Fish recipes

[AJB Temple]

To buy a wild Turbot of that size retail in the SE UK would be at least £120 Steve. Obviously I don't pay that, but they are an expensive fish. Sometimes you get small ones at 1-2kg, and they will feed 4. The fishermen prefer not to catch those wild as the meat to waste ratio is unappealing to restaurants.

Most of the small ones are aquaculture (farmed really) fish and they reach 1.5-2kg in 3 years from fry. These are the ones you will see in upmarket supermarkets.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Do you know how old an animal like that is?

As far as I can find out, turbot can live to be 25 years old, and, conveniently, achieve 25kg in weight*. Crudely assuming a linear growth rate, I would guess about 4 years old. Probably a bit less, as growth is likely faster initially.

Ageing of fish can be done by studying the otolith (lit. ‘ear stone’), a structure related to our middle-ear ossicles for hearing, which reliably puts down growth rings like a tree.

I see that turbot is of some concern sustainability-wise. Quite surprising how many fish are.

* https://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/turbot.php

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

I am absolutely astonished neither trout nor salmon have been mentioned. Perhaps because I lived for many years on U.K.'s wild Atlantic seaboard and migrating salmon were available, and rural Ulster had a plethora of trout rivers, or maybe not?

 

[Guineafowl21]

I am absolutely astonished neither trout nor salmon have been mentioned. Perhaps because I lived for many years on U.K.'s wild Atlantic seaboard and migrating salmon were available, and rural Ulster had a plethora of trout rivers, or maybe not?

I was mainly looking for recipe ideas for the fish I get from a sea-going boat. Plenty of trout and salmon up here, though.

Trout - bake in foil?

Salmon - gravlax is very nice.
En croute - even I, as a proper trencherman (read: greedy sod) find it too rich. Can’t eat much of it. Fatty fish in fatty pastry, with rich Hollandaise.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Foil bake, yes, lemon garnish, absolutely. Low and slow grill works too.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Herring and lemon sole this week.

Herring = mackerel to my mind, so inclined to flour and fry.

Sole - foil bake?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Sole - yes wrap in foil with butter and a couple of slices of lemon.
S

 

[Guineafowl21]

I think we have a sea wolf and lots of red mullets:


As ever, cooking suggestions appreciated. I think sea wolf is sold as ‘rock turbot’.

In the meantime, I’ll gut those mullets, unless there’s some reason they’ve been left in. I was always taught to gut fish by the waterside.

 

[Lons]

I put back all the trout I catch. They are farmed stock fish mostly 3 - 6 pounders but some well into double figures.
Though I used to, long ago take the odd wild brown trout I'd never do it now.

 

[AJB Temple]

I've never cooked sea wolf, but I have had it. It was filleted and sauteed in butter. Very similar in texture to monkfish, but tasting a bit of shellfish. Don't waste the cheeks. Some of the red mullet look a bit small - I would have returned them to the sea. However, I would just fillet them, pinbone as needed (depends how good you are at filleting) and grill, or use them in a rich fish soup with 4 or 5 other types of fish and shellfish. I would serve with buttery Jersey Royals and a crisp salad.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Thanks - yes, the wolf flesh seemed to be dense, like monkfish. I have done the latter as a passable rogan josh, although maybe simpler is better.

The mullets were covered in very loose scales, so I wonder if they’re the sort of fish that can’t be thrown back, once hauled up into the net. Quite easy to fillet, I found: whip the fillets off like a mackerel, then an oblique cut to remove the belly lining and small bones there. I ignored the line of tiny bones down the middle.

The wife did a very nice Tom Ka Thai soup with them, a hot and sour soup based on coconut milk, served with plain rice with a fried egg on top. Highly recommended, and thankfully, used up one of the three million Asian soup and seasoning packets that are overflowing from one of the cupboards.

This weekend’s looking nice, so I may be tempted to try some mullets on the barbecue.

 

[Woodbloke]

Here's a little fishy dish I had for my lunch last week:



A spiny lobster, still alive and wriggling, held by one of Japan's renowned Ama lady free divers at Toba. It was unceremoniously lobbed onto the coals to cook, along with all the other offerings:



The Ama diver (about 70 years old) in charge of the fire hacked it open with a big knife and was slightly disappointed when I passed on the yellow, mushy brains which are, apparently, a delicacy to the locals.



A great experience, followed by a visit to Pearl Island and Mikimoto Pearls - Rob

 

[Guineafowl21]

A great experience, followed by a visit to Pearl Island and Mikimoto Pearls - Rob

Out of the sea, and onto the barbecue - if all fish were like that, there wouldn’t be so many “I don’t like fish” people!

I’d have to say, it looks a little bit on the tiddly side, and it would have been nice if they’d killed or pithed it before cooking. But… pot and kettle, we in the UK still permit slaughter techniques where an animal’s throat is slit while conscious.

Yes, the non-tail meat is edible and delicious - why not try a ‘waffer-thin’ bit next time?

 

[Mike]

Out of the sea, and onto the barbecue - if all fish were like that, there wouldn’t be so many “I don’t like fish” people!

I received my open water SCUBA license while passing through Okinawa in the 70's. One of the rites of passage was picking up a scallop or clam from the sea floor, prying open the shell, and eating the meat before the swarming fish could get to it first. I was surprised how pleasantly different the shellfish tasted fresh from the shell. Sashimi on the beach was also great.