The humble Kahawai (Australian Salmon)
Submitted by Alan James on Thu, 2020-08-27 20:18
Below is a link to a thread on another forum which comments on the preparation / cooking and edibility of Australian Salmon in various ways. The original post being about marinated / raw fish which in itself is a contradiction. There is some dribble but some on here may find it interesting.
https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/anyone-tasted-marinated-raw-fish-kahawai_topic134141_page1.html
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Faulkner Family
Posts: 17867
Date Joined: 11/03/08
I have always eaten salmon.
I have always eaten salmon. Bled right and cooked right can be quite tasty
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Wrong
Nothing wrong with Australian salmon, treat them properly an they are better than a lot of other fish that people rave over.
sunshine
Posts: 2555
Date Joined: 03/03/09
And they make stunning fish cakes
Add mash, some corn and fresh peas, season, make into patties, crumb and fry......
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
to a lot of people they are
to a lot of people they are terrible .. but the vast majority have never handled the fish properly to start with .. sure they will never be a Coral Trout .. but then who gets to fish and catch them all the time unless your further North. I've seen people sit a whole day on the beach with a fish caught at 7am .. and then complain it tasted rubbish .. it's also about respecting the fish too .. if your not going to look after it then dont keep it .. its a waste .. treat it properly (bleed and put on ice), cook it quickly (dont overcook it) and treat it with a little more care and it's perfectly edible .. just learn to use it to it's full potential.
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
to a lot of people they are
to a lot of people they are terrible .. but the vast majority have never handled the fish properly to start with .. sure they will never be a Coral Trout .. but then who gets to fish and catch them all the time unless your further North. I've seen people sit a whole day on the beach with a fish caught at 7am .. and then complain it tasted rubbish .. it's also about respecting the fish too .. if your not going to look after it then dont keep it .. its a waste .. treat it properly (bleed and put on ice), cook it quickly (dont overcook it) and treat it with a little more care and it's perfectly edible .. just learn to use it to it's full potential.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
So true
Over a lot of years I have seen people haul salmon up onto a jetty or boat deck, and leave the fish to die on a hot surface with the consequence the fish ends up tasting like rubbish.
If you want the best eating quality of the fish you must treat it with respect right from the moment you get it to the surface. IMO this means getting it into an ice slurry as soon as you have humanly dispatched the fish and getting it cooled down as soon as possible. If you do this you will enjoy the best quality fish flavour.
Reefsta
Posts: 281
Date Joined: 03/08/19
Eventually changed my mind on eating them
All the above about spiking, bleeding the fish, ice slurry etc all rings true for me. However for many years I would release the salmon or keep only one to give to a friend who liked them. In recent years though, I've made the effort to experiment with a few different styles of cooking and found for me they work fine in three types of dishes. Those being, as an ingredient in fish cakes like Sunshine said, cubed and added into curries/paella, or in some peanut sauce/chilli Indonesian-style dishes. All fine in these, but as you can see the salmon is only a component and often mixed in with stronger accompanying flavours. So I guess my taste doesn't favour the strong fishy tasting species and for the salmon I also cut out all the red meat. Then it seems fine as a part of the dish.
piscetor
Posts: 149
Date Joined: 13/05/16
salmon
Baked with onions and a big rock.different strokes for different folks. i kow people that think basa and hoki are good. cat food
Filletmaster
Alan James
Posts: 2206
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Did you read any of the posts in the link?
In case you didn't it would appear that many fishos in NZ would prefer kahawai either served as sashimi or marinated to other species we here in WA would consider to have far better eating qualities.
Jim
Posts: 1321
Date Joined: 05/05/06
I found it really nice raw
I found it really nice raw with soy and wasabi, but I wouldnt give up a snapper for it
Bend over
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
.. and at the end of the
.. and at the end of the day, most of us could look after our catch better than what we do now. It is after all a natural resource and deserves to be looked after, whether it's a coral trout a herring or a salmon ... but for people to scoff at the humble salmon I think it just shows an inability to be able to care and prep a fish in most instances. NO, I am not comparing the eating quality to other species, but if cared for and prepared properly it's perfectly edible
Pescatore70
Posts: 183
Date Joined: 03/12/19
I love fish but I love it
I love fish but I love it cooked as simple as possible.
Fresh, pan fried in as little oil as possible, pinch of salt, pepper & lemon.
If you have to add half your bloody pantry then enjoy the thrill of catching it but then let it go.........
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
I'm amused at the quip about
I'm amused at the quip about basa and hoki ... have you ever tasted them fresh ? Its like saying I have a nice fresh tailor fillet .. lovely .. now freeze it ... what are the results like? .. and of course in some countries frozen fish might be their only source of protein .. it's what they grew up on ... so what is "catfood" to you, some people can actually turn it into something very tasty .. a lot is purely in the ability .. and it doesnt require a whole pantry of ingriedients to make it tasty ...
Years ago I scoffed at somebody who said that the good old buff bream was tasty .. right .. sure .. whatever ya reckon ... this person convinced me to try it .. fresh mind you .. grilled ... and it wasnt bad at all .. it was properly cared for after catching though .. not what I would call a tuna steak by any means .. but certainly edible
Pescatore70
Posts: 183
Date Joined: 03/12/19
Whilst i agree with nearly
Whilst i agree with nearly everything you wrote Timbo... i still never understand the reasoning behind eating these, lets just call them, lower grade fish for the sake of proving they are edible.
Ive had Carp on my travels in Asia and whilst certainly edible if there was another option then i wouldnt even bother.
thats the whole point in my opinion. We are BLESSED with an ocean full of top end table fish, crustaceans molluscs so on etc
Catching the likes of Salmon, Sambo or or even buff bream is fine and fun.
Killing the things to eat them when so much better is on offer.....just totally unnecessary.
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
my point is that if we all
my point is that if we all took that attitude and caught only the best eating fish, the stocks would be depleted very quickly ... I love my top quality table fish .. but I do understand that
1. It is not sustainable
2. we cant all just eat the best all the time
3. the majority of the population need to make far better use of the fish available and care for any fish that is being kept.
Years ago the old timers were mocked because they would be down the beach every day to catch a feed of herring ... how many of us fish like that these days? Yet herring are plentiful ... we would all rather go catch Spanish Mackeral, Coral Trout etc ... but then it would be nice to have a top steak every day .. do we do that? no .. sometimes we eat chicken or pork .. what if we all took the attitude of "..when so much better is on offer" .. there just wouldnt be enough to go around would there ... hence bag limits ... to stop people who think that way ..
Using our fisheries to provide a few meals is fine within the guidlines and legal requirements but we also need to be able to get a feed without just eating the cream of the crop ...
hilko
Posts: 58
Date Joined: 27/03/18
Australian Salmon can be very nice - My two bobs
I agree with comments above re respect for fish once caught, ie we always bleed them on landing, keep cool in ice slurry.
When it comes to cleaning, fillet, skin and cut off all red meat and you're left with 4 slabs of white fish meat that doesn't have a lot of taste and not at all fishy - but very good texture.
We cut them into slices or cutlets depending on size of fish.
Then comes the best part, lightly salt fish, and coat fish in a bread crumb like - White Wings Crumb In One.
It's a very fine crumb, almost similar spices to kfc flavour... (well almost
) VERY VERY NICE!
See here - https://www.kingdomwarehouse.com.au/white-wings-crumb-in-one-200g/ most IGA's have them.
And you probably won't be able to taste the difference between fish and chicken. Seriously nice and healthy this way. Been doing this for twenty years plus.
You can shallow pan fry, or deep fry and even in normal batter if you want.
Lastly, they are fantastic in the smoker as well.
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
yep and it's making good use
yep and it's making good use of a resource :-)
timbo2410
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 16/02/19
And at least we are not all
And at least we are not all depleting the stocks of the best fish so nobody else can catch or eat them .. I've seen people head out from the North with 150L freezers full of fillets .. its the worst kind of fishing there is ... it will eventually see a closure on certain fisheries, let alone the other environmental issues that it causes. The mindset of "catch all the best fish and leave the rest" seems a very selfish way of fishing .. I want to see my Grandchildren able to catch great fish .. and I will teach them to show a little respect in catching, caring for and eating their catch along with being mindful of a natural resource