Fresh local fish vs frozen NZ fish

[Guest Guest123456789]

Hi Raiders,

Did a test yesterday which was interesting. I like to buy take away chips to serve with fresh fish I've caught. While there I thought I'd buy a piece of fish and compare to fresh fish I cooked myself.

I bought one battered, previously frozen fish fillet. It was hoki from NZ and cost $8. About 200 grams.

At home I had filleted and skinned luderick and drummer. I caught it on in Saturday (1 day old). I dusted it with cornflour and shallow fried in a good olive oil. Once cooked I seasoned with salt and pepper.

Both fish we added fresh lemon.

The taste testers were my wife and son. First we tried the Frozen hoki. We marked it 8 out of 10. Then we tried the luderick and drummer. We marked it 10/10. Then we tried the hoki again. We marked it 3/10.

One thing that was clear is the different flavours from cooking oil. The take away probably used some cheap vegetable oil whereas I used qualify olive oil - makes a big difference. Then there is the batter, I've come to realise when battering fish, simpler is tastier. You can get really complicated with eggs, different flours, herbs, spices, salts, mineral water etc but I think if you have a great fresh fish, just dust it lightly in flour and shallow fry, then season and add some fresh lemon.

[fragmeister]

Interesting test.

I wonder how fresh Hoki would compare?

I frequently eat frozen fish and it would usually be Kingfish or Mahi Mahi.

After being caught they are always immediately bled and stuck in an ice slurry in the boat.

When I get back to the ramp I gut and scale them, rinse them in the salt water and then stick them back in the slurry.

When I get home I fillet and portion them, vac seal them and put them in the deep freezer.

When I am ready to eat some I put the vac-sealed portion in the sink in luke warm water to defrost.

This takes maybe 15 minutes and the fish is about room temperature when I put it out.

It's a fair bit of trouble to go to but It compares very well with a fresh portion.

Cheers

Jim

[Guest Guest123456789]

That would be an interesting test. I suspect different species would yield different results. Kingfish and mahi mahi for example I've noticed are just as good after thawed like your experience. Tailor, I've frozen and then thawed in water and it did turn mushy. I've also frozen and then thawed by moving straight from freezer to fridge and giving it 12+ hours to thaw - it remained firm.

I've also fridge thawed bonito and it remained so firm we patted it dry with paper towel and then ate it sashimi style ?. What I've learnt is to keep the skin on and place two fillets together flesh side(so skin is on outer). That way you avoid freezer burn as when thawed, you remove the skin and any freezer burn will be on the skin.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Guest123456789