Eating less popular fish

[BoatGuy]

I usually do not buy books anymore. But I do go to the library a lot. My most recent book was : The Fisherman's Wife: Sustainable Recipes and Salty Stories

I am enjoying it as they show you how to cook less popular fish like Sea Robins. However, they have a section on how to prepare Skate (as opposed to Stingrays)

I have eaten Sea Robins. I will say this. When we catch a “mixed bag” of Fluke and Porgy, I have fried up some Sea Robins, and nobody complained. The book has a chapter on eating Sea Robins too.

I have never had a skate. Have you? Tough to clean? Work the trouble? Or is this a must try. I do not believe the stories of restaurants replacing scallops with skate. I thing over 90% can teel the difference.

 

[Snapprhead27]

I've had sea Robins. Never ventured to skate.

 

[BoatGuy]

My concern with trying skate. ....
Back around the late 70's to early 80s I tried Blue shark. Ugh....Ammonia!

 

[Matts]

I've had sauteed skate a few times in a restaurant, so I cannot tell what specific type of skate they were. Pretty tasty. Shark-like texture.
I eat sea robbins all the time when I'm making fish tocos. I just fillet the tail. After you bread and fry them, unless you really try, it's hard to distinguish them from the porgie fillets.

 

[OVERBORED]

Ling and bergalls are my favorites for fish tacos.

 

[Matts]

I don't care for the texture of ling. As far as bergals, I can never distinguish them from among the sea bass and blackfish fillets, so not comments, but I've heard that they are very tasty.

 

[Matts]

Saturday, I ordered "tautog" in a fancy Manhattan restaurant. After I asked, the waiter assured me that it was really tautog, and that it was sourced from "Rhode Island." I asked him if he was sure, since I thought it was a little late in the season for Rhode Island.
I was later informed that the source of the "tautog" was South Carolina, which was quite a surprise.

 

[MakoMatt]

Skate was a popular trendy menu item a few years back.

Blue Shark needs to be gutted & iced right away, like immediately after you catch it. Soak the steaks in milk overnight. Even after doing that I don’t care for it.

Here’s Frank Mundus’s recipe for Blue Shark.

Frank Mundus' Blue Shark Recipe

 

[OVERBORED]

Mundus was also the best salesman in history! Lol
He was a character in a long line of Quirky Montauk Captains.

 

[MakoMatt]

Mundus was also the best salesman in history! Lol
He was a character in a long line of Quirky Montauk Captains.

LOL, Frank was bigger than life, and a funny guy. Back when I was running the Offshore Board on Noreast I had him on as a “guest.” He told me he would sign up for Noreast, and join in on a thread I started, and I would interview him. Long story short, I started a Frank Mundus thread telling everyone that Frank Mundus would be joining us. We were waiting a few days for him, and one evening I happened to wake up in the middle of night, and figured I would check the board for any signs of Frank. As I’m checking, some guy, Frank Mundus, begins to post, and it’s all really stupid chit. I start deleting all the posts this person is making, figuring it’s some A-hole pretending to be Frank. After a while the posts stop, and I go back to sleep. Next day Frank calls me and tells me he must be doing something wrong because he was posting the night before but his posts just kept disappearing. I explained that it was me deleting all his posts and we both had a good laugh. He did come back on and things worked out.

 

[BoatGuy]

Ling and bergalls are my favorites for fish tacos.

Bergalls (Cunner) is something I used to catch way back, maybe in the 70’s 80’s. They were much bigger and numerous than I catch now. Now they are tiny. I do remember trying them. I fried them and if my memory is correct, they were good.

 

[Chinacat]

Im told with Sea Robins its more about the texture than the taste?
Is it true that they are a bit gritty??

 

[Litugboat]

The sea robins are not really gritty . Different texture though . Thick flakes a touch soft . Lots of veins running through the meat that can be off putting

 

[BoatGuy]

Is it true that they are a bit gritty??

I have eaten them a number of times. I would say they are definitely NOT gritty. Not sure I have ever had a “gritty” fish. If ever fry them up, and do a mixed seafood mixture, nobody will know. Someone mentioned they taste like Porgy and I think that may be true. The secret is just keeping big ones. The Sea Robin you pull up that you thought was a bluefish. They can be more difficult to clean than say a fluke or bluefish.

 

[CELLFISH]

boy that was fast…