The Dory Fish Scam

[Windhorse]

Some might be pleased to know what there eat and where it comes from.

Lately Dory fish has become very populare Al over the place .

I have tried to find fish and chips other then dory but no avail.

Even upscale restaurants do use Dory and make you pay a lot for this crap.

I have asked some... that even say there salad is organic , the salad might be.. but the Dory their sell sure is not.I was told by some that it is an Australian fish,i do know that,i lived there for 10 years and had John Dory more than ones.

Not always it was available,funny! how come there is Dory al over the place here.So I did some research.

Result Dory is nothing else then Pangasius or better known as catfish.

There grown in the "pristine " water of the Mekong delta in Vietnam.

Fed on slaughterhouse of fall from south America.

Anybody that wants to know the truths just goggle Pangasius.

There is also videos on You tube.

[brotherother]

Yes I've known this for a long time. Guess it explains why the stuff's so cheap. It goes by some other names as well, although I have to say I'm often baffled by some of the names given to fish here - you certainly don't get what you would back in the West with the same name.

I hear the UK is also saturated with this pangasius stuff, and sometimes sold as cod by unscrupulous fish n chip shops (probably Asian-run). Like to think I'd know the difference.

[bkkjames]

So the Dory I buy from one of those Japanese supermarket chains is in fact not dory? it is very cheap for a fillet.

[FOODLOVER]

http://qualasaexpertise.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/truth-behind-propaganda-campaign-against-vietnamese-pangasius-fish-by-mr-d%C6%B0%C6%A1ng-minh-tr%E1%BB%8B-seafood-consultant-in-vietnam/

Opposing view.

[Windhorse]

great link...did not know the water in the Mekong is good to drink as the guy says.

But i do not agree to call a catfish Dory, when that is ocean fish of good quality.

[Windhorse]

Great link...did not know the Mekong water was safe to drink

But i still don't agree calling a catfish Dory...that is a good ocean fish

Doing that is a sales scam...by the way there from CP

[hawker9000]

I had Dory as part of a fish&chips meal at a seafood place in Terminal 21, Bangkok. There were 3 choices for fish & chips on the menu, and I think Dory was the cheapest of the 3. I'm a regular catfish eater here at home in the US, and this was NOT catfish. Whatever it was, I thought it was awful! Hated the consistency (very mushy) and didn't particularly care for the taste (kind o' gamey or "dirty" tasting). 'Have been telling folks I'll never touch Dory again, but now wondering if perhaps the Dory I had was counterfeit.

[Windhorse]

Great link...did not know the Mekong was safe to drink

I don't agree to call a catfish with the name dory that is a ocean fish

CP might not know...mistakes are Human.

[Windhorse]

sorry for the 3 posts but my connection is funny....for hawker9000 just goggle pangasius

[hawker9000]

Hmmm - sounds like my tastebuds (and reaction otherwise) might've been on the money.

[edwardandtubs]

I don't think it's fresh from the Mekong, I think the dory is farmed in Vietnam with poor standards of hygiene. There have been TV documentaries on this in the west.

[steve down under]

Its in the shops here in Australia as well goes by the name of Basa usually in fillets have only eaten it a couple of times and both times it tasted like I was eating fishy turds and yes the texture was awful as well !

Will never buy or eat it again after my son inlaw came back from a holiday in Vietnam and showed me a video he had shot at a fish farm and there was a little Vietnamese bloke taking a dump into one of the pens that the fish are bred in and yes you guessed it they were Basa or whetever the hell they call them in other places .

Edited September 16, 2012 by steve down under

[tommy54]

which dory is it ? silver doory ? pearl dory? or the famous john dory ?. In australia they skin the pearl and siver dory and call it john dory as it looks the same fillet , john dory has a black round spot on it thats why they skin the others , they dont have it . I can buy dory here in chon buri cheap , and yes it is not dory but catfish

[tinfoilhat]

I had Dory as part of a fish&chips meal at a seafood place in Terminal 21, Bangkok. There were 3 choices for fish & chips on the menu, and I think Dory was the cheapest of the 3. I'm a regular catfish eater here at home in the US, and this was NOT catfish. Whatever it was, I thought it was awful! Hated the consistency (very mushy) and didn't particularly care for the taste (kind o' gamey or "dirty" tasting). 'Have been telling folks I'll never touch Dory again, but now wondering if perhaps the Dory I had was counterfeit.

that seafood place (i think its next to piri piri) is dire. the fish i got with my fish and chips was so old,it was little better than mush. My daughter, 5, who loves fish and chips, would not take a second bite. The manager yelled at me when i pointed out the food was substandard and went and hid in the office.

its a floor below the main food area correct? Attched to piri piri chicken?

[meatboy]

i have posted before that there is farmed dory and pacific salt water sea dory,the farmed is vile at 130bht a kilo yet the pacific i pay for is 280bht a kilo and taste is a dam site better,but both are mekong cat fish

[Windhorse]

there you go http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/314440/will-the-real-dory-please

[barefoot1988]

this pangasius thingy had been going on years ago. apparently from what i read, there is nothing unhygienic and harmful about it. we should more wary of those mercury content form tuna etc etc. labeling them as dory or cod is a whole different thing though

i get my pangasius fillet from lotus, pan fried and batter fried them regularly. they are pretty cheap and taste decent and definitely not mushy. if its mushy, there definitely something wrong with it

[Fgis]

So the Dory I buy from one of those Japanese supermarket chains is in fact not dory? it is very cheap for a fillet.

Yes 30 thb fillet only !

We all know that we are eating shxt and it seems that there is nothing we can do about it.

I found a way to eat REAL good fish from the sea, I now buy at BigC(asino) the French frozen fish called CABILLAUD and an other one called COLIN.

At least they are fish from the sea, but wonder if they could come from a farm ?

[wayned]

I bought frozen fish at Makro on Friday. They had "Dory" at 329 baht/kilo and Pangasius at 85 baht/kilo side by side and packaged by the same Asian supplier. The fillets looked exactly the same so, as I have in the past, I bought the cheaper one.

[meatboy]

I bought frozen fish at Makro on Friday. They had "Dory" at 329 baht/kilo and Pangasius at 85 baht/kilo side by side and packaged by the same Asian supplier. The fillets looked exactly the same so, as I have in the past, I bought the cheaper one.

before i found out about cobia i used to buy that so called dory from home fresh 295bht/kilo which was ok.expecially they have no bones,then i saw some in makro 135bht/kilo so i tried some,yes it was farmed but tasted muddy,the fish from home fresh is farmed in salt water,the taste was more like a sea fish.wf.had fillets from tesco last week at 99bht kilo promotion looked good and firm and cooked well

[in batter].i passed.

[Morden]

Dory from Macro, Tesco and Food Mart is good and sells well in my wife's restaurant. Buy the type without the dark stripe down the back.

If you want cod, Macro sell it at threee times the price of dory.

If you find it unsatisfactory in a restauarant, first consider how long they had it out of the freezer and how they cooked it before criticising an entire fish type.

[jonnyscot]

I've bought the dory and panga a few times from macro for making a pot of fish soup, being an ex commercial deep sea fisherman I think in my opinion these two fish are not even closely comparable in taste to haddock or cod mainly found around UK waters but just about acceptable for making a pot of fish soup,,

just a mention though, I've picked up those sole (flatfish) that makro sell on their ice counter cant remember the thai name but I've found those to be tasty and reasonably priced too

[Morden]

Thanks for the tp on flat fish.

Dory is good fried in batter. Not as good as cod but, we find, popular as an inexpensive substitute. No-one will pay for cod and chips and the price a restaurant must sell.

[Fgis]

So we all agree that dory is just shxt fish and that once more customers are cheated ?

All restaurateurs are all cheater in US as in EU and even here.

When they sell the real food it's just already cooked industrial food like Makro is selling.

[Fgis]

Only uneducated palaces can appreciate dory or panga.

[Morden]

So we all agree that dory is just shxt fish and that once more customers are cheated ?

All restaurateurs are all cheater in US as in EU and even here.

When they sell the real food it's just already cooked industrial food like Makro is selling.

Are you serious?

[gennisis]

So the Dory I buy from one of those Japanese supermarket chains is in fact not dory? it is very cheap for a fillet.

Yes 30 thb fillet only !

We all know that we are eating shxt and it seems that there is nothing we can do about it.

I found a way to eat REAL good fish from the sea, I now buy at BigC(asino) the French frozen fish called CABILLAUD and an other one called COLIN.

At least they are fish from the sea, but wonder if they could come from a farm ?

You will find that this is COD and COLY.

Back home in UK, COLY was the fish we bought for the cat !.

I bought the pack of Cod...was dissapointed to find that the frozen block was composed of many smaller pieces,but was OK for soup with some mussels and prawns.

[Fgis]

So we all agree that dory is just shxt fish and that once more customers are cheated ?

All restaurateurs are all cheater in US as in EU and even here.

When they sell the real food it's just already cooked industrial food like Makro is selling.

Are you serious?

Perfectly !

People who expect to eat fresh food in restaurants, even expensive ones, should have a second look at what is sold in supermarkets...

In Thailand maybe only Thai street food is fresh, everything else is made by cheaters and industry.

I cannot stand anymore what we are given to eat. My dog in EU was eating better food than what they give us in restaurants everywhere in the world now.

[Morden]

So we all agree that dory is just shxt fish and that once more customers are cheated ?

All restaurateurs are all cheater in US as in EU and even here.

When they sell the real food it's just already cooked industrial food like Makro is selling.

Are you serious?

Perfectly !

People who expect to eat fresh food in restaurants, even expensive ones, should have a second look at what is sold in supermarkets...

In Thailand maybe only Thai street food is fresh, everything else is made by cheaters and industry.

I cannot stand anymore what we are given to eat. My dog in EU was eating better food than what they give us in restaurants everywhere in the world now.

My wife's restaurant buys fresh meat, fish and vegetables from the local market every morning. Raw meat and fish is bought frozen elsewhere when there is no other option. Nothing is pre-cooked.

The same applies to other restaurants that we know.

[Donnie Brasco]

People who expect to eat fresh food in restaurants, even expensive ones, should have a second look at what is sold in supermarkets...

In Thailand maybe only Thai street food is fresh, everything else is made by cheaters and industry.

Come come now. Really.

These appallingly simplistic generalizations just won't do.

And exactly what do you mean by "Thai 'street food'" really.

A few pointed questions to your server in any decent restaurant will suggest to him that you will not be paying sea bass prices for farmed barramundi or North Atlantic Salmon prices for seriously radio-active Japanese filleted fish-farm floaters. Your questions and his answers will get you what you want.

Try that in the street ;-)

Well, ok o

If you're night dining south of the Thonglor intersection you're pronouncement will be proven accurate to some degree, but the small family places on the sub-sois of Thonglor, Asoke and Prompeung are worth a go.

Most hotel venues are worth the money.

Steaks? BarBQ your own for best results.

Seafood ? Late nite lobster fry with your favorite leggy Ratchada hill-tart can be a hoot if you go with Thais, double order and bring along a few bottles of chilled Sauvignon Blanc or even a muscatel if she's new to the grape.

Live a little.

:-)