab looks amazing, what would be a typical recipe for the balitong?

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Typical recipes would include stir-frying the balitong in a spicy sambal or cooking it in a curry (a turmeric coconut cream one, masak lemak).

The pointy end of the shell is chopped off before cooking. Eating it is quite a messy noisy affair too - one sucks on the pointy end to dislodge the meat and then at wide end to extract it .

[Adam Balic]

They look great, what would the basic sambal recipe be, I have one for cuttlefish, but that sauce looks a little more orange?

[Kevin72]

Fish stew (brodetto) from Le Marche:

[Apicio]

Adam, marvellous pics, you are only second to Jacques Cousteau in my book. Any close encounter with turbot?

[athinaeos]

minoan pagrus pagrus (fangri in greek)

this forum is getting more and more inspiring!

i therefore dare share with you a minoan recipe of pagrus pagrus (common seabream)

the key point is to position the fish so that its bone is almost horizontal

the fish should rest on a bed of thinly sliced potatoes and /or other vegetables ( i love zucchini)

use olive oil, coarse pure sea salt, black pepper and grated fresh tomatoes to coat the firsh and the bed of vegetables

do not add any water

bake in a hot oven so that the skin is crispy and the flesh moist

serve with a dry white wine - i avoid the fruity ones, as they muffle the delicate fish flavors!

before baking

after baking

[markk]

What great photos, everyone.

Here are a few more fish from my travels.

The beginning of a delicious 'zuppa di pesce' on Capri...

and some gamberoni from Capri, though I don't know that they're actually local...

And a restaurant in the Vosges mountains (Alsace, France) where they walk you down to the stream at the moment you order either the Truitelles (baby trout) or adult Trout, catch it, and cook it up within moments...

And lest it be accused that I've never caught anything, a Turbot that I wrestled away from the supermarket in Colmar...

And that same turbot cooked and plated (no, I didn't really catch it)

[Apicio]

And that same turbot cooked and plated (no, I didn't really catch it)

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How did they cook the turbot Markk? And how was it?

[Adam Balic]

Mark - are they fennel stalks with the turbot?

More Greek fish. From a recent trip to Hydra, some very large baked grouper (will work out species later), these fish had meat of the same texture and a similar flavor to milk fed veal. Still feel bad about eating these large fish though.

[Adam Balic]

Adam, marvellous pics, you are only second to Jacques Cousteau in my book.  Any close encounter with turbot?

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Yes we get lots of Turbot here in Scotland (mostly farmed, which I don't buy). If you can get a large, wild caught fish it is excellent eating (I believe I am not the first one to work this out..,).

[Kevin72]

More Greek fish. From a recent trip to Hydra,

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Wait, did I somehow miss one of your travellogues?

[Adam Balic]

Yep.

[kanljung]

Adam, marvellous pics, you are only second to Jacques Cousteau in my book.  Any close encounter with turbot?

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Yes we get lots of Turbot here in Scotland (mostly farmed, which I don't buy). If you can get a large, wild caught fish it is excellent eating (I believe I am not the first one to work this out..,).

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This is the first time I've heard of farmed turbot. Is it farmed in scotland or is it imported from somewhere?

[Adam Balic]

A very large percentage of Turbot in the UK are farmed and it is done in other countries too.

Everything you wanted to know about Turbot farming, but were too afraid to ask.

[Adam Balic]

Garfish Belone vulgaris. These are from Greece, but they are quite common throughout the Mediterranean and even wind up in the UK once in a while. Related fish are found in Australasian and American waters. Not a hughly prized fish, which is a shame as their flesh is very white, sweet and tasty, not an oily fish at all.

Potentially, this is due to the colour of their bones, a vivid green-blue when fresh which fades when they are cooked a little.

A Spanish fish seller told me that they are great for young children, as the bones are east to spot.

[Adam Balic]

Also from Greece, locally caught rockfish: Star-Gazer Uranoscopus scaber (far back, pale brown) and Scorpian fish Scorpaena porcus (occasionally I saw some Scorpaena scrofa). These fish (especially the scorpian fish) are found in fish stews/soups all over the med. In France these are known as Rascasse and are the vital ingredient in bouillabaisse.

These are slightly lesser fish, the colourful ones are male Rainbow wrasse Coris julis, but there are a few other odds and sods, including red mullet.

[Carrot Top]

Those racasse are rather angry-looking fellows, aren't they.

Amazing, the bounty of the sea and streams. And such variety and personality.

[Adam Balic]

I went snorkeling while I was there. To attract fish I cracked open a few sea urchins and turned over rocks (to stir up te sediment). While turning over the rocks I found a few very pissed off looking Scorpion fish. Quite fun to see them out of a stew. These are possibly my favourite Mediterranean fish. A good fresh specimen is hard to beat. When I was in Sicily I had one baked with wine, tomato, apple and mint - excellent.

Edited September 21, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Carrot Top]

Are scorpion fish what we call here the lizard fish?

I caught one of those by mistake once and was so appalled by him that it was all I could do to stand to take him off the hook.