Escolar or "White" Tuna

[richw]

The Sushi bars in South Florida have been serving this fish Nigiri style and as Sashimi for a couple of years now.

They call it "White" Tuna or Escolar. It's an off-white, oily fish and I suspect it is in the toothfish family, similar to the Chilean Sea Bass a/k/a Patagonian Toothfish. I haven't seen it served anywhere else in my travels. I was wondering if any of you are familiar with it. As a veteran sushi fan I find that it is excellent. It is rich with oil and has a mild flavor that's reminiscent of butter in my opinion.

Rich

[Rosie]

I've had it cooked at a restaurant in Mendocino, CA. It was very rich and buttery/oily. It was listed as escolar on the menu.

[russ parsons]

white tuna is albacore, not escolar. escolar is a very oily fish, albacore is pretty low in fat (for tuna). the fat in escolar also has the peculiarity of containing a natural laxative. eat carefully and close to home.

[gknl]

According to my Peterson's Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes, Escolar ( Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) is in the snake mackeral family, Gempylidae, related to tunas and mackerals, Scombridae. The family also includes the oilfish and the snake mackeral. They're all predators with large mouths and prominant teeth. Escolars are found worldwide in temperate and warm seas and can grow to over six feet. Albacore (Thunnus alalunga) it's not.

According to this website I found, http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/rfe2ec.html

some scientists also put cutlassfish and scabbardfish in the same family with them. There is a good picture of one if you're interested. And there are other fish listed on the site too if you're interested in science stuff (I majored in zoology in college).

[Fat Guy]

Similar info on Fishbase:

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSum...e=flavobrunneum

I could have sworn I talked to the fish guy at Fairway about Escolar (they sell it as white tuna) and he said it was tuna bycatch. Could that be?

[Shiva]

Just to back up russ parsons, this page says:

Gempylotoxin Contents

Escolar or oilfish (i.e. Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, Ruvettus pretiosus) contains a strong purgative oil, called gempylotoxin, that may cause diarrhea when consumed (FDA, 2001).

I think I'll pass on the escolar.

[nyfirepatrolchef]

WHAT a couple of TOTALLY GREAT reference sites!!!!

THANKS GUYS WOOHOO!

[Fat Guy]

This is the portal I use for fish reference. It links to the good sites:

http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/organize/species.htm

[richw]

All,

Thanks for your reponses. I must say that I'll take my chances and eat it anyways. It's that good. I wonder why I've never seen it at any fish markets or on menus in restaurants? Maybe it's just catching on and poised to be the next Chilean Sea Bass. We'll see.

Rich

[ngatti]

All,

Thanks for your reponses.  I must say that I'll take my chances and eat it anyways.  It's that good.  I wonder why I've never seen it at any fish markets or on menus in restaurants?  Maybe it's just catching on and poised to be the next Chilean Sea Bass.  We'll see.

Rich

You may not see it for the same reason I'm afraid to serve it. It causes diarhea in some. I served it once in smallish portions. After reading, i decided it wasn't worth the risk (I play to a captive audience).

Nick

[richw]

Nick,

I completely understand. I'm curious to know what area of the country you live/work in that Escolar is readily available. Is it an item your seafood purveyor has often?

Thanks,

Rich

[markk]

Just to back up russ parsons, this page says:

Gempylotoxin Contents

Escolar or oilfish (i.e. Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, Ruvettus pretiosus) contains a strong purgative oil, called gempylotoxin, that may cause diarrhea when consumed (FDA, 2001).

I think I'll pass on the escolar.

And there was an article in the NY Times some years ago explaining this potential Escolar side-effect in detail.

However, I was in New Oleans a number of times in 1997, and Escolar was featured regularly on the Emerils menu then. I had never heard of it, and had no idea of it's "dangerous" side, and ate it on several different occasions. It was very delicious, and I'm happy to report that I had no bad effects from it, whatsoever. The subsequent Times article was scary for sure, but having eaten it so many times (my dining companion as well) - we'd have to say that this effect may be played up a little out of proportion.

[johnnyd]

"Shiro Maguro" was the name of this at our local sushi place. It was served with a dab of seasoned daikon and ponzu. It was amazing, our favorite. One day last month, we ordered it and were told they pulled it from the menu because of it's tendency to cause "unpleasantness" in some customers. This thread is the first I've seen that explains why.

[Abra]

Escolar is usually available in my market here near Seattle, and I've cooked and eaten it many times. It's one of the most delicious fishes ever, but you need to exercise rigorous portion control. My understanding that the laxative effect (which I experienced once) results from eating more than a 6 oz portion. Since I learned that I've always made sure to eat, and serve, small portions. It's particularly effective in soups and stews, where just a few ounces in a large dice add a fantastic richness to the whole bowl.

[eatrustic]

I served Escolar in the restaurant I worked in a few years back. This was just before the N.Y. Times article came out. I ran it as a weekend special and found it to be utterly delicious.

Out of perhaps a 100 portions served over a month or so I had two calls from customers the next day wanting to know if the fish was fresh because they had diarrhea! Shortly after that I saw the N.Y. Times article. I believe it mentioned that Escolar was the hot fish in many restaurants but that there had been a few incidences of nervous stomach and that it was used as a laxative in the South Pacific.

This is probably why you don't see it in many places and other than the occasional surge of interest you probably won't. Who wants to warn customers of the possible side effects of their nightly special and who needs customers thinking that they have had food poisoning? Imagine admitting after the fact that " oh no you don't have food poisoning it's just a natural laxative".

Lucky Escolar, because it is so tasy it would probably be an endangered species by now like the Patagonian Toothfish if it wasn't for it's "downside".

[richw]

It really IS incredibly tasty. I have never had it cooked or even seen it served cooked. As a matter of fact, I've never even seen it for sale at a fish market here in South Florida. The only place you will find it is at sushi bars and they all include it in their chef's choice sashimi and nigiri-suchi platters, which leads me to believe that it is inexpensive.

[TJHarris]

I have served escolar many times over the years. I have personally never suffered ill effects but my sous-chef did once. I have always thought that it was one of the more interesting fish available.

[Janedujour]

I've also had "white tuna" as it is called on the sushi menus in CT. I absolutely love it. It's very creamy and buttery rich which is obviously due to the oil, and also makes sense as far as the "runs" it causes.

I've never eaten more than two pieces of escolar sushi at a time, so it never bothered me. $$ being the reason I stop at two!

Remember the old "castor oil" cure? People used it as a laxative, and wasn't it made from fish oil????

TV Ad: New Ex-Lax "sushi" flavored. Comes wrapped in seaweed with a creamy wasabi center!

[richw]

I have served escolar many times over the years. I have personally never suffered ill effects but my sous-chef did once. I have always thought that it was one of the more interesting fish available.

I've experienced the ill effects of it once or twice. It was mild. Similar to what happens to people who have a bad reaction to Olestra...

[Suzanne F]

. . .

Remember the old "castor oil" cure? People used it as a laxative, and wasn't it made from fish oil????

. . .

IIRC, castor oil comes from the castor bean. You might be mixing it up with cod liver oil (now doesn't THAT sound yummy? )

There's another thread somewhere on white tuna/escolar -- I think I started that one after having some at a nearby sushi place. After the responses there and on the thread linked to above, I decided not to try it again, even though I had no ill effects. Why tempt fate (I do that all the time anyway with my leftovers )?

[fyfas]

I, personally, love escolar; one of the very easiest fish to cook or grill and wonderful with a simple mango or pineapple/chile salsa.

As to the "gastric" distress, I thought it was a result of an allergic reaction unique to certain people meaning some people will always have a problem and others (most) won't. I'd also heard that portion size could be a contributing factor and that many restaurant kitchens kept the size at four ounces as at that size a reaction was highly unlikely.

Either way, escolar is not easy to find now either on a menu or at the fishmonger... fear over the "sensitivity" and the unpleasantness of disclosing it and, apparently, the fish has made it onto the list of over-fished varieties; a double-whammy.

[cbarre02]

The owners of our restaurant once ate about 12 ounce of escolar each, they had the whole nine yards.

[eatrustic]

Do you mean that they lost about nine yards ?????

[kenteoh]

mmm... escolar... had this in melboure... they sell it as "butter fish" there...

[Mild Bill]

I stock up on the White Tuna sushi and sashimi when I go to The Crazy Buffet here in Tampa...

It is a top shelf sushi fish similar in texture to Yellowtail...

I ain't NEVER experienced any degree of digestive distress during or after any of my 347 times at that restaurant!

It wouldn't stop me anywaze cause I just got a nice cushy toilet seat from Bed, Bath, and Beyond!

Edited May 14, 2004 by Mild Bill (log)