Snakehead fish

[chef koo]

i was talking to a friend of mine and we were chatting about one time we went fishing. he brought up snakehead fish and said how it can live out of water for days and eats animals on land. didn't believe it at first. came home and googled it. i found about a million stories about how it's done just that. i also saw that people eat it as well. anyone ever try it? what's it like?

[miladyinsanity]

I've not had it myself, but it's supposed to be good for people who've just had surgery or have a healing wound.

It's a Chinese delicacy for that reason.

[jsolomon]

It's an invading species in Nebraska, and our nature conservations guys are making a stink about it.

[aznsailorboi]

Snakehead Fish is very good when prepared the right way. Filipino recipes calling for a fish called "Dalag", they're referring to this fish. The texture of its meat seems like a cross between a crab and a lobster, depends on how its cooked. When perfectly done, the meat is juicy and chunky like lobster, but if overcooked, it tends to flake more like a crab. The fish is not flavorful at all, although it absorbs all the flavor of the broth its cooked into, and usually blends well with dipping sauces when broiled. The only bad part is when its caught in a pond or small lakes with no inlets or outlets, the fish tend to render a foul mudlike taste and smell similar to the water its been taken out of. This is usually an issue back in the Philippines after it rains, I dunno if its the same here.

Thai people use it alot since its indigenous to that area as well, its also called Mudfish.

[Austin]

Wow... Was not aware of all that, despite plaa chon being very popular here in Thailand. Here they are usually grilled or deep-friend, and are medium-large, definately not dog-eating size!

Austin

[aznsailorboi]

hehehe ours don't grow to that dog-eating size either, I guess coz they really don't have a chance to grow that big before they get caught and off to the frying pan.

Austin

so it's called plaa chon in Thai?

[Baron d'Apcher]

Snakehead pie.

Lightly smoked, in savory pastry with pickles and mushroom catsup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blether]

Have you had Snakehead before (I haven't), and how did you rate the result, Baron?  What did you use in the forcemeat?

[Baron d'Apcher]

Hard to find fresh snakehead to sell to the public (it is illegal to sell commercially in Virginia and in Maryland registered anglers must kill them on site -cut the heads and gills and/or invariably freeze them until they get to a wholesale purveyor).  Some smell very muddy after thawing, but that odor dissipates after soaking in a brine. The fresh ones I have gotten have a texture and firmness similar to cobia.  The taste is mild and after a good smoke taste like benign hotdogs.

 

I trim the loins for smoking and make a forcemeat based on the finely ground trimmings with equal weight high-quality cream, 20% egg whites, 40% cooked vegetable garnish and 50% diced smoked filet. And then some seasonings and mustard and whatnot.  

 

Thawed snakehead loses a considerable amount of moisture which needs to be compensated for with more fat and water/milk.