Fish quality - rate from 10 to -10

[noelm]

3 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

1. Red emperor

2. Coral trout

3. John Dory

4. Flounder

5. Whiting

6. Blue eye trevalla 

7. Rainbow trout

8. Yellowfin Tuna

9. Yellowtail Kingfish

10. Atlantic Salmon

 

As you can see flathead didnt even make my top 10 but its the fish I eat the most of(yep figure that one out 😂).

 

I think its a good eating bread & butter fish but from my chefs perspective its probably in my top 20.

 

11. Snapper

12. Mahi Mahi

13. Mulloway

14. Orange roughy(Pearl perch)

15. Garfish

16. Flathead

17. Yellowfin bream

18. Spanish Mackerel

19. Swordfish

20. Barramundi

21. Cobia

 

Fish I really want to try but havent yet & could definitely affect the above list-

Mangrove Jack 

Wahoo

Finger mark bream

Moses Perch

Large mouth Nannygai 

Red throat emperor

Black spot Tusk fish 

Orange Roughy and Pearl Perch are two very different fish.

3 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

 

 

[Green Hornet]

Two family favourites of ours are pan fried flounder for a Sunday breakfast and early morning caught tailor fillets, brined and hot smoked for lunch.

I'm also with @noelm and as nice as they are, I'd rather have a feed of blue swimmers than a lobster or mud crab any day of the week.

I'll also go against the grain and say I quite enjoy a feed of Australian salmon, as long as its been kept properly since capture.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Green Hornet

[Isaac Ct]

It's hard to do a complete rank so I'll just though in whole pan fried flounder in butter, flathead, spanish mackerel and kingfish as my favourites. Blackfish can taste nice but once i had someone give me deep fried blackfish and they obviously haven't bled it and it tasted horrible. 

[Green Hornet]

7 minutes ago, Isaac Ct said:

It's hard to do a complete rank so I'll just though in whole pan fried flounder in butter, flathead, spanish mackerel and kingfish as my favourites. Blackfish can taste nice but once i had someone give me deep fried blackfish and they obviously haven't bled it and it tasted horrible. 

I agree with you there that the eating qualities a lot of species suffer if not handled correctly and blackfish would be up near the top of the list.

[noelm]

Big ocean Blackfish are great eating, skinned and boned they are one of our family favourites, but then, so are big Garfish and Snapper about 1-2kg, fresh Tailor, big Sea Mullet under the grill, all different, but all good in different ways. The old Aussie Salmon is fine if fresh, skinned, boned and any blood meat cut away, cut into "cocktails" and crumbed, every bit as good as Kingfish, I often do both together and no one can pick the difference unless they inspect the actual colour of the flesh, and even then it's a guess.

[Green Hornet]

That’s very close to how I do my salmon. I just like a light dusting in corn or rice flour instead of breadcrumbs.

I eat a lot of blackfish and used to like the smaller ones whole until I saw the worms they can have in their flesh.

@noelmagree with you on sea mullet as well. I’m lucky enough to be get them straight from the ocean on a regular basis.

[Rebel]

To each his own.

I forgot.

Barra in foil with lemon & butter with cracked black pepper on the bbq.

Cheers.

[noelm]

I get a few big Mullet and love them, I also get some when they net them in the beach, lots don't like them, but, grilled with a bit of salt and pepper, very nice.

[noelm]

Just now, Rebel said:

To each his own.

I forgot.

Barra in foil with lemon & butter with cracked black pepper on the bbq.

Cheers.

Yes, but even Barra is good and bad, small ones are rubbish, but, wild caught big ones, very nice, farmed ones....50/50

[Scratchie]

Everyone has a differing opinion because all our taste buds are different! Not only that, quite often due to the way it is presented or cooked. 
Mine……

1. Coral trout

2. Red emperor

3. Spanish mackerel

4. snapper

5. flathead

6. Atlantic salmon 

7. Yellow fin or Longtail tuna 

8. Kingfish

9. Mahi Mahi

10. whiting 

Either cooked, sashimi or ceviche. It all comes down to how it’s prepared and/or presented! 
 

cheers scratchie!!! 

[frankS]

NoelM Kingie is a chef and like Pro's they have different names for certain fish.

I once ordered Snapper from a fancy seafood restaurant with huge prices and they served me Nannigui ( which are OK but not Snapper ) I argued with the waiter for 10 minutes but he insisted the chef called it a Snapper. Also they served 3 jats crackers with pecks paste as a expensive entree . Last time that place ever saw me.

Frank

[Pickles]

9 hours ago, noelm said:

You see, that's where the personal bit comes in, I like Whiting with the skin on, some deep water species are better than some other species, Blue Eye and Hapuka are great eating, much better than (say) a fresh boneless Blue Spot Flathead fillet? I would say yes, but maybe by one point on a 10 to -10 scale, it's very hard to pinpoint one against the other, quality, well cared for fish. Take Kingfish for example, it wasn't that long ago they were considered rubbish and not eating quality, now they are sought after, the fish didn't change!

Yep, good points Noel. I love everything about kingfish and love the taste. One of my older friends reckons I am nuts and refers to kingfish as “cat food” - again supporting your “personal preference” contention.

[mrsswordfisherman]

10 hours ago, Pickles said:

Raiders, Neil and (Derek had input too, but doesn’t eat fish)I had an interesting (animated) conversation about the quality of various “commonly caught” species. We all agreed that flathead was right up there and jewfish also, but opinions varied about bream, snapper, whiting etc and most agreed Salmon, Trevally were not toward the top of the list.

What do you think Raiders(only species you’ve actually eaten):

1 to 10 and down to - 10

We can put up a poll if you give me the 10 fish names 

[Pickles]

7 hours ago, noelm said:

Fresh school prawns over King Prawns in my opinion, and Lobster is well down the list, and I get my own and eaten them millions of times, fresh Blue Swimmer leaves Lobster for dead.

Noel, lobsters were considered such poor food and were so abundant that they were the main staple for the Tasmanian convicts in the early days of the colony. Hard to believe isn’t it.

[Pickles]

6 minutes ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

We can put up a poll if you give me the 10 fish names 

Donna, I guess I should have included the precursor “commonly caught/ eaten East Coast species” how about:

Kingfish, Barramundi, Luderick, yellowtail Kingfish, Black Drummer, Flathead, Tailor, Australian Salmon, Bream, Snapper. (If more than 10, can I include: Garfish, Groper, mahi mahi, John Dory, prawns, mud crab, Blue swimmer crabs, silver Trevally, mackerel).

 

[Berleyguts]

44 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Noel, lobsters were considered such poor food and were so abundant that they were the main staple for the Tasmanian convicts in the early days of the colony. Hard to believe isn’t it.

I didn’t know that! I knew that lobsters were fed to slaves in Maine in the USA but didn’t know they were fed to Tassie convicts.

[Yowie]

11 hours ago, dirvin21 said:

 I ate a kelpfish once I rate it at -22/10

Kelpfish, rates with morwong - shitfish.    

[Yowie]

Prawns - fresh caught large schoolies or small king prawns

Whiting

Flounder

Garfish

John Dory

Spotted Mackerel

Snapper (45 to 60cms)

Tailor (35 to40cms)

Red Emperor

Ocean Flathead (Tiger or Blue spots)

 

There are a few fish I have not yet caught, or only tried once so not yet rated.

 

 

Despised fish

choice of Morwong or a packet of rat sack - I pick the rat sack       

Edited November 13, 2021 by Yowie

[dirvin21]

29 minutes ago, Yowie said:

Kelpfish, rates with morwong - shitfish.    

Agree 110%

[kingie chaser]

Barramundi whether wild caught or not is best being pulled from salt water not fresh.

The flesh from fresh tends to taste muddy/earthy & the flesh mushy.

 

But again thats my opinion as a humble chef 😉

 

[wazatherfisherman]

Great topic! My favourites are

1- John Dory- they stand alone if eaten fresh same day

2- Mangrove Jack- especially early season Jack's just in from outside

3- Mud Crabs- nicest one ever came from under Ryde Bridge and was magnificent to eat

4- Coral Trout/Red Emperor- equally nice although completely different taste

5- KG Whiting- great fish and chips species

6- Kingfish- can eat one any time

7- Mahi Mahi- beautiful 

8- Hairtail- never met anyone who hasn't enjoyed eating a Hairtail fillet and lend themselves to many cooking methods

9-Surgeonfish- tasty

10- Black Drummer- versatile 

11-Luderick- grew up on them

12- Tailor- standard breakfast on the rocks for years- great if cooked in sausage fat after sausages

13- Mulloway- only like the smaller ones 4-6kg

14-Whiting- sweet

15- Albacore- haven't caught one for a long time but they are nice

At the other end of the scale would be 

-1 Kelpfish- eaten them camping, very 'ordinary'

-2 Wirrah- there are methods to cook them that people like but I never found one

-3 Carp (straight from the river and not 'flushed')- mud

-4 Rock Cale- taste like they smell

-5 Pike- can't see why Mulloway and Kingfish love them, they smell while being cooked

Have tried the last 5 and cannot recommend them to eat- Green Eels taste much better (but are high in cholesterol)

[Green Hornet]

@wazatherfishermanI can't believe that anybody has actually eaten a green eel. 

I've been that hungry I've eaten cunji, but a green eel is too hardcore for me, haha. 

[wazatherfisherman]

9 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

@wazatherfishermanI can't believe that anybody has actually eaten a green eel. 

I've been that hungry I've eaten cunji, but a green eel is too hardcore for me, haha. 

Hi Pete I've actually eaten them a couple of times but not since I found out how bad they are due to being at the wrong end of the food chain!

[wazatherfisherman]

17 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

@wazatherfishermanI can't believe that anybody has actually eaten a green eel. 

I've been that hungry I've eaten cunji, but a green eel is too hardcore for me, haha. 

What was the cunje like? Wouldn't have been game after having "cunje disease" where your skin peels away from your fingers after cutting a heap, but always wondered- it's all 'meat' after all

[Green Hornet]

35 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

What was the cunje like? Wouldn't have been game after having "cunje disease" where your skin peels away from your fingers after cutting a heap, but always wondered- it's all 'meat' after all

Long story short Waza, I used to get a kick out of going on 2 or 3 day hikes and living off the land. This one between Currarong and Culburra didn't work out so well, when our fish meal at Kinghorn Point didn't turn out as planned.

It tastes just like it smells Waza, not nice by any degree, but my friend and I were literally starving at the time and it was the only "meal" we could find. We heated the purple bits over a fire and although quite salty, gave us something to keep going. Luckily we had a good fresh water supply close by and trust me, that was the last real adventure I ever went on without a backup plan.

I've never heard of cunji disease, thank heavens.