Not too long ago, I read about the Barramundi in some fishing magazine. It's a fish native to Northern Australia that is not only puts up a good fight and is a good candidate for fish farming (unlike salmon, which is not only bland when farmed, but bad for the environment and wild salmon stocks) but it is also delicious.
In fact, it is number 36 on the BBC's 50 things to eat list. I got mine at the Portola Restaurant in Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was dusted with paprika, served on top of purple sweet potatos and fennel, topped with braised spinach, and garnished with a tamarind relish. The flesh was like that of sea bass, only richer.
Forget about talapia and catfish, barramundi is one sustainable option that I actually want to eat (and catch, if I ever get the chance).
Thanks for the fine review. I read the menu last month and eyed "barramundi" with suspicion, asking Mika if it might be related to a coatimundi, perhaps. Next time, I'll try it!
i saw some japanese fishing shows on barramundi. they have wicked teeth!
that's a huge fish! and talking about catfish, think i need to find sometime to try fishing those mekong giant catfish ....
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)
After seeing how resilient Tilapia are (read - can live anywhere), I think I have decided against its consumption.
Dude, I had steamed tilapia today. It was rad. I also caught a specially bred pink hybrid in a pond last week. It was also excellent by all accounts (I gave it away as a Christmas gift - something very Christianiatic-ish about that).
Slurp- Happy New Years!
Kohei- Take a look at how Justin ate his tilapia and I think you'd be open to trying it again.
Justin- I was wondering if you'd write up a more detailed cooking post on tilapia. As it's one of the more sustainable stocks of fish, I'd like to point people who don't know how to cook it to that post in the future.
If you could include more info, such as equipment, techniques, cooking times, ingredients, presentation, and maybe a cultural context and history, that would be awesome.
OK. Let me catch some more examples and I'll write a walkthrough. You're gonna trip out, though, because as damaging as escaped tilapia are to natural ecosystems, sometimes the cure is also natural, I have read - snakehead fish. The guy next to me caught a big goldfish-looking thing with a huge chunk recently chomped out of it's tail section, ala shark attack.
Oh, I also managed to find one thing worth buying in Vientianne which I think you will enjoy - a dissertation on shared fish farming/rice farming systems.