Thread: Fish & Chips

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Retox do a nice haddock on fridays.

Do they ever, it's the business. They've got the batter down to an art form, it's just perfect. Hard to beat those chips too.

Originally Posted by Hugh Cow

For me it has to be Flake (shark) or Barramundi.

+ 1

Shark is a firm white fleshed 'fish' with no bones in the Fillet.


The best Ma and Pa Fish and Chipper I've eaten at in the West was run by Thais.

Fish was good ... Chips were excellent.

Originally Posted by Cujo

Basra is a farmed Vietnamese fish thats not a bad for a farmed fish but crap for fish and chips

I take it you meant Basa aka Swai...so a no go for frying then. Thanks.

Found this article, linked below, which sez the negative stories on Swai are coming from the US farmed catfish lobby. Didn't even know they had a lobby. Also says Swai and Basa are closely related but not the same. I won't buy US farmed catfish anymore after I chomped down on something unidentifiable that came out of a bag of frozen breaded catfish "nuggets." The horror...



Is Vietnamese Swai and Basa Safe - Chefs Resources

Catfish Farmers Try New Tactic in Catfish War

In 2008, seeing that Basa & Swai were becoming threats again to the catfish industry, the catfish lobby went back to congress with a new agenda. They had complained six years ago that if was not fair for the Vietnamese to call their fish “catfish” and lobbied Congress to make it illegal to do so. It didn’t work, so now they complained that they want Basa and Swai to be forced to be called catfish! This change would create a lot of red tape which would hurt the Vietnamese import while they scramble to implement changes established by the new law.

The U.S. catfish industry also lobbied to have the oversight of imported catfish changed from the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Agriculture. Since negotiating international agreements on food inspections usually takes two to five years, this change could mean Vietnamese Basa and Swai imports are barred until negotiations are completed. The U.S. catfish lobby is simply trying to legislate the elimination of their competition.

In October 2010 the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) started a new media campaign with a TV ad. The 30-second ad shows a woman serving two children a meal. “Did you know only 2 percent of imported seafood is inspected? The Mekong River in Vietnam, full of contaminants, sends us 100 million pounds of catfish each year, and 98 percent gets served for dinner un-inspected,” she says. “Congress voted to fix this problem, but the White House won’t act. Mr. President, please, make our families’ health and safety your No. 1 concern.”

The National Fisheries Institute (NTI) responded by accusing the CFA of once again distorting the truth and attempting to scare U.S. consumers into purchasing only U.S. raised catfish. The NFI further said that this new ad is “filled with half-truths and hypocrisy”.

“This is just another sad chapter in a special interest’s effort to keep choices from the American consumer. Imported fish undergoes the same strict safety controls that domestic catfish has undergone for more than 10 years,” said NFI President John Connelly. “In the past decade seafood, both imported and domestic, has enjoyed an excellent food-safety record because the public health professionals regulating seafood at the FDA know their jobs. Claiming this is anything other than a trade issue is as laughable as the exaggerated concern seen in this ad.”

Maybe thiat article was written by the Vietnamese Catfish Lobby... A comment from that story re: frying Swai:

DBETTINY [173.209.211.195] [ Sep 23, 2015 ] The Frozen Swai fillet “Vietnamese” Is the most delicious, wonderful fish that I have ever eaten in my entire life!I used to buy it and deep fry it with a favorite coating and canola oil. The store that I purchased it from closed down almost suddenly and I couldn’t find the delicious swai that I’d grown so accustomed to eating at least twice a week anywhere! There are bags in certain market places that are marked swai but I know from experience that this is not it!!! There’s a way that my swai Fry’s up golden brown nice and meaty flakey white tastey and no matter how you try it cannot be duplicated with this sharky watery gooey meat that is being sold in its stead. If there is someway I could get some PLEASE POST IT????

And from here: Swai / Basa / Tra - Vietnamese Catfish

it seems that the US doesn't see much Basa but gets the Swai instead.

Two varieties are widely farmed, Basa (P. pangasius) and Swai / Tra (P. hypophthalmus), but what is shipped to the U.S. is mostly Swai. Basa is preferred in Vietnam but, since U.S. buyers don't care, the faster growing Swai is shipped. Swai fillets are thinner and a little coarser than Basa.

I love deep fried fish. So, I guess I'm just going to have give the "Swai" a try...and see for myself if it's as good as the Cod.

Originally Posted by Cujo

Basra is a farmed Vietnamese fish thats not a bad for a farmed fish but crap for fish and chips

And funnily enough, the troops in Basa in Afghanistan never got fish and chips.

Another comedy zinger.

Yep. I just went out to buy brekkie and stopped at the lights and, dammit, "IRAQ!" popped into my head. Never mind.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

+ 1

Shark is a firm white fleshed 'fish' with no bones in the Fillet.


The best Ma and Pa Fish and Chipper I've eaten at in the West was run by Thais.

Fish was good ... Chips were excellent.

Shark shark, as in great whites, tiger, hammerhead etc are no good at all. The "shark" in Oz and NZ is euphamistcally known as lemon fish or dogfish and is a very small sandshark type shark. Not the best either. They're a by-catch and basically a rubbish fish. But they are flakey, boneless, and moist.
The best fish for battering, IMO, would be a flesh that is flaky rather than dense, and not too dry or not too moist. Basa is too moist and will uncrispen the batter, spanish mackeral (or any of the pelagics) are too dense. Snapper are ok but over-rated. John dory is excellent and ticks all the boxes but can be too moist if not prepared well.
Baramundi is good.

^Drunk in a gutter, in very important meetings with International delegations, scanning the whakey Pattaya food forums, delivering pies while watching out for rozzers, filing Copyright patents, saving orphans, signing contracts, processing orders, take your pick. But who gives a flying fuck, this is now the Fish and Chip thread .

Simon's in Jomtien Cod and Chips.
Rating: 4687 out of 10.

Looks mushy and the batters too thick.

No peas or salad? I can get that Fridays at Jaybees Bar (smaller piece of cod though) for 100 bht. Includes peas or mushies, your choice.
Beer starts at 55 bht. Hard to argue with that for value. Oh, and they carry Aye's pies too- in fact it's the special one day of the week.

Originally Posted by Headworx

^Drunk in a gutter, in very important meetings with International delegations, scanning the whakey Pattaya food forums, delivering pies while watching out for rozzers, filing Copyright patents, saving orphans, signing contracts, processing orders, take your pick. But who gives a flying fuck, this is now the Fish and Chip thread .

Simon's in Jomtien Cod and Chips.
Rating: 4687 out of 10.

You must be easy to please, been there a few times since it opened more'n ten years ago, each time thinking they might, just might have changed the oil or improved the recipe away from stinking soggy batter and reheated chips. But to be fair last time was about 2 years ago so will give it another try in the next 2 or 3.

Originally Posted by Cujo

Basra is a farmed Vietnamese fish thats not a bad for a farmed fish but crap for fish and chips

Yep. Not bad grilled, but deep frying liquifies it into tasteless mush.

There is a new Oirish bar opened near to us in Banchang Rayong that does awesome Haddock and chips of a Fridays now.

Happily filling a niche that closed when the old institution "Camel Pub" closed its doors for good last week.

Prefer the Dutch version these days

^^Are you serious?. The Camel is closed for good?.

Why???!!!.

From the chippy stand in Soi LK Metro

Originally Posted by Headworx

^^Are you serious?. The Camel is closed for good?.

Why???!!!.

From what I have heard the Banchang crowd is a lot smaller now. The menu kept getting reduced and the quality went down. No business.... shut the doors.

Originally Posted by toslti

The menu kept getting reduced and the quality went down. No business.... shut the doors.

They should have done what Thia businesses do and simply raise all their prices.

Cujo, although your pictire of your fish looks great, I would never put egg in my batter as it makes the result soft. I don't know how you get it crispy with egg in it.

One thing I miss when traveling in Thailand is being able to get a feed of fish-and-chips.

Originally Posted by kmart

Yep. Not bad grilled, but deep frying liquifies it into tasteless mush.

Unbeknownst to her, re: my questions here, the wife brought home some Swai Friday. She pan fried it with butter and lemon pepper. It was really tasty that way. Flaky, mild tasting and not too fishy.

Don't know...yet... if it would hold up in a deep fryer.

HW...could you please confirm your choice of #1 F+C in Pattaya?

We may make a trip there in August.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by toslti

From the chippy stand in Soi LK Metro

Good prices. What's the nosh like?

Originally Posted by Headworx

Do they ever, it's the business. They've got the batter down to an art form, it's just perfect. Hard to beat those chips too.

You obviously are easily pleased.

And yet...