Substitute For Cod (Fish)

[george]

Frozen Cod is available in Villa Market and some other places, but it's pretty expensive.

Any tips of a good substitute for Cod available in Thailand?

[fin5prtw]

I'm not sure what it's called but there is a fish that I consider better than cod which I always buy from my local thai shop.. it's a pretty big pink fish.. fried with garlic, oyster sauce and stock its amazing.

I'll ask my boyfriend for the thai name for it so I can tell you that at least later

[ignis]

Makro has a nice white fish like Cod + cost 90 baht kg = 4 big fillets

[Thaddeus]

Makro has a nice white fish like Cod + cost 90 baht kg = 4 big fillets

Yep, Pangasius, not too bad.

[lopburi3]

Cold water cod sold in Foodland is my favorite fish. Have never tasted a warm water version that was anything like it. But admit am no connoisseur.

[DNPBC0]

Pangasius (a freshwater catfish, also known as cobbler or basa fish or bocourti) is sometimes sold as cod in UK fish-and-chip shops because it's very much cheaper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basa_fish

I cook it - for me the flavour is not as good as fresh cod, but it's OK, and I'm getting used to it.

[msg362]

I think it's called dorey or something similar, fried in batter fine! Rimping/ Makro etc ( in Rimping 2 pieces 90 Bt cheaper in Makro)

Not 'fired' fried' typo!

Edited August 10, 2012 by msg362

[FOODLOVER]

Thai grouper filet. Flaky white fish just like the cod and is moist and tender.

[RudieTheFoodie]

Parrot Fish.

Most delicious

[Thaddeus]

Parrot Fish.

Most delicious

Yes, but has a habit of repeating on me.

[meatboy]

Makro has a nice white fish like Cod + cost 90 baht kg = 4 big fillets

Yep, Pangasius, not too bad.

i like this fish but i have found there is 2 different tasteing ones,one which is farmed av.about 135bht xkilo and the other is pacific dory 279xkilo from home fresh this is much better it has that saltwater taste,you will find the diff.

[meatboy]

another fish which is quite good i think it was on this forum it was recomended is indian halibut known as one eye,the wf got a small one from tesco but it was too small 6in.need fillets off one over 18in.someone said its available down in patts.nagkula fish market.

[xen]

Been eating a lot of Dory , i persume it is John Dory with the thumb print of John the Baptist on the head (i am not too good at identifing fish, my talent is in eating them ) , or "Dolly " fish as the Thais pronounce it. Fairly plentiful and cheap at the moment - we have been paying about 60 baht for 3 good size fillets in Justco lately, If you deep fry, avoid palm oil as you will get a strange taste i have found ,

Grouper is indeed a loverly fish to eat but is endangered as it is so docile and easy to catch . There is a fish the Chinese eat called pig fish, a deep water fish , probably known by many other names and is one ugly fish but it is the nicest fish i have ever eaten. I do not know if it is available in Thailand but have seen it in Hong Kong. Probably does not fit the critea for a cheap alternative to Cod.

[meatboy]

john dory is mekong catfish

[dazk]

indian halibut or cobia

cobia has a better fillet size and has been championed by the british chief jamie oliver as an alternative to cod, we use it in our restaurant for battered fish and has been mistaken by some customers to be cod.

Edited August 11, 2012 by dazk

[notmyself]

Snakefish is what it's called around here on account of its head looking like that of a snake. Small fish so make sure your fillet knife is well sharp because it's not easy.

[theseahorse]

Been eating a lot of Dory , i persume it is John Dory with the thumb print of John the Baptist on the head (i am not too good at identifing fish, my talent is in eating them ) , or "Dolly " fish as the Thais pronounce it. Fairly plentiful and cheap at the moment - we have been paying about 60 baht for 3 good size fillets in Justco lately, If you deep fry, avoid palm oil as you will get a strange taste i have found ,

Grouper is indeed a loverly fish to eat but is endangered as it is so docile and easy to catch . There is a fish the Chinese eat called pig fish, a deep water fish , probably known by many other names and is one ugly fish but it is the nicest fish i have ever eaten. I do not know if it is available in Thailand but have seen it in Hong Kong. Probably does not fit the critea for a cheap alternative to Cod.

The Dory they sell here isn't John Dory (St Peters Fish, Thumb Print Fish, etc), it's a type of catfish (like the other posts say). John Dory and the Thai Dory are very very different, in quality, looks, taste and price.

But as Meatboy said, there's two differet types; the fresh water is very cheap (and not very nice), but the salt water version is a bit better.

It depends on what you're doing with it, but for battered fish then Parrotfish is my personal preference out of the local species.

[Ciocco]

Be aware about pangaisus... in Europe they sequestered a lot of this low cost chinese catfish...

as a lot of chinese things...

and if it could be ok for a t-shirt...

better do not save too much on what to put in the stomach...

[dazk]

i find pangaisus a watery, mushy, flavourless fish

[xen]

Been eating a lot of Dory , i persume it is John Dory with the thumb print of John the Baptist on the head (i am not too good at identifing fish, my talent is in eating them ) , or "Dolly " fish as the Thais pronounce it. Fairly plentiful and cheap at the moment - we have been paying about 60 baht for 3 good size fillets in Justco lately, If you deep fry, avoid palm oil as you will get a strange taste i have found ,

Grouper is indeed a loverly fish to eat but is endangered as it is so docile and easy to catch . There is a fish the Chinese eat called pig fish, a deep water fish , probably known by many other names and is one ugly fish but it is the nicest fish i have ever eaten. I do not know if it is available in Thailand but have seen it in Hong Kong. Probably does not fit the critea for a cheap alternative to Cod.

The Dory they sell here isn't John Dory (St Peters Fish, Thumb Print Fish, etc), it's a type of catfish (like the other posts say). John Dory and the Thai Dory are very very different, in quality, looks, taste and price.

But as Meatboy said, there's two differet types; the fresh water is very cheap (and not very nice), but the salt water version is a bit better.

It depends on what you're doing with it, but for battered fish then Parrotfish is my personal preference out of the local species.

Thanks Meatboy and Seahorse for that info.And here i was blaming the Palm oil on the strange taste - explains a lot now. It seems there is a lot of Catfish on the market under different names then , Will have to seek out the "Pacific Dory " to try that and the Parrot fish i will try that too.

[Ciocco]

Also palm oil is a very unhealthy fat to fry... used everywhere in Thailand because cheap and easy to "clean"...

Looking for a good oil to fry better to use the sunflower or if available the peanut oil, but nothing better than olive oil... expecially is used just one or two time...

[stailmanki]

It will be hard to find anything good as a substitute for the frozen cod in Thailand (except fresh haha)

We cook up huge amounts of Pangasius at the commercial catering operation were I work,,,,, it's not good at all & is marketed under many different names such as mentioned above and some operators also sell it (fraudulently) as Pacific Dory. Iridescent Shark is another name , maybe from the way it makes you glow after eating all the chemicals and homones that are fed/injected in to the fish to make them grow fast.

I would go for a fresh: Spanish (barred) Mackerel , more oily but tasty , Indian Halibut, like sole or flounder. Coral Trout/Cod,Grouper are delicate & tasty,

Snow fish & Parrot fish , maybe hard to find , all the above are wild stock,not farmed & will be cheaper than frozen cold sea cold.

I like the fresh (farmed) Salmon/Salmon Trout available at Central, but it's expensive.

[meatboy]

Also palm oil is a very unhealthy fat to fry... used everywhere in Thailand because cheap and easy to "clean"...

Looking for a good oil to fry better to use the sunflower or if available the peanut oil, but nothing better than olive oil... expecially is used just one or two time...

always use corn oil holds the heat better without burning,and then there is oooooooooooooooo beef dripping.

[meatboy]

i have found a couple of fish suppliers who have cobbia i wonder what price it fetches here,as i can recall an under cover team in the uk.found that take aways with fish&chips on the menu were useing this fish as cod[known as cobba] no one knew the diff.

[RudieTheFoodie]

Personally I disagree with all the palm oil haters. I think if it's fresh it's fine. I think most peoples dislike of it comes from eating something fried in old oil which has all sorts of different old flavours in it. Try frying some french fries in it. It has a low boiling point so less oil enters the fries.

[dazk]

i have found a couple of fish suppliers who have cobbia i wonder what price it fetches here,as i can recall an under cover team in the uk.found that take aways with fish&chips on the menu were useing this fish as cod[known as cobba] no one knew the diff.

like i said i have had customers mistake it for cod (we do not advertise as cod) its is a fairly cheap fish its available fresh and frozen in makro not sure on the the kilo price

[dazk]

Personally I disagree with all the palm oil haters. I think if it's fresh it's fine. I think most peoples dislike of it comes from eating something fried in old oil which has all sorts of different old flavours in it. Try frying some french fries in it. It has a low boiling point so less oil enters the fries.

like you say food is less oily with palm oil and from a restaurant point of view it lasts longer and tastes better imo

[meatboy]

i have found a couple of fish suppliers who have cobbia i wonder what price it fetches here,as i can recall an under cover team in the uk.found that take aways with fish&chips on the menu were useing this fish as cod[known as cobba] no one knew the diff.

like i said i have had customers mistake it for cod (we do not advertise as cod) its is a fairly cheap fish its available fresh and frozen in makro not sure on the the kilo price

thanks for that dazk we are off to makro tomorrow.

[theseahorse]

Personally I disagree with all the palm oil haters. I think if it's fresh it's fine. I think most peoples dislike of it comes from eating something fried in old oil which has all sorts of different old flavours in it. Try frying some french fries in it. It has a low boiling point so less oil enters the fries.

Each to their own, but it's the taste of palm oil that I dislike, even when new. Oils like corn oil have very little taste so are prefered by many where as oils like groundnut and olive and fats like lard and dripping give the food a nice extra flavour due to the nice flavour of the oil/fat. Get a bit of bread and taste some palm oil the same way you'd try olive oils . Anything, even when fried properly will still take on some of the flavour of the oil. If money was no option then personally a well filtered olive oil would be my choice for fish - great flavour and a high smoke point, just a shame it's so expensive

Not sure what you mean by low boiling point? When oil boils, it smokes (as in the smoke point) so the higher the better when frying. A low boiling point (smoke point) is a bad thing. But palm oil does have a high smoke point when clean and that (and the price) is why it's used so much.

[george]

Thanks for all suggestions, I'm off to Makro!

Cheers