Alternative to Pangasius Fish?

[moonseeker]

Hi there:

Any body knows of an alternative to Pangasius in a similar price range? Recently Pangasius becomes more and more inedible, "doped" with stabilizers and making the fish watery, tasteless and gel-like. Thank you. MS>

[KittenKong]

How do you want to cook it?

Tilapia and Nile Perch seem like obvious candidates, but these are farmed too. If you want something that isnt pumped full of hormones and chemicals then you need to look for non-farmed fish, but the price will surely be higher especially if you want fillets.

I generally find that the supermarkets like BigC have a good selection of non-farmed cooked fish at reasonable prices, though it comes with heads and bones and fins etc. Much tastier than the farmed sort.

[tropo]

I stopped eating Mekong River Catfish (pangasius, basa etc) after watching this video.

I wouldn't eat it at half the price......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6N2SX51d7w

[bangkokstick]

Casino BigC brand frozen fish from the sea ! Less than 200 thb.

[Morden]

Try Alaskan pollock from Makro.

[moonseeker]

Thank you all. MS>

[worgeordie]

Try Alaskan pollock from Makro.

Concur, the Alaska Pollack from Makro is very good ,the fillets are not too big,

and at least they have not been farmed,and fed whatever crap! dosed with Anti

Biotic s,

I have tried most fish trying to find substitute for Cod,tried Hoki from NZ, Burimundi,

and a few others all from Makro, the Hoki had a strong oily taste,the Burimundi was

mostly belly cuts (rubbish), but the Alaska Pollock is the nearest you can get to Cod,same

family, and its a good price at 165 Bht- 185 bht Kg, 2 sizes.i have bought 10kg,as when

you find something good in Thailand,food wise,when its gone,its gone you never see it

again.

regards worgeordie

[jonnyscot]

I'd also agree the pollock is probably the closest you'll get to cod here, though back home the pollock was a poor substitute and nowhere close to the taste of cod, best not to check out the video in a previous post since if you knew what most fish or prawns feed on or whatever, you'd not eat anything, although I'd certainly say eating sea fish would be much much better tasting than eating most pellet fed farmed fish, unless caught in the vicinity of Fujishima or whatever you call the Japanese reactor

[moonseeker]

Heading to Makro tomorrow. Thank you for the great info from everybody. MS>

[DerkMR]

Do you prefer pest or cholera?

Since Fukushima it's no longer really safe to eat pacific caught fish unless you check with a Geiger counter.

The shores of Thailand have not been reached by the latest strong leaking but it can be assumed that they will be affected within the next weeks.

Bye,

Derk

[draftvader]

Do you prefer pest or cholera?

Since Fukushima it's no longer really safe to eat pacific caught fish unless you check with a Geiger counter.

The shores of Thailand have not been reached by the latest strong leaking but it can be assumed that they will be affected within the next weeks.

fukushima.jpg

Bye,

Derk

Oh dear! Can you link to the source as I would like to better understand that particular data.

[eddie61]

i have bought cobia before, which is a local sea fish, and reasonably priced. Now off to makro for alaskan pollock.

Pangasius is pla sawai, which definitely goes back in the pond when I catch it.

[Dararasmi]

Vegetarianism.

[Totster]

I'd also agree the pollock is probably the closest you'll get to cod here, though back home the pollock was a poor substitute and nowhere close to the taste of cod,

Not true, I watched a TV programme a while back where members of the public were given a choice of two fish, Pollock and cod, most picked Pollock as the favorite.

totster

[Toscano]

Has any one done an scientific analysis of Pangasius fillets . I suspect that when they are dead cleaned and filleted , that they are cleaned of all the hormones , chemicals etc. they have been fed . When I lived in Cornwall England , I used to like Gray Mullet very much , despite watching them feed at the outflow of my yacht club drains . They fed on shit , but were white fleshed and delicious to eat .

I too have found Pangasius sometimes gelatinous , lacking substance to eat . We use it at home to make Tom Yum with no bones or mess . We cut it into pieces from frozen and pop it into the pan last , it takes very little time to cook . Many people cook fish too long and its firm substance will be lost . Does one suppose that the local farmed Carp is full of chemicals ?

[jonnyscot]

As I said "back home" where I came from and indeed where I worked we had an abundance of choice between haddock(my personal favourite) cod, hake, lemon sole, plaice or halibut fresh from the sea on a daily basis, pollock was a poor choice from around where I was brought up many in my area wouldn't even think of trying it, generally fetching sometimes as low as 20 to 30 pounds per 25kg box at market whilst cod fetched upwards of 90 pounds per 25kg box, this would be very approx prices that I was aware of from my 16 years I spent in the industry, of course price isn't always a bearing on taste and each to their own, but I'd hazard a guess that most fishing communities would choose cod or possibly haddock over pollock, certainly pollock was way down the list of preferred choices "back home" that is, then again in many fish and chip shops around the borders and south of the borders I found whiting was most commonly served, to me that fish was totally tasteless but then again the market prices reflected this

I'd also agree the pollock is probably the closest you'll get to cod here, though back home the pollock was a poor substitute and nowhere close to the taste of cod,

Not true, I watched a TV programme a while back where members of the public were given a choice of two fish, Pollock and cod, most picked Pollock as the favorite.

totster

[Awohalitsiktoli]

Perhaps slightly off topic, but I just wanted to issue a warning about yet another scam: tilapia being sold as "red snapper" and barramundi being sold as "sea bass." Both are crap fish, IMHO, farm raised disgusting fish (fed every possible thing that you can think of that is revolting). You see these two fishes everywhere in Thailand now. The scam is big business. Buyer beware. Yes, before you say it, I am aware that barramundi is sometimes called "sea bass" in Asia, but it is not the saltwater sea bass that most of us like. If you want authentic red snapper and authentic sea bass, you have to pick it out yourself and take it to the kitchen and watch them cook it, otherwise, they will likely make a switch to one of the crap species.

[Wat dee]

i have bought cobia before, which is a local sea fish, and reasonably priced. Now off to makro for alaskan pollock.

Pangasius is pla sawai, which definitely goes back in the pond when I catch it.

You don't eat Sawai but do you eat something else from your pond?

[Saradoc1972]

Actually pretty much anything would be an alternative to Pangasius according to TV chef I once watched talking on it and he was referring to it as "the last sh*t". He held it tasted more or less of nothing and it was probably that less fishy taste why people liked it in the first place and then went on about how those fish are not fished but reared in huge vats with lots and lots of antibiotics because there are too many of them.Then they found out they could add another kind of fish to those vats that will gobble up some of the germs and those get fed chicken excrements. That might sound unappetizing but is actually a step forward.

In any case, with those fish you are getting a big dose of antibiotics which then may fail you, when you need them.

Sadly, the same is true about shrimps and last month or so 80% of the shrimps in Thai vats went belly-up, in the true sense of the word, because of some illness in those overpopulated environments.

[Basset]

I worked on the Fishing Trawlers for over 20 years but had never heard of Pacific Dory, John Dory yes but Pacific No. I googled it and it appears it was a name given to Pangasius to make it sound better for the Australian Market, they also called it Bassa. Most restaurants here tend to call it Pacific Dory (me included), some even John Dory, I am now looking at other options, probably Pollock.

[bangkokstick]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollock is one of the fish sold at BigC brand Casino and it's called COLIN I think in Atlantic and on the box at BigC.

[tropo]

Has any one done an scientific analysis of Pangasius fillets . I suspect that when they are dead cleaned and filleted , that they are cleaned of all the hormones , chemicals etc. they have been fed . When I lived in Cornwall England , I used to like Gray Mullet very much , despite watching them feed at the outflow of my yacht club drains . They fed on shit , but were white fleshed and delicious to eat .

I too have found Pangasius sometimes gelatinous , lacking substance to eat . We use it at home to make Tom Yum with no bones or mess . We cut it into pieces from frozen and pop it into the pan last , it takes very little time to cook . Many people cook fish too long and its firm substance will be lost . Does one suppose that the local farmed Carp is full of chemicals ?

I'll tell you one thing, Vietnam's making a fortune selling this fish around the world. It's very popular because it's white and flaky without the fishy taste... and cheap.

You're pretty optimistic thinking that these fish, literally bred in cesspits, can be cleansed of all chemicals and pollutants by filleting and flash freezing.

Did you watch the video I linked above?

[tropo]

I worked on the Fishing Trawlers for over 20 years but had never heard of Pacific Dory, John Dory yes but Pacific No. I googled it and it appears it was a name given to Pangasius to make it sound better for the Australian Market, they also called it Bassa. Most restaurants here tend to call it Pacific Dory (me included), some even John Dory, I am now looking at other options, probably Pollock.

The can call it what they like in Thailand.

You might find this interesting (from Wikipedia):

"Catfish war" in the U.S.

In 2002, the United States accused Vietnam of dumping catfish, namely Pangasius bocourti and Pangasius hypophthalmus, on the American market, charging the Vietnamese importers, who are subsidized by Vietnam's government, of unfair competition.[6][7] With pressures from the U.S. catfish industry, the United States Congress passed a law in 2003 preventing the imported fish from being labelled as catfish, as well as imposing additional tariffs on the imported fish. Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruling, only species from the family Ictaluridae can be sold as true catfish. As a result, the Vietnamese exporters of this fish now label their products sold in the U.S. as basa fish or bocourti.[10][11]

At the height of the "catfish war", U.S. catfish farmers and others were describing the imported catfish as an inferior product. However, Mississippi State University researchers found imported basa were preferred in a taste test 3-to-1.

Basa in the UK

Basa has become fairly common in the UK under the name "Vietnamese river cobbler" or just "river cobbler". It is mainly being sold through the large supermarkets in both fresh and frozen forms. It is marketed as a cheaper alternative to traditionally popular white fish, such as cod orhaddock. Young's uses it in some of its frozen fish products, choosing to use the name basa instead of cobbler.[18]

UK Trading Standards officers have stated cobbler is being fraudulently sold as cod by some fish and chip retailers to capitalise on the large difference in the wholesale price between the two, i.e., cobbler costs less than half the price of cod. This practice was highlighted by the successful prosecution of two retailers (using DNA evidence) one in July 2009, and another in April 2010.[19][20]

Edited September 23, 2013 by tropo

[Nekton]

Do you prefer pest or cholera?

Since Fukushima it's no longer really safe to eat pacific caught fish unless you check with a Geiger counter.

The shores of Thailand have not been reached by the latest strong leaking but it can be assumed that they will be affected within the next weeks.

fukushima.jpg

Bye,

Derk

Oh dear! Can you link to the source as I would like to better understand that particular data.

The data on that NOAA graphic has absolutely nothing to do with the radiation plume, instead it maps the height of the tsunami as it traveled across the Pacific in 2011. The first clue is that the unit of measurement is in cm. The second is that currents in the Pacific look nothing like that. I am not saying that there isn't a plume out there, but this graphic doesn't show it.

Don't feel bad for falling for it though, some news agencies actually showed this graphic when they ran the story about the recent release.

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/29/fukushima_radiation_set_to_hit_the_u_s_by_2014/

http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/fukushima.asp

[tropo]

Do you prefer pest or cholera?

Since Fukushima it's no longer really safe to eat pacific caught fish unless you check with a Geiger counter.

The shores of Thailand have not been reached by the latest strong leaking but it can be assumed that they will be affected within the next weeks.

fukushima.jpg

Bye,

Derk

Oh dear! Can you link to the source as I would like to better understand that particular data.

The data on that NOAA graphic has absolutely nothing to do with the radiation plume, instead it maps the height of the tsunami as it traveled across the Pacific in 2011. The first clue is that the unit of measurement is in cm. The second is that currents in the Pacific look nothing like that. I am not saying that there isn't a plume out there, but this graphic doesn't show it.

Don't feel bad for falling for it though, some news agencies actually showed this graphic when they ran the story about the recent release.

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/29/fukushima_radiation_set_to_hit_the_u_s_by_2014/

http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/fukushima.asp

Snopes.com is a great resource. It's the first place I look when I see a story which is hard to believe.

[fxe1200]

I love red snapper from the Indian Ocean, it is still affordable.

[belg]

does anyone knows what kind of fish FUJI serves as = pla kapong - white fish (210 baht)

Edited September 25, 2013 by belg

[ricklev]

I would love to know what fish are farmed and what fish come from the sea!

[tropo]

I would love to know what fish are farmed and what fish come from the sea!

Use price as a guide. Farmed fish is much cheaper.

[ALFREDO]

Even "breathing" is many parts of the world dangerous. I like my -Pangasius- Breaded Fish and chips meal.

At MAKRO now, 1.000 g frozen fillet - 800 g net. Only 79.- Baht !

To much Antibiotics and medicine inside the fish, ok, than "I save my way to the pharmacy!"

I am "immunized" beforehand, already against a lot!

The death comes also to the "Health Apostles".