What Fish, for Fish n Chips?

[mofongoloco]

I had grilled sardines last night in SANto  domingo. I assume they were frozen. Do sardines swims in Dominican waters?  When I was a kid and we fished off a dock or dingy we frequently caught a fish called porgie. Crazy, but it wasn’t considered for our table as it was the fish favored by African Americans in my hometown. Naturally, it was referred to with a distinctly offensive appellation. I think in Spanish it’s called mojarra. A least it looks the same when I get it fried whole in Latino restaurants in USA. 

Ever try blowfish. You get two little bite size filets per fish. Yummy. 

My uncles and cousins were fisherman. Gave us bushels of free fish.  My parents would spend hours and hours preparing it for the freezer. We ate it every Friday, not just during lent. Fried fish, mashed potatoes and stewed tomatoes. Often with green beans from our garden or a local farm. 

I hope you enjoy your fish fry. 

Have you experimented with panko bread crumbs?  Makes a nice crunch. 

 

[windeguy]

You want to use Seabass, which is called Mero here. You can get it at Playero in the frozen section. You get two filets in one pack.

Directly from China, is it not?

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

A lot of fish comes from Asia these days, so I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[windeguy]

A lot of fish comes from Asia these days, so I wouldn't be surprised.

While in a local Cabarete supermarket, I have seen the Chinese (and other Asian sources) boxes of frozen fish, shrimp, etc being repackaged for sale.

 

[ju10prd]

A lot of fish comes from Asia these days, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Vietnam is more common and it is a catfish.

If you want the best tropical fish and chips it has to be reef grouper and that is one of the pleasures of travelling to TCI and Bahamas, because that is what you get when you ask for fish and chips (grouper and fries).

I am not so keen on the idea of using dorado (mahi mahi) for fried fish and chips. Dorado has excellent flavour and texture and is best done 'a la plancha' imo.

 

[Seamonkey]

Directly from China, is it not?

Good question. It doesn't say on the packaging because it repackaged by Playero.

 

[cobraboy]

i had swai fillets, bought in bravo. quite tasty. i think i made them using the recipe from the package, some asian type marinade and sauce.
we buy a lot of flounder fillets from full circle for us but it's not a type of fish you'd use for fish'n'chips. la sirena and jumbo have them in frozen section. i have seen haddock steaks from the same producer but they go for over 1000 pesos per packet (two portions). they have cod too and that was good.
http://fullcirclefoods.com/fc_products/seafood/

Full Circle is the brand that has numerous different fish, including cod.

But what is considered grouper here "mero" is actually sea bass. Being a Florida gulf boy, I know my grouper.

 

[cobraboy]

Have you experimented with panko bread crumbs?  Makes a nice crunch. 

The Roland Panko bread crumbs are our go-to for cruncky fried critters...

 

[ju10prd]

Full Circle is the brand that has numerous different fish, including cod.

But what is considered grouper here "mero" is actually sea bass. Being a Florida gulf boy, I know my grouper.

Pollock is a fish from cod family and is heavily fished in Alaskan waters and packaged frozen and often seen in the islands.

Not been looking for it recently but I did find this fish frozen several years ago in Carrefour (Duarte km 10)

 

[RV429]

Pollock is what McDonalds uses for their Fish Filet I believe.
The pubs near my Daytona Beach Condo mostly use Swaii for their Fish and Chips. I find it tasteless and without texture. I prefer Cod which doesn't have a distinct flavor but suits the chips batter well.
Here in the D.R. every time I've ordered fish or seen it on a menu it's Mero regardless of what it really is. I've never had it at home or at Tia's or Mama's homes. They just don't do fish.

 

[zoomzx11]

Full Circle is the brand that has numerous different fish, including cod.

But what is considered grouper here "mero" is actually sea bass. Being a Florida gulf boy, I know my grouper.

Not exactly.
Groupers are a group of ocean fish of the same family as Sea Bass and with very similar in characteristics. The most famous are the Giant and Goliath Groupers which can grow to around 1000 pounds - pretty big bass.
All grouper are sea bass family.

 

[zoomzx11]

The fish farmed and imported from Asian countries have little of no health or sanitation standards.
Asian talapia are farm raised and stories abound about over chicken coops placed over the talapia pens as a food supplement for the fish.
The talapia get antibiotic supplements to prevent disease.

US farm raised talapia meet standards and inspections.

If you look a bit you can find excellent salt water fish in the DR but it is not in restaurants or super markets.
The Hogfish is considered the finest table fish. Firm white flesh that takes any seasoning well. A bit hard to find but I saw it in Santo Domingo in a sea food market.

 

[IslandDreaming]

Not Talapia . I had forgetten which fish was used , but i recalled it resembled a Pollock ,was going by memory.
see link below

I think that the Red Lobster chain was also involved in the Switch Scam from their vendor .. ?

I cant seem to find a link to this Article ...
But this video explains it perfectly, same thing.

The fish is called SWAI... ff to 1:36
I had never heard of this before....

[video=youtube;b6H1_4Mc-hU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6H1_4Mc-hU[/video]

Forgot about Swai It’s a member of a family of small sharks or catfish, really good tasting white fish with an almost sweet taste Swai has quite large filets and doesn’t fall apart in chowders There are all kind of stories about conditions in which Swai and tilapia are farmed, but as long as it comes from China, USA or other SE Asian countries than Vietnam I have faith is the USA Food inspections in that I am not eating polluted fish (Then again I could be but people have been eating those fish for along time now without side effects. Actually I think they may be “cleaner” than something’s caught in our rivers and harbors)

The “rebranding” of fish names has been going on for some time in an effort to gain acceptance among consumers I recall summers I spent in Maine way back during school days, Cod was considered a junk fish until baby cod was rebranded Scrod and now I believe Cod is one of the most popular Ocean Whitefish in the USA I see several comments about "Sea Bass," it used to be call Patagonian Toothfish, it just plain did not sell until rebranded Chilean Sea Bass and now it is found everywhere

There are so many perfectly good fish available but people are sensitive to names, good thing they usually don’t have the opportunity to see the actual whole fish in a market or they wouldn’t eat anything

I recall the first time I ate Dolphin in Florida, I thought “My God, not Flipper” and was explained that Mahi Mahi was actually the Fish and not mammal One of the juiciest and best tasting white fish I ever had

 

[lifeisgreat]

Halibut is so bloody expensive back home but the best fish n chips.. $98 dollars kg  I remember when halibut was cheap

 

[cobraboy]

Not exactly.
Groupers are a group of ocean fish of the same family as Sea Bass and with very similar in characteristics. The most famous are the Giant and Goliath Groupers which can grow to around 1000 pounds - pretty big bass.
All grouper are sea bass family.

They may be in the same genetic family, but groiuper and sea bass are two different sunspecies.

Here is a Chilean Sea Bass, the kind of frozen filets you find in the DR. They are harvested on farms when they reach maybe 2 lbs, and can grow in the wild up to 5lbs :

Here is a black grouper; other grouper species are similar. They are difficult to farm and grow up to 40lbs.:

I've caught both in FL.

Sea Bass filets in stores here are not grouper filets.

In Tampa, real grouper costs more than choice beef.

 

[dv8]

i love food conversations
while flounder is not the best choice for battering and frying it went surprisingly well in chepala iguru (spicy fish curry):

served here with neer dosa. lotsa work but interesting results.

 

[ROLLOUT]

The fish farmed and imported from Asian countries have little of no health or sanitation standards.
Asian talapia are farm raised and stories abound about over chicken coops placed over the talapia pens as a food supplement for the fish.
The talapia get antibiotic supplements to prevent disease.

US farm raised talapia meet standards and inspections.

If you look a bit you can find excellent salt water fish in the DR but it is not in restaurants or super markets.
The Hogfish is considered the finest table fish. Firm white flesh that takes any seasoning well. A bit hard to find but I saw it in Santo Domingo in a sea food market.

It is true, and I have been trying to tell people this for years. There is a good reason why you can buy it so cheaply in supermarkets. Don't count on the USDA to cover for you, as they are spread very thin.
I typically catch my own fish, but when I'm in places like DR, I tend to visit the beach shacks, where I am able to select the fish I want from the cooler in back. Ends any speculation.

 

[ROLLOUT]

When i lived in the UK, cod/plaice/haddock and chips served in newspaper was the go to after a night in the local with one srcumpy too much

 

[cobraboy]

When i lived in the UK, cod/plaice/haddock and chips served in newspaper was the go to after a night in the local with one srcumpy too much

In the US we have White Castle or Krystals.

 

[ROLLOUT]

How can you even begin to make that comparison? I have questioned whether white castle is really meat at all....