SAMSON FISH eating quality clarification
ive noticed a lot of talk and critiscisim of ppl keeping sambos, as most ppl think they taste like sh#t.
Samson fish are prone to having a perasite in their flesh (kidoa). this perasite is not something you can see when filleting. (not this particular perasite anyways. which is reasponsible for the bad taste/texture)
some fish have the perasite and some dont. from my expierience fish under 10 kg have a 50/50(+ or -) chance of having it and as the fish get bigger,it is more likly to have it. i would say that fish over 20kg are highly likly to have this perasite.
the perasite makes the flesh of the fish go mushy texture.. once cooked (the enzymes released by the paracite brake down the protein i.e. flesh). only after cooking the fish can you conclude it has it..often ppl would say that its bad eating and in the particular case of a fish with a perasite i tend to agree.
Having said that fish that dont have the perasite cook up really well, by that i mean really good texture and flavour and when bread crumbed and deep fried very similar to dhufish and pinks. (others may disagree however i can gurantee a fish without this perasite taste a thousand times better then one with the perasite). we have caught a 21kg sambo that didnt have it, so it is possible however unlikly. i tend to think sambos around the 8kg mark are worthy of keeping as a lot of em cook up well (really well).
We try and release all the sambos 10kg plus, however if they not swimming backdown may aswell cook them and hope they dont have the perasite. and as for spearing i must be honest i will shoot a sambo of 20kg BUT ONLY when our freezer is empty and im not catchn anything else. (every sambo we ever speared seemd to be good, im not sure if thats luck, or due to the area and depth the fish where shot)
To conclude Sambos can be very good eating fish, i reckon a fish with no perasite and cooked properly is a 8-9/10. having said that with really big sambos the odds of coming across a good one arnt very high. I totally agree with giving people shit if they catch sambos for competition purposes only to put them in the bin later without even cooking them. However aslong as fishing rules are obided by and commen sense is applied and the intention of eating the fish is there, then those people shud not cop shit for keeping sambos.
Lucky Tim
Posts: 2536
Date Joined: 28/11/07
I kept a 50lb sambo once and
I kept a 50lb sambo once and it tasted really nice. We just marineted the filleted pieces in a sherry/lemon juice mix and bbq'd, then served on mash potato with veg and it was a top fish meal. I've only ever kept that plus a few smaller ones and none had the parasite.
nackers
Posts: 341
Date Joined: 23/10/09
sambos
to me r only a sport fish and r returned having eaten a bad one years ago but havin said that the occasional one gets kept for others if desired
schecky
Posts: 1645
Date Joined: 25/08/08
I like to leave
I like to leave them,
theres plenty of other great eating fish
lets keep sambos for sport!
mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
they arent too bad eating,
they arent too bad eating, ive kept them here and there, generally always been good, i like mine in egg and bread crumbs shallow fried and eaten in bread
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
not sure who you are
not sure who you are refering to northwest as ive never copped sh*t for keeping one . but i agree they are good eating as matt has described. i kept a small one today for my grandmother and her friends in the nursing home. i just cook a very small portion to make sure its ok before giving it to her. as long as its getting eaten i think keeping them is fine. and i cant supply the oldies with dhufish :P
out wide
Posts: 1535
Date Joined: 30/12/08
We caught
a array of fish out of Warpole a while back rangeing from Due to Gummy and nearly everything in between including a 5kg Sambo. When we got home we cooked up a smorgasbord of fillets. We all agreed the Red snapper was the best and third on our list was the Sambo which surprised us all. Yes they can be good alright.
Northwest
Posts: 71
Date Joined: 06/03/08
feral i dont like pointing
feral i dont like pointing fingers, its just a general statement... The only point i wanted to make is that they can be good eating. there are those out there that think every sambo is shit and should not be kept. and fair enough everyone is entitled to their opinion however i have come across some critiscisim....
Asahambe
Posts: 154
Date Joined: 14/10/09
Cooking
IMO after catching sambo I barely have energy to climb out the boat let alone cook them. To me just jig jig jig al day long non stop. Tailor and Dolphin Fish taste heaps better and yr not half dead after catching a couple of them.
Born to Fish
Forced to work!
HuggyB
Posts: 2515
Date Joined: 03/08/08
I'm sure they are tasty
cats love them!
I'll personally stick to other fish for eating and leave the sambos for john west to reject.
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Ben Derecki
Posts: 1926
Date Joined: 10/10/07
good info
Thanks for the info NW. I usually keep a smaller fish as I've found they're quite nice if cooked the same day but the last one I kept had that exact issue with the flesh going quite mushy after it was cooked. Not good when you've got friends over
.
Good to know the science behind it all.
Cheers
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17861
Date Joined: 11/03/08
Huggy. next time you get a
Huggy. next time you get a small one around 5kg give it a bash and you will be surprised. we eat sambos when we get them as i do tend to enjoy the flavor. another way to cook them . fillet to portions around 150 gm at about 15mm thick , dust in flour and place in a pan with a bit of butter , when the fillet is partly cooked flip it over adding lemon juice to taste with enough cream to just cover the fish , keep cooking it till the cream has thickened then serve on a bed of mash or chips with salad. using this recipe we have converted a non believer
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
HuggyB
Posts: 2515
Date Joined: 03/08/08
no thanks
I'll remain a non-believer. I've tried it twice and wasn't impressed, they are OK, but I'm not that desperate to eat them and the second one was mushed with worms. Id rather stop off and nail a few tailor from a reef on the way home if I am keen for fresh fish.
I'll leave the sambos to you guys!
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Decella
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 01/02/09
Neighbours
Good fish to keep the neighbours happy. Had it sashimi once and it wasn't that bad at all. Tell you what if you've got a dog with bad hind legs (arthiritis) it is awesome and they love it..
dumper
Posts: 1026
Date Joined: 03/04/08
I'm with huggy.Many moons
I'm with huggy.Many moons ago my old man used to often catch them from shore up at horrocks. mum would serve up baked sambo for al our xmas holidays. It actually put me off eating fish as we went crazy over fresh tailor when we were kids. 15 years later I was on aqualib and they necked one before i could say i didnt want it. All the breadcrumbs and herbs in the world couldnt make it taste unshitlike and bring back all those repressed childhood memories.
joe amato
Posts: 731
Date Joined: 21/12/08
sambo are not bad at all
i used to work at kailis fish markets years ago and we used to cut them up for the parmelia hilton,sheraton and all the top class restraunts,i usually fillet,cut out the red blood bits like you do also in sharks aswell and they taste not bad at all in the smaller sizes under 20kg,have to agree with northwest and every 1 that dont mind eating them occasionally they are not bad at all but quite tasty,as far as im concerned better than tailor ,which i occassionally eat.anyway every1 here eats fishfingers,which is also made from samson fish? now think about that all the samson fish knockers,anyway every1 to their own
Just1morecast
Posts: 917
Date Joined: 04/12/09
well i can talk for myself,
well i can talk for myself, my mum and dad. my gf, and my gf's family. And ive kept 2 that ive jigged up this year both around the 20kg mark. And we thought it was loverly. Firm white flesh which can be curried,pan fried or deep fried. Obviosly not dhufish but its loverly on the table i say:)
(now that ive typed this i bet the next time i keep one it will taste bad haha)
Forever learning with fishing
TAPOUT
Posts: 885
Date Joined: 27/01/06
If you eat one with a
If you eat one with a Papacite is it harmfull or not. Dosnt sound to good.
PEEL 166
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 19/04/09
Sambos can't be that bad ! I
Sambos can't be that bad ! I have never had a complaint from my neighbours.
Rick
Posts: 1104
Date Joined: 22/12/06
Colder Water
Was very surprised when living in Albany, Big Skippy and small Sambos were a lot better than I remembered. I think fish coming out of colder waters are less prone to parasites. No facts to back it up apart from taste and texture of the fish down there.
PGFC Member
wopjrb
Posts: 1407
Date Joined: 05/03/09
found they have worms in em
always find wormsin the flesh and generally realease sambos - much nicer fish around like pink snapper or dhufish or even sand whiting /herring
Northwest
Posts: 71
Date Joined: 06/03/08
for all those who hate it..
for all those who hate it.. fair enough to me it just means all the ones you have tried have the perasite..
you cant see worms.. because its not a worm
and as far as im aware it wouldnt be harmfull eating one with a peracite it would just taste mushy and awfull "the enzymes released by the paracite brake down the protein i.e. flesh"
Northwest
Posts: 71
Date Joined: 06/03/08
My bad... rephrase da part
My bad... rephrase da part where i said you cant see worms...
some sambos can actually have worms but dats a total different perasite (this does not actually affect the flesh or the flavour of the fish in anyway).
if you had a sambo that didnt have the kioda perasite (responsible for bad taste), but it had worms, if you where to remove those worms just like some ppl cut the blood line then the sambo flesh isnt going to be affected.
wopjrb
Posts: 1407
Date Joined: 05/03/09
wats the point in killing a fish that " MIGHT " not have the
parasite - wat if you get one that does? youve killed a beautiful sport fish and its not edible - seriously mate i cant see the point in this thread! if a species of fish is likeley to be infected with a parasite that would deem that fish inedible why kill it just incase it doesnt have the parasite - go n get a nice feed of skippy or whiting or even herring ! and chuck the big sambos back for all to enjoy
HuggyB
Posts: 2515
Date Joined: 03/08/08
All I read was blah blah blah
sambos are cat food.
Your argument swayed me not. Enjoy your cat food.
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Alan James
Posts: 2206
Date Joined: 30/06/09
I'm with you Huggy
I wonder if they smoke OK. Unlikely to find out tho because there is little interest in smoked fish in Oz and I don't have a quality smoker.
HuggyB
Posts: 2515
Date Joined: 03/08/08
not oily enough to smoke
the fillets would dry out I reckon.
There is a reason why mackrel/trout/salmon/marlin are the mainstays of smoked fish......
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Alan James
Posts: 2206
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Add to that
Mullet, kahawai (Oz salmon), and ytk. Personally it's hard to beat mullet.
Jarra
Posts: 34
Date Joined: 16/12/06
yeah i kept a less than 20kg
yeah i kept a less than 20kg model the other day from Bluejuice for the missus family and i reckon it had the parasite. After cooked on the barby it had a mushy aftertaste. Im not a big fish eater and certainly wouldnt keep one again. The inlaws are european and would much rather CARP for their fish soups.
wayno05
Posts: 80
Date Joined: 24/10/09
omg
Mate to even consider to compare sambos to dhuis..
Is like comparing, spam to ham ..
Im with the neighbours and cat food opinions.
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15610
Date Joined: 29/11/05
worms and parasites
On the worms and parasites thing, rankin cod and sweetlip emperor also have nemotodes growing within their flesh. I know a lot of people won't be putting them back on the slight chance they have worms. Rankin having black worms and sweetlip yellow ones. It doesn't affected the flesh and is not harmful to humans (so I've been told) the only thing is the visual aspect. If you cut them out of the flesh then you would never know they were there in the first place. I do believe the sambo worms break down the flesh to a mushy mash potato, hence why they are cat food. I've never tried one, but always been told that ones up to 5-7kg aren't meant to be that bad and would suprise most people, I guess as some people have said above...
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Faulkner Family
Posts: 17861
Date Joined: 11/03/08
and the arguement goes
and the arguement goes on.all i know is that over the time we have had a boat (just over 5 years) we have caught sombos of various sizes and we havnt had a bad one yet. people rave about dhuies being top quality eating fish , yeah they are nice no question on that but i would rather chow down on other fish , so everyone has their own tastes , but you cant knock it until you try it
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Kelvin8r
Posts: 475
Date Joined: 12/08/08
ive had sambo a few times
ive had sambo a few times and the fillets we had were really nice, we just did them in egg and bread crumbs and shallow fried them, but that was before my taste buds were introduced to coral trout and barra :)
HuggyB
Posts: 2515
Date Joined: 03/08/08
I am bemused
that everyone is jumping to the defence of swimming snappy tom? Great fighter, ordinary on the chew.
There is a collective of people here with a taste bud deficiency.......I pity you all.
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dumper
Posts: 1026
Date Joined: 03/04/08
Hey, sewer rat may taste
Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy mother-fu**ers
out wide
Posts: 1535
Date Joined: 30/12/08
Yes i agree Russ
Dhu is ok but there is better eating fish out there thats for sure. The way some ppl rave on about the eating qualities of the famed Dhuie make ya think that they havent try the other top table fish yet. Dhu lacks taste imo. Brought 250 grm of the of the top 5 or 6 fish on offer over at the Canningvale fish monger last year and put it to the taste test with 4 ppl who had no idea what was what and Dhu rated second last.
dumper
Posts: 1026
Date Joined: 03/04/08
Anything that comes from
Anything that comes from canningvale markets fishmonger is probably meekong catfish
Decella
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 01/02/09
The biggest rawt
According to the pols around Australia the fish retail industry was named the #1 suspect bussiness of them all as they substitute their products. I myself have targeted Dhuies for some time now and know what they look like in their raw state. Walking past some fish shops such as canningvale I have seen fish advertised as Dhuey but it is unlike the Dhuey I catch. As they are one of my favourate fish I would give them away for Flathead or KG's.