Fish for making 'fish & chips'.

[2fishin2]

Why anyone in their right mind would purchase frozen fish over fresh is beyond my comprehension.

we are talking fish and chips here, nothing else, no local fresh fish would be the same or as good as cod, if fresh cod is available then that would be better....

OMG there are MANY fresh thai fish that far surpass cod in flavor. Grouper, cobia, snappers of several different varieties, mackerel, mahi, just to start with.

[steve187]

Why anyone in their right mind would purchase frozen fish over fresh is beyond my comprehension.

we are talking fish and chips here, nothing else, no local fresh fish would be the same or as good as cod, if fresh cod is available then that would be better....

OMG there are MANY fresh thai fish that far surpass cod in flavor. Grouper, cobia, snappers of several different varieties, mackerel, mahi, just to start with.

You may be correct but you fail to see the point, it will never be fish and chips, and i won't mention the mushy peas

[2fishin2]

I get it if its not cod, its not "fish"

cod is cod

[finnomick]

The misses is just preparing fish, chips and mushy peas. I prefer snakehead ( pla chon ) because the flesh is nice and white and the texture of the flesh is good. We have several fishponds and grow various species. We've tried the nile tilapia ( pla nin ) and catfish ( pla duk ) but my preference is still snakehead. We are currently growing on some Paku but as yet they are a bit small for filleting. Barramundi is also an idea for the future but I'm not 100% sure of keeping them as they are not really a pond fish. We'll see.

[jonnyscot]

Cant remember the name, but try those sharp toothed whole ugly looking flatfish you often see in the ice display at macro, bought and filleted them a few times, into the pan and fried in breadcrumbs, although not a patch on haddock or megrims(flatfish) from uk, they have nice white flesh and taste ok

[steve187]

I get it if its not cod, its not "fish"

cod is cod

I am not saying ''if its not cod its not fish'', what i am saying is if its cod its the best ''fish and chips in Thailand''

This thread is titled Fish for making 'fish & chips'. full stop or for American English speakers period

[jonnyscot]

Each to their own steve, personally i'd prefer haddock as the best fish and chips in thailand, although in saying that Ive noticed frozen haddock loses a lot of its taste whereas frozen cod still retains much of the taste

"steve187" quote

I am not saying ''if its not cod its not fish'', what i am saying is if its cod its the best ''fish and chips in Thailand''

[hugocnx]

Most of the "Dory" fillets are not dory at all, but Catfish, to me they taste like mud or at least the filthy ponds they are reared in, I'm lucky and live close to the coast, I use fresh reef fish for my crumbed fish & chips hit.

For anyone that doesn't believe the Dory - Catfish claim, then check your fillets, if they look like the fillet below, then it is Catfish, Dory is a clean white fillet without the distinctive blood lines running all through it.

Dory looks like this

Sorry to disagree.

The red finished fish you show is a Pangasius sort of fish and yes, in many cases rather tasteless.

Pangasius comes in a lot of varieties; an easy fish for boneless fillets and also for the pretty pricing a common used fillet for fish&chips.

[hugocnx]

pretty much spot on except the white snapper description.

i buy them here from our local fisher for 200THB a kg and they are from the sea...

red snapper is 150THB a kg...

but es described above Cod is the best...

The Brits favor Atlantic Cod and Atlantic Haddock for fish and chips.

Rimping in Chiang Mai has nice (frozen) Atlantic Cod. Grouper (pla kao) is good - firm and flakey.

Avoid the dreaded Mekong catfish (aka "Dory" aka Pangasius" aka "Panga") at all cost!!!

Catfish is no Dory as Pangasius is no fresh water fish by definition.

Point is the responsability of the company breading the fish as is done with salmon e.g.

Food and environment make the difference when it comes to good taste.

Gasp, many go for the lowest price and many have no taste.

Edited February 11, 2015 by hugocnx

[unclueng]

We use red tilapia, "plaa tubtim".

[Jonmarleesco]

You want fish and chips, you do not want dory; nor, for that matter, snapper. Cod, haddock or plaice; preferably cod. But I only know those are to be had in Bangkok; in Tops. I can't speak for the north. That said, Villa - again Bangkok - sells cod already battered, and the price (and taste) make it not worthwhile buying to make from scratch.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Jonmarleesco

[thefactoryoutlet]

ALL fish and chips restaurants in Thailand use cheap shiite pangasius, so just do like them !

[bartender100]

Cobia is my fish for fish and chips, or even pan fried its good , cheaper than grouper and sold in all the main supermarkets, but give it a good wiff first, has to be very fresh, which is rare IMHO. Good size fillet is around B100

[eddie61]

Makro used to have great alskan pollock, which is very similar to cod and great for frying. They seem to have stopped importing this, which is a great pity.

Their dory. actually it is Pla sawai or Pangasius isn't worth feeding to the cat: it tastes like blotting paper that has been left in muddy water overnight. I tried their silver lined grunt, which was quite good, but no where near as good as the pollock.

[meatboy]

tried most,but the best has been asia sea bass,actualy its barra-mundy,sold in makro arround 140bht. a kilo.

good white fish.

[Carlosm]

Thanks for the replies so far, very helpful and i agree with those about dory being useless tasteless waste of time. Am going to try 'all' your recomendations as variety is the spice of life and make my own mind up. Looking forward to finally finding a tasty fish to batter

[Mekong Bob]

pretty much spot on except the white snapper description.

i buy them here from our local fisher for 200THB a kg and they are from the sea...

red snapper is 150THB a kg...

but es described above Cod is the best...

The Brits favor Atlantic Cod and Atlantic Haddock for fish and chips.

Rimping in Chiang Mai has nice (frozen) Atlantic Cod. Grouper (pla kao) is good - firm and flakey.

Avoid the dreaded Mekong catfish (aka "Dory" aka Pangasius" aka "Panga") at all cost!!!

What was your issue with Pangasius ?

Really? Please research this topic in Google. You'll see a video on Panga fish farms in Vietnam. You'll see reference to a Bangkok Post article of a few years ago on the mis-named "Dory" fish in Thailand, etc.

What could be more important than what you eat?

[NickJ]

I saw that video. The show also highlighted the nightmare problems with the salmon from Norway

[Mekong Bob]

pretty much spot on except the white snapper description.

i buy them here from our local fisher for 200THB a kg and they are from the sea...

red snapper is 150THB a kg...

but es described above Cod is the best...

The Brits favor Atlantic Cod and Atlantic Haddock for fish and chips.

Rimping in Chiang Mai has nice (frozen) Atlantic Cod. Grouper (pla kao) is good - firm and flakey.

Avoid the dreaded Mekong catfish (aka "Dory" aka Pangasius" aka "Panga") at all cost!!!

Catfish is no Dory as Pangasius is no fresh water fish by definition.

Point is the responsability of the company breading the fish as is done with salmon e.g.

Food and environment make the difference when it comes to good taste.

Gasp, many go for the lowest price and many have no taste.

In Thailand, "Dory" is "Pangasius Dory" is "Mekong catfish". It's farmed primarily in Mekong River Delta in Vietnam. It's a freshwater fish.

Dory is widely available (frozen fillets) in Makro Hang Dong and elsewhere. Yes, it's white fish, it's cheap, and tasteless. It is not a "firm and flakey" texture.

HugoCNX, please tell us it ain't so.

[2fishin2]

Purchase fresh and you see what you are getting. Purchase frozen, you are getting mystery meat. But if you are into that kind of thing....

[Mekong Bob]

Will the real dory please stand up?

Food for thought.

[quidnunc]

Why anyone in their right mind would purchase frozen fish over fresh is beyond my comprehension.

It may surprise you to learn that most fish at sushi bars - even those sold at top end sushi bars - have been frozen. Of course, these have been frozen using liquid nitrogen. There was an article about it in the New York times some years ago where top end sushi chefs confessed that they couldn't tell the difference.

[2fishin2]

Why anyone in their right mind would purchase frozen fish over fresh is beyond my comprehension.

It may surprise you to learn that most fish at sushi bars - even those sold at top end sushi bars - have been frozen. Of course, these have been frozen using liquid nitrogen. There was an article about it in the New York times some years ago where top end sushi chefs confessed that they couldn't tell the difference.

Im well aware about that. But, like you said totally different techniques. And the grade of fish is well above cod or other frozen fish of questionable species in many cases. In this thread we are talking about white mans fried fish. Lol

[quidnunc]

Cobia is my fish for fish and chips, or even pan fried its good , cheaper than grouper and sold in all the main supermarkets, but give it a good wiff first, has to be very fresh, which is rare IMHO. Good size fillet is around B100

Cobia is a great fish. The ones you buy in the supermarket are aquaculture fish, not wild. They're also known as black cod although they are not even close to being in the cod family.

[quidnunc]

Purchase fresh and you see what you are getting. Purchase frozen, you are getting mystery meat. But if you are into that kind of thing....

I don't understand. Does the cold air from the freezer incapacitate your eyesight?

[2fishin2]

No but the frozen food manufactures are notorious for substituting and lying about frozen fish species. Very well documented

[quidnunc]

I know a guy who raises tab tim in filtered circulated water.And they taste great. Because the fish are naturally fatty and the water is clean, they taste like they come from the sea

[2fishin2]

Cobia is my fish for fish and chips, or even pan fried its good , cheaper than grouper and sold in all the main supermarkets, but give it a good wiff first, has to be very fresh, which is rare IMHO. Good size fillet is around B100

Cobia is a great fish. The ones you buy in the supermarket are aquaculture fish, not wild. They're also known as black cod although they are not even close to being in the cod family.

Not always true, there are a lot of cobia caught and sold that are not "aquaculture" fish. Ive seen many cobia in cages being caught and sold here where I live.

[quidnunc]

No but the frozen food manufactures are notorious for substituting and lying about frozen fish species. Very well documented

For fillets that is certainly the case. But for whole fish, it's hard to get away with.

[lopburi3]

((cut))

Fresh barracuda is okay as long as they are not too big. The larger ones contain toxic substances and the fishermen use expression as long as your arm will do no harm. Personally I think the Pla chon, a freshwater fish is very much better provided they haven't been frozen. You can find red snapper and grouper but it's quite expensive and hard to find. I use the cod fillets and bake them in foil with plenty of spices.

Although I loved barracuda in Conakry we caught (larger the better) would not eat here where they feed of reef eating smaller fish and are subject to ciguatoxin which is found in over 400 species of reef fish. Avoiding consumption of all reef fish is the only sure way to avoid exposure. It might be wise to avoid fish and chips as a staple diet when living here.

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

symptoms of ciguatera in humans include gastrointestinal and neurological effects.[5][6] Gastrointestinal symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, usually followed by neurological symptoms such as headaches, muscle aches, paresthesia, numbness, ataxia, vertigo, and hallucinations.[1][6] Severe cases of ciguatera can also result in cold allodynia, which is a burning sensation on contact with cold.[5] Neurological symptoms can persist and ciguatera poisoning is occasionally misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis.[7]

Dyspareunia and other ciguatera symptoms have developed in otherwise healthy males and females following sexual intercourse with partners suffering ciguatera poisoning, signifying that the toxin may be sexually transmitted.[8] Diarrhea and facial rashes have been reported in breastfed infants of poisoned mothers, suggesting that ciguatera toxins migrate into breast milk.[9]

The symptoms can last from weeks to years, and in extreme cases as long as 20 years, often leading to long-term disability.[10] Most people do recover slowly over time.[11] Often patients recover, but symptoms then reappear. Such relapses can be triggered by consumption of nuts, seeds, alcoholic beverages, fish or fish-containing products, chicken or eggs, or by exposure to fumes such as those of bleach and other chemicals[citation needed]. Exercise is also a possible trigger.[1] Filipino and Chinese people may be more susceptible to acquiring ciguatera