Thai Fishes Names And Species, Is Plaa Kaow The Best Fish In Restaurants ?

[bangkokstick]

Hello,

Any fish expert here ?

Can you told me what are the fishes that we can usually eat in Thai restaurants and their name in Thai and/or English ?

I know plaa Taptim, plaa kapon and plaa kaow, is it true that plaa kaow is the best and the most expensive ?

Which other fishes can we find in Thai restaurants ?

Please tell me which one is your fav and how you like to cook them ?

Thank you to you experts!

[Hedghog]

Smoked Salmon.

With broccoli and scrambled egg.

Glass of white wine.

Beats the Thai fish every time.

As do kipper fillets from Tops,served with poached egg.

[Mosha]

Plaa Kapon is a great fish for Fish 'n' Chips

[Aquanaut]

Spangled snapper - Plaa huay kheean (if you can find it anywhere) is one of the tastiest fish you can eat in Thailand; steamed with lime, spring onions and chilli (plaa nung manao), fried (pat prik), or in a soup (tom yum plaa, or geng som if you like it spicy) Whichever way you cook it, it's delicious; white flaky meat rather like cod

Spanish mackerel (plaa in-see), mullet (plaa grabock), any of the trevallies (plaa mong) and cobia (plaa chon talay) are also good.

A few things to consider: FRESH fish are much healthier to eat and tastier too - after more than a day of being caught, the meat loses much of it's 'sweetness.' Often the Thai fishing boats go out for 3/4 days, so the earliest catches are kept on ice on the boat and are often treated with formaline to preserve and keep the colour (if you dont know, check the properties/uses of this chemical). These fishes usually end up in markets and restaurants until they are sold. You can normally assess the freshness by checking the clarity of the eyes and colour of the gill rakers: red means fresh, light pink or even white signifies an unfresh fish.

Furthermore, Thailand seems to have no fishing regulations, nor catch quotas. Most fish are caught by netting which often results in injured/lost sharks, turtles and other marine life, not to mention the nets often become snagged on the precious coral reefs. If you want to eat fresh fish and/or chose not to support such an unsustainable industry, it's better to catch your own!

[seabear]

I like

Plaa Samlee (cotton Fish?) with green mango salad.

Plaa taa diao , Sole. in lemon juice and real butter (not margarine) and some almond splinters.